PocketGuard's headline feature is a safe-to-spend amount: what is left after bills, goals and essentials. It gets there by connecting to your bank and card accounts, though its App Store listing says you can also add transactions by hand and keep cash accounts. Sorayli never connects to a bank. You scan a receipt or type a purchase, and on Pro and Family it works out a safe-to-spend figure for each day left in the month.
PocketGuard's details come from its App Store listing, read on October 6, 2026. Its website and help center would not load from the region we checked from, so this page sticks to what the listing says. Plans change, so check before you decide. Sorayli is not affiliated with PocketGuard.
01PocketGuard and Sorayli at a glance
| Sorayli | PocketGuard | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the data comes from | Receipts you scan, purchases you type, a CSV file you import on the web, or the assistant with Write mode on. | Linked accounts through Plaid, Finicity, Salt Edge or Apple Wallet, read-only. You can also add transactions by hand and manage cash accounts. |
| Banks it connects to | None, on any plan. | Financial institutions in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. |
| What's safe to spend | On Pro and Family: a figure per remaining day, from your typical income, minus what you have spent and the recurring bills still due. | A safe-to-spend amount after bills, goals and essentials, plus a Spending Pace forecast. |
| Budgeting | Monthly limits for a category or all spending, with an alert at 50% to 100% of the limit. Free includes 2. | Zero-based, envelope, 50/30/20 or custom budgets. |
| Receipts | Reads each item with its quantity and price, plus discounts, tax and total. | The listing describes no receipt scanning. |
| Subscriptions | You mark a charge as recurring; an email lists what renews in the next 3 days. | A bills organizer and subscription manager. |
| Where it runs | Web, iPhone and Android. | iPhone and Apple Watch; its website names Android and web too. |
| Price | Free. Pro is $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year. Family is $17.99 a month or $129.99 a year. | Free download. PocketGuard Plus is $12.99 a month or $74.99 a year, after a 7-day free trial. |
02Who should stay with PocketGuard
- You want your accounts pulled in automatically and a spending number that keeps itself up to date. A linked account fills itself in; in Sorayli, you add each purchase.
- You want debt payoff planning and a choice of budgeting methods in the same app.
- You use an Apple Watch.
- You bank in the US, Canada or the UK and are comfortable granting read-only access.
03Two ways to get a safe-to-spend number
PocketGuard's figure starts from your accounts: money in, minus bills, goals and essentials. Sorayli's starts from what you record. On Pro and Family, Insights takes your typical income (the median of the last three full months you recorded), subtracts what you have spent so far this month and the recurring bills still due, and divides what is left by the days remaining, today included. It never shows less than zero.
Two things follow. Sorayli's number is only as complete as your logging: skip a week and it looks better than it should. And Sorayli does not know your balance, because it has no accounts. In return it needs nothing from your bank, and the spending it counts is broken down to the item. See what Insights show.
Elm Street Hardware
Sun 4 Oct · 11:20
| Item | Category | Price |
|---|---|---|
| LED bulbs, 4 pkHome | Home | $9.99 |
| Picture hooksHome | Home | $3.49 |
| AA batteries, 8 pkHome | Home | $7.99 |
| Garden glovesHome | Home | $6.49 |
| Snack mixFood & Dining | Food & Dining | $2.99 |
| Gift bagGifts & Donations | Gifts & Donations | $2.49 |
- Subtotal
- $33.44
- Sales tax 7% on 30.45
- $2.13
- Total
- $35.57
Cash
A cash purchase like this one never reaches a bank feed, so an app that reads your accounts only sees it if you type it in. Scanned in Sorayli, it lands as six items: $27.96 under Home, $2.99 under Food & Dining and $2.49 under Gifts & Donations, and today's safe-to-spend figure moves with it.
04Budgets and alerts
A Sorayli budget is a monthly limit on one category or on all your spending. You pick when to be warned, from 50% to 100% of the limit in 5% steps (80% to start), and get an email at that point and again at the limit, plus an iPhone push if you allow it. Free includes 2 budgets; Pro and Family have no limit. Alerts come from a scheduled check, so they arrive after the purchase, not with it. More on how budgets and alerts work.
05Moving over
PocketGuard's App Store listing doesn't describe an export, so plan to start fresh in Sorayli. If you do get a CSV file out of PocketGuard, rename its columns to Date, Title, Amount and Category, add a Type column with expense or income, and import it in Sorayli on the web; categories that don't match one of yours come in uncategorized. A month of scanned receipts is enough to see where your money goes. Our guide to tracking expenses without linking your bank sets out a weekly routine.
06What each costs
Monthly prices × 12, from the prices in PocketGuard's App Store listing and Sorayli's plans.
Billed yearly, the two are $5 apart. Billed monthly, PocketGuard Plus costs $36 more over a year. Sorayli's free plan has no time limit: 10 scans and 10 questions a month, 2 budgets and unlimited typing. Safe-to-spend is part of Insights, on Pro and Family. See Sorayli's plans.
- Hands-off trackingPocketGuard, clearly
Linked accounts fill themselves in.
- Keeping your bank login to yourselfSorayli, clearly
Sorayli has no bank connection at all.
- Item-level detailSorayli, clearly
Sorayli saves each receipt item with its own category.
- Cash purchasesSorayli
Both let you type them; Sorayli also reads the receipt.
- Choice of budgeting methodPocketGuard
PocketGuard offers zero-based, envelope and 50/30/20.
- Price for one personSorayli
Sorayli Pro costs less, yearly and monthly.
Our read of PocketGuard's App Store listing and Sorayli's app on October 6, 2026. Not a rating.
Which one, for whom
Choose
PocketGuard if
- You want your accounts linked and a safe-to-spend figure that updates on its own.
- You want debt payoff planning or a choice of budgeting methods.
- You use an Apple Watch.
Choose
Sorayli if
- You don't want to link a bank or card to a budgeting app.
- You pay in cash a lot and want those purchases read from the receipt, item by item.
- You want a daily safe-to-spend figure without granting any account access.
Neither, if you want an app that finds and cancels subscriptions for you. See Sorayli vs Rocket Money.
Can you use PocketGuard without linking a bank?
Its App Store listing says you can add transactions manually or manage cash accounts. Its safe-to-spend figure and automatic categorizing are built around linked accounts, so expect more typing without one.
Does PocketGuard scan receipts?
Its App Store listing describes no receipt scanning. Sorayli reads a receipt into its items on every plan, with 10 free scans a month.
How much is PocketGuard Plus?
Its App Store listing shows $12.99 a month or $74.99 a year, after a 7-day free trial.
Does Sorayli have a safe-to-spend number like PocketGuard?
Yes, on Pro and Family. Insights shows what is safe to spend for each day left in the month, worked out from the income and spending you recorded and the recurring bills still due.
Which countries does PocketGuard work in?
Its App Store listing says it connects to financial institutions in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sorayli doesn't connect to banks, so it works wherever you are, and converts purchases in other currencies at a daily rate.
- 1Connects to institutions in the US, Canada and the UK through Plaid, Finicity, Salt Edge and Apple Wallet with read-only access; transactions can be added manually and cash accounts managed; safe-to-spend after bills, goals and essentials; Spending Pace; zero-based, envelope, 50/30/20 or custom budgets; bills organizer and subscription manager; debt payoff planning; PocketGuard Plus $12.99 a month or $74.99 a year with a 7-day free trial; requires iOS 16 or later, watchOS 4 or later.PocketGuard on the App Storeread 2026-10-06
- 2The site describes PocketGuard as a budgeting app for iPhone, Android and web (page title, seen in search; the page itself would not load from our region).pocketguard.comread 2026-10-06
