Cash Book vs Cashew (2026): Speak It vs a Free Open-Source Log
Quick answer
Cashew is a free, open-source budget tracker by an independent developer, James Kokoska, that runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, keeps its data on the device, and charges nothing unless you want Pro at $11.99 a year or $19.99 once. Cash Book is an iPhone-only expense tracker built to make logging fast: say what you spent, snap a receipt, or let Apple Pay taps log themselves. It costs $39.99 a year or $19.99 once after a 7-day trial, with no free tier. Pick Cashew if you want a capable free tracker on several platforms and do not mind typing each entry. Pick Cash Book if the typing is why you stopped tracking.
Cashew is free, and it is good. That is the awkward fact this page has to start from. It is an open-source budget tracker by an independent developer, James Kokoska, running on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, keeping its data on the device, charging nothing unless you want Pro at $11.99 a year or $19.99 once. Cash Book costs $39.99 a year or $19.99 once after a 7-day trial and has no free tier at all. Pick Cashew if a capable free tracker on several platforms is the goal and typing each entry is fine. Pick Cash Book if the typing is exactly why you stopped tracking.
Every Cashew fact below comes from Cashew's own website, FAQ, privacy policy, App Store listing data and the public source README, fetched on 12 September 2026. Anything those materials do not settle is marked as not verified.
Where Cashew simply wins
Price, for a start. A free tier with no ads and no account is not a teaser; it is the app. Pro is $11.99 a year against Cash Book's $39.99, and the lifetime prices match to the cent at $19.99, so on money Cashew wins outright unless you count the value of not typing.
Then platforms. iPhone, iPad, Android, a web app. Cash Book is an iPhone and nothing else.
And then the thing that is hard to argue with. Cashew is open source, so its privacy policy is not a promise, it is a claim you can go and check against the code. Very few money apps can say that.
Feature table
| Feature | Cashew | Cash Book |
|---|---|---|
| Voice entry | Not found in Cashew's description, FAQ or README. An Intelligence automation adds transactions with Gemini or Apple Intelligence, listed with a note to use the public beta for full support | Primary path: tap the mic, say one purchase or the whole day, review the parsed transactions, edit if needed |
| Receipt scan | Not found in Cashew's materials | Camera or photo library; every line on a receipt, bill or screenshot becomes a transaction |
| Apple Pay automation | Yes, through Siri Shortcuts, described as adding transactions by using Apple Pay, with the same public-beta note | Yes, through a one-time Shortcuts automation on the Wallet Transaction trigger; every card tap then logs itself |
| Bank sync | Not offered | Never; Cash Book does not connect to a bank |
| Manual entry | The core of the app, with a fully customizable prompt flow and custom titles that auto-categorize by name | Keypad: big number, tag chips, optional note; three taps for a typical entry |
| Budgets | Monthly, weekly or a custom time frame; category spending limits per budget; past budget history; goals. Multiple budgets appear to be a Pro feature | A monthly or weekly allowance shown as what is left, plus per-tag budgets with progress bars; budgets can recur |
| Accounts and net worth | Multiple accounts and transfers, plus debt and credit transaction types. A net-worth figure is not mentioned | Cash, cards and savings accounts with balances, transfers, and one net-worth number on the Accounts screen |
| Multi-currency | Yes, across accounts, with current conversion rates | 128 currencies, set in Settings |
| Export | CSV export and CSV import, plus Google Sheets import; Cashew's FAQ says CSV is not recommended as a backup | CSV and Excel (XLSX) from Settings |
| Sync and account | No account. Data lives in an on-device database; optional Google Drive backup and cross-device sync through your own Google account | No account. Data lives on the iPhone; optional encrypted sync to your own iCloud |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, web app; open source, built with Flutter | iPhone only, iOS 18.6 or later |
| Languages | 45 language codes in the App Store data | 26 interface languages; voice understands any major language |
One footnote on the automation rows. Cashew's FAQ attaches a note to the Apple Pay shortcut and the Intelligence entry saying full support needs the public beta. Available, then. Not finished.
Pricing side by side
All Cashew prices are the in-app purchase names and amounts shown on the US App Store on 12 September 2026, in US dollars.
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Cashew Free | $0 | The manual tracker, no ads, on-device storage. The FAQ implies multiple budgets are Pro; the exact split is not documented. Recent App Store reviews mention limited reports and no automatic sync on free, and that Pro can be unlocked free through an in-app message |
| Cashew Pro Monthly | $1.49 | Pro features on iOS. Pro is bought separately per platform |
| Cashew Pro Yearly | $11.99 | Pro features on iOS. To move from a subscription to Lifetime, the FAQ says you must cancel and wait for the term to end |
| Cashew Pro Lifetime | $19.99 | Pro features on iOS, once. The web app does not support Pro |
| Cash Book | 7-day trial, then $39.99 a year or $19.99 lifetime | Voice, receipt scan, Apple Pay auto-logging, keypad, budgets, accounts, insights, export, iCloud sync. No free tier after the trial |
Two things worth knowing before you get attached to the free tier. Nowhere does Cashew document which features are Pro and which are not, so what the free version stops you doing is something you find out by bumping into it; reviewers report limited reports and no automatic sync. And Pro is bought per platform, so the iPhone purchase is an iPhone purchase. No trial length is stated anywhere.
