The Income Tracker

The Income Tracker vs Emma

By The Income Tracker · Updated 8 September 2026 · Facts checked 8 September 2026

The short answer

Emma is the slicker app, with automatic bank feeds, strong subscription detection and a free tier that connects two accounts. The Income Tracker is free with no tiers, never asks for a bank login, and imports CSV files for nothing, which Emma only allows on its £9.99-a-month Pro plan and above. Pick on that trade.

Side by side

The Income TrackerEmma
PriceFree. No tiers, no trial clock.Free tier; Plus £4.99, Pro £9.99, Ultimate £14.99 a month (about 30% less paid yearly)
Bank connectionNone needed. Import a CSV you download yourself; open banking is opt-in and off by default.Built around open banking. Free tier connects 2 accounts, Plus 4, Pro and Ultimate unlimited.
Manual entry and CSV importYes, free. CSV, OFX, QIF and pasted text.Offline accounts, manual transactions and CSV import only on Pro and Ultimate.
Where your data livesIn your browser on your device. Optional sign-in to sync.On Emma's servers, pulled from your banks.
PlatformsWeb, installable on phone and desktop. iOS app in development.iOS, Android; web app in beta for paying customers.
Subscription and bill detectionRecurring payments detected on import and seeded into the next month.Yes, one of its strengths.
CategorisationRules that remember each merchant; built-in rules for common cases; optional AI for the leftovers.Automatic from the feed, custom categories on paid tiers.

Pick Emma if

  • You want your accounts to update themselves every day without lifting a finger.
  • You like the analytics, the bill-switching prompts and a polished mobile app.
  • Two connected accounts on the free tier is enough for you.

Pick The Income Tracker if

  • You do not want to hand any company an open banking connection to your accounts.
  • You want CSV or manual entry without paying £9.99 a month for the privilege.
  • You want it free, with nothing to cancel later.

Where Emma genuinely wins

Automation. Connect your banks and Emma does the collecting, the categorising and the nagging about bills. Its subscription detection is good and its interface is among the best in the category. If you are happy with open banking and you would rather never export a file, that is a real advantage and we will not pretend otherwise.

Where The Income Tracker wins

Control and cost. There is no bank connection to grant, break or renew. You download a CSV once a month, drop it in, and the app does the rest: duplicates skipped, transfers skipped, merchants remembered. It is free for everyone rather than free up to a limit, and the one feature Emma charges Pro prices for, importing your own files, is the default way in.

Moving from Emma

You do not need to export anything from Emma. Download a CSV from each bank you had connected, import them, and categorise once. Emma's own CSV export is a paid feature, so the bank route is usually simpler anyway.

The Income TrackerTry the free, no-bank-login alternative to Emma.
Open the tracker →

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Emma that does not need open banking?
Yes. The Income Tracker is free and works from a CSV you download from your bank, with no account connection. Emma's core product depends on open banking.
Can I import CSV files into Emma?
Only on the Pro (£9.99 a month) and Ultimate tiers. The Income Tracker imports CSV, OFX, QIF and pasted text for free.
Is Emma free?
Emma has a free tier limited to two bank connections, with paid tiers from £4.99 to £14.99 a month.

Sources and checking

Facts on this page were last checked on 8 September 2026 against:

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