If you want what Honeydue gives couples, one shared picture of your spending, but without linking your bank accounts, SimplifyPocket is a Honeydue alternative built for that. You and your partner share one budget and log purchases yourselves by voice, by typing or with a receipt photo. Honeydue is a capable app, and it's free, so here's an honest look at where each one fits.
What does Honeydue do?
Honeydue is a money app for couples that works by connecting your financial accounts. It supports "over 20,000 financial institutions across 5 countries", and pulls your balances and transactions into one place you can both see.
According to its App Store listing, you can also:
- Set monthly spending limits per category and get notified as you near them. Its help center says it alerts you at 75% of a limit by default, and you can change that percentage.
- Get reminded when it's time to pay your bills.
- React to your partner's purchases with emoji, or ask about "that mysterious purchase."
- Divvy up expenses and square up with each other later.
Its website adds that its bill reminders will "nudge you (or your partner) when it's time to pay."
Honeydue also gives you fine control over privacy. For each account you own, you can choose what your partner sees: balances and transactions, balances only, or nothing at all. You can even hide a single transaction, like a surprise gift.
Is Honeydue really free?
Yes. Honeydue says it is "100% free for everybody, and we don't block any features with a paywall." It asks users to consider an optional monthly tip, and as of October 2026 the App Store lists tip options from $0.99 to $9.99 a month. That's a real point in its favor, and worth weighing against any paid alternative, including ours.
What happened to the Honeydue debit card?
Honeydue once offered a debit card. According to the app's own version notes on the App Store, "The Honeydue Debit Card program is closed for new enrollments, and will be discontinued on September 1st, 2023." Separately, the law firm Fenwick says it represented Honeydue in its acquisition by Mission Lane in 2021. The budgeting app itself is still being updated: its recent App Store versions include fixes for bank account linking.
If you were using Honeydue mainly for the card or a shared account, you'll need a joint account at a bank. Our Zeta alternative guide walks through setting one up alongside a shared budget.
Why look for a Honeydue alternative?
Common reasons people look for one:
- You don't want to link your bank. Honeydue says it never stores your usernames, passwords, or security answers, but the app still runs on connected accounts. If either of you would rather not connect accounts at all, a manual app avoids the question. More on that in budgeting without linking your bank.
- You spend cash. A bank feed shows the ATM withdrawal, not what the cash went on. If you pay cash for groceries or tips, you need to log it yourself either way. See how to track cash spending.
- You want a budget, not a dashboard of accounts. Some couples don't need every balance in one place. They want to know one thing: how much is left in each category before payday.
How SimplifyPocket works for couples
SimplifyPocket skips bank connections entirely. You add spending the moment it happens:
- Say it. Tap the mic and say "forty dollars gas." The app turns it into a transaction for you to confirm. Here's more on adding expenses by voice.
- Snap it. Scan a receipt and review the transaction it pulls out.
- Type it. Enter it by hand when that's quicker.
To budget together, one of you opens Settings → Household and invites the other by email. Once your partner signs in with that email and accepts, you share one household: the transactions and budgets you each add, against the same "what's left" number. One subscription covers both of you.
You set a budget per category, get alerts as you approach or go over one, and can set your budget cycle to start and end on the days that match your paychecks instead of the calendar month.
Honeydue vs SimplifyPocket at a glance
| Honeydue | SimplifyPocket | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, optional tips | $2.99/month or $14.99/year, 3-day free trial |
| How spending gets in | Linked bank accounts | You log it: voice, typing or receipt scan |
| Category budgets with alerts | Yes | Yes |
| What your partner sees | Per account and per transaction | Everything in the shared household |
| Bill reminders | Yes | No |
| Chat or reactions on purchases | Yes | No |
| Split expenses and settle up | Yes | No |
| iPhone and Android | Yes | Yes |
A few of those rows are trade-offs you should know about before you switch:
- Sharing is all-in. When you pair in SimplifyPocket, what you'd each already logged comes into the household too, and categories with the same name are merged. There's no way to hide one account or one transaction from your partner, so it's worth a quick talk before you pair.
- No bill reminders, chat or IOUs. If you rely on Honeydue to remind you about bills or to track who owes whom, SimplifyPocket doesn't do that.
- It costs money. Honeydue is free. SimplifyPocket is a paid app after the trial.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Honeydue if you're both comfortable linking your accounts, you want automatic transactions, and you value per-account privacy, bill reminders and splitting tools. It's free, so it's an easy one to try.
Choose SimplifyPocket if you'd rather not connect any bank, you want one simple shared budget you both update in a few seconds, and you're happy for everything in the household to be visible to both of you. Our guide to budgeting as a couple can help you decide how much to share in the first place.
Common questions
Is Honeydue free? Yes. Honeydue says it's free for everyone with no paywalled features, and it asks for optional monthly tips.
Does Honeydue still have a debit card? No. According to its App Store version notes from August 2023, the Honeydue Debit Card program was closed to new enrollments and set to be discontinued on September 1, 2023.
Is there a couples budgeting app that doesn't link to your bank? Yes. SimplifyPocket lets two partners share one budget without either of you connecting a bank account. You log purchases by voice, typing or receipt scan.
Do both partners need to pay? Not for SimplifyPocket. One subscription covers both of you once you're paired. See pricing.
Try it free
SimplifyPocket is on iPhone and Android. Invite your partner, share one budget, and log spending by voice, by typing it in, or by scanning the receipt. No bank login needed. Try it free for 3 days, then $2.99/month or $14.99/year.
Details about Honeydue are as of October 2026 and may change. Check Honeydue for current features.