How each one handles your data
This is where the two apps agree most. Both keep your money on your own device and neither asks for an account.
Cashew's policy states: "The Developer does not operate servers to collect your financial Data." and "All Data is stored locally using an on-device SQL database ... The Developer does not have access to this Data." Backups and cross-device sync are optional and go to "your personal Google Drive", which means sharing with a partner means sharing one Google account. On tracking: "We do not sell personal information and we do not use advertising or in-app usage tracking/analytics." The policy is governed by the laws of Ontario, Canada, and was updated on 15 January 2026.
Cash Book's privacy policy reaches a similar place by a slightly different route. Transactions live on your iPhone and, with iCloud sync on, in your own iCloud account under Apple's encryption. No Cash Book server holds your history. The difference is the AI. Voice clips and receipt photos go to a model through the studio's relay for parsing and are not kept after the response, and Cash Book counts feature usage in aggregate, never transaction contents, audio or photos. Cashew runs no analytics at all. On this one, Cashew is stricter, and we would rather say so than talk around it.
Who picks which
Cashew suits the person who wants a strong tracker for nothing, with no ads and no account, and who genuinely does not mind tapping in each entry. It suits anyone on Android, an iPad or a computer, or moving between them with one data set through their own Google account. Budgets with a custom time frame, per-category limits and a history of past budgets are there. So is the code, if reading it is the kind of reassurance you want.
Cash Book is for the opposite instinct:
- You would rather say "twelve euros lunch at Beshamel" than tap through a form, in your own language. See voice logging.
- You collect receipts and want every line read into transactions from one photo. See receipt scanning.
- You pay by Apple Pay and want each tap to log itself after a one-time setup. See Apple Pay auto-logging and the setup guide.
- You want one net-worth number over your cash, card and savings accounts.
- You are happy to pay $19.99 once for logging that takes seconds, with iCloud as the only sync.
If you are choosing a habit before choosing an app, the guide to tracking expenses on iPhone covers the four ways to log and when each one fits.
What we could not verify
- An official list of which Cashew features are Pro-only and which are free.
- Whether Cashew Pro has a free trial, and how long. No trial is stated.
- Any official statement on iOS home-screen widgets, an Apple Watch app, voice entry or receipt scanning. None appear in Cashew's materials; one recent review asks for widgets.
- iCloud sync. Only Google Drive backup and sync are documented.
- How complete the automation features are outside the public beta.
Cashew holds 4.93 from 506 US ratings. Nobody gets that by accident. The full Cashew review looks at it on its own terms, without Cash Book standing next to it.
Get Cash Book on the App StoreFree for 7 days. $19.99 once for lifetime.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cashew really free?
Yes, and unusually so. The App Store lists Cashew as free with in-app purchases: Cashew Pro Monthly $1.49, Cashew Pro Yearly $11.99 and Cashew Pro Lifetime $19.99. Cashew's FAQ implies multiple budgets are a Pro feature, but the exact free-versus-Pro split is not documented on the pages we read. Recent App Store reviews say Pro can be unlocked for free through an in-app message from the developer.
Does Cashew have voice logging or receipt scanning?
Not according to Cashew's own materials. The App Store description, FAQ and README describe manual entry with a customizable prompt flow. The Automation section of the FAQ lists an Intelligence feature that adds transactions with Gemini or Apple Intelligence, with a note to use the public beta for full support. Voice and receipt scanning are Cash Book's two primary logging paths.
Can Cashew log Apple Pay purchases automatically?
Cashew's FAQ lists a Siri Shortcuts automation on iOS described as adding transactions by using Apple Pay, alongside app links and notification scanning, with a note that full support needs the public beta. Cash Book uses the same Wallet trigger in Apple's Shortcuts app; after a one-time setup, every card tap opens Cash Book and logs itself with amount and merchant.
Which app is cheaper over a year?
Cashew, in every case. If the free tier covers you, it costs nothing. Cashew Pro is $11.99 a year or $19.99 for lifetime, against Cash Book's $39.99 a year or $19.99 for lifetime after a 7-day trial. One detail from Cashew's FAQ: Pro is bought separately on iOS and Android, and the web app does not support Pro at all.
Where is my data stored in each app?
On your own device in both. Cashew's policy says all data is stored locally in an on-device database, the developer operates no servers to collect financial data, and optional backups go to your personal Google Drive. Cash Book stores transactions on the iPhone with optional encrypted sync to your own iCloud; neither app requires an account.
Can I move my data between the two?
Partly. Cashew imports CSV files and Google Sheets and exports CSV, though its FAQ says CSV export is not recommended as a backup. Cash Book exports CSV and Excel from Settings. In either direction, treat the export as an archive of your history rather than a one-tap migration; tags and budgets will need setting up again.
What this is based on
Get Cash Book on the App StoreFree for 7 days. $19.99 once for lifetime.