If you like Tiller's spreadsheet way of budgeting but don't want to link your bank, or you want something you can update from your phone in a few seconds, SimplifyPocket is a Tiller alternative built for that. You keep categories, notes and a budget that starts on payday, without a bank feed or formulas to maintain. Tiller is a good product for people who love spreadsheets, so here's an honest look at what each one does and who each one suits.
What does Tiller do?
Tiller connects to your banks and feeds your daily spending, income, debt and balances into spreadsheet templates you own. It works with both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, and you can try both with the same account. According to Tiller:
- It includes prebuilt templates for budgets, expenses, debt, net worth, savings and more.
- It pulls your latest transactions and balances about once a day.
- It sends a short email each morning with your balances and recent charges.
The appeal is real: your data sits in a sheet you control, and you can build any report you can write a formula for.
How much does Tiller cost?
As of October 2026, Tiller's pricing page says it's free for 30 days, then $99 a year, and that your card isn't charged until the trial ends. Tiller also offers another 30 days backed by a full refund. Its help center notes the $99 is plus tax. The pricing page lists no monthly plan.
Can you use Tiller without linking your bank?
Yes, but it changes what you're paying for. Tiller's help center says that if your banks aren't supported or you'd rather not connect them, you can manually track your accounts and use Tiller's Foundation Template.
That works. The catch is that "manual" in Tiller means typing rows into a spreadsheet. Tiller's pricing page lists Automatic Bank Connections among its features. Skip them and you do the data entry yourself, row by row.
Tiller also can't connect to every bank. Its help center says it is unable to offer connections to any EU or UK banks because of Open Banking rules.
Does Tiller have a mobile app?
Not a native one. Tiller says "We do not have a native mobile app at this time." Instead, if you use Google Sheets, you can open the Tiller Console in your phone's browser to view and categorize transactions, edit descriptions, refresh accounts and check balances, and you can add it to your home screen as a web app. You can also open your sheet in the Google Sheets or Excel mobile apps. If you use Excel, Tiller says you'll need to fill in new data from a computer. Its getting-started guide also mentions an experimental "Mobile Sidekick" in beta.
So Tiller on a phone is mostly about reviewing and categorizing what the bank feed brought in. If you don't link a bank, every purchase still has to be typed into the sheet. Our post on how to remember to track expenses explains why logging at the moment you pay is what keeps a budget accurate.
Why look for a Tiller alternative?
A few reasons you might:
- You don't want a bank connection at all. You'd rather not hand over bank access. Our guide to budgeting without linking your bank covers that choice.
- Your bank isn't supported, for example a bank in the EU or UK.
- You want to log on your phone. Typing into cells on a phone is the step that breaks.
- You're tired of maintaining the sheet. Fixing formulas, copying a month's tab and reconciling is time you'd rather not spend.
How SimplifyPocket works instead
SimplifyPocket keeps the spreadsheet mindset (you decide what goes in) and drops the bank feed and the formulas. It never connects to your bank. You add spending when it happens:
- Say it. Tap the mic and say "forty-two dollars groceries." The app turns it into a transaction for you to confirm.
- Scan it. Scan a receipt, a bill, a bank screenshot or a PDF statement and review what it pulls out.
- Type it. Enter it by hand when that's quicker, with a note if you want one.
Then the app does the math a spreadsheet would make you build:
- Category budgets show what's left in each one as you spend.
- A custom budget period can start on the day you get paid instead of the 1st.
- Scheduled transactions add your paychecks and bills on the day they're due, so you don't rebuild those rows each month.
- Left to spend shows your income this cycle minus what you've spent and what's still due.
If you budget with a partner, one of you opens Settings → Household and invites the other by email, and you share the transactions and budgets you add from then on.
Tiller vs SimplifyPocket at a glance
| Tiller | SimplifyPocket | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $99/year after a 30-day free trial | $2.99/month or $14.99/year, 3-day free trial |
| Where your budget lives | Your own Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheet | iPhone and Android app |
| How spending gets in | Daily bank feed, or typing rows yourself | Voice, typing, or scanning receipts, bills and statements. No bank sync |
| On your phone | Tiller Console in the browser (Google Sheets) or the Sheets/Excel apps; no native app | Native iPhone and Android app |
| Custom reports and formulas | Anything you can build in a sheet | No custom formulas or pivot tables |
| Net worth and balances | Yes, via templates | No |
The trade-offs to know before you switch:
- No spreadsheet underneath. If you love building your own reports, pivot tables or a net-worth tab, Tiller gives you that and SimplifyPocket doesn't.
- No bank sync, on purpose. If you want transactions to arrive on their own, Tiller's daily bank feed does that.
- Different price shape. Tiller is one annual fee with a longer trial. SimplifyPocket has a monthly option and a lower annual price, with a shorter trial. See pricing.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Tiller if you want your full financial picture in a spreadsheet, your banks are supported, and you're happy reviewing it at a computer.
Choose SimplifyPocket if you'd rather not link a bank, you want to log a purchase in seconds on your phone, and you mostly want to know how much is left in each category before payday. If you're moving off a home-made sheet rather than Tiller, our guide to replacing your budget spreadsheet walks through the switch.
Common questions
Is Tiller free? It has a 30-day free trial, then costs $99 a year plus tax, per Tiller's site.
Can I use Tiller without connecting my bank? Yes. Tiller says you can track accounts manually with its Foundation Template, but you type the transactions in yourself.
Does Tiller work on iPhone or Android? There's no native Tiller app. Google Sheets users can use the Tiller Console in a phone browser to categorize and refresh. You can also open the sheet in the Google Sheets or Excel mobile apps, though Excel users fill in new data from a computer.
Is there a Tiller alternative without bank linking? SimplifyPocket never connects to a bank. You log spending by voice, typing or scanning, and see what's left in each budget.
Try it free
SimplifyPocket is on iPhone and Android. Say a purchase, scan a receipt or bill, or type it in, and see what's left in each budget. No bank login and no formulas. Try it free for 3 days, then $2.99/month or $14.99/year.
Details about Tiller are as of October 2026 and may change. Check Tiller for current plans and prices.