Bobby App Review 2026: Still the Best iPhone Subscription Tracker?
The Subgrove Team · · 4 min read
Bobby has been the sentimental favorite among manual subscription trackers for years, and this Bobby subscription tracker review takes a fair look at where it stands in 2026: what still makes it great, what its limits are, and who should pick something else.
Full disclosure: we build Subgrove, a competing tracker. We'll be upfront about where Bobby wins — and it does win on a couple of things.
What is Bobby?
Bobby is an iOS app for tracking subscriptions manually. There's no bank linking and no transaction scanning — you add each subscription yourself, set its price and billing cycle, and Bobby shows you what you're paying and when renewals land.
That manual, local-first approach is the whole philosophy: your financial data stays on your phone, nothing is shared with a bank aggregator, and the app stays fast and simple.
What Bobby does well
The design. Bobby's interface is the reason people recommend it. Clean cards, recognizable service icons, an at-a-glance total — it makes a mundane chore feel pleasant. Years on, it's still one of the nicest-looking trackers on any platform.
The price. Bobby is free for a handful of subscriptions, and unlimited tracking costs a small one-time unlock of about $2.99, as of this writing. No recurring fee — a subscription tracker that isn't itself a subscription, which people rightly love.
Privacy. No bank credentials, no cloud account required. Your data is yours.
Bobby pricing
- Free: track a handful of subscriptions.
- One-time unlock (~$2.99): unlimited subscriptions.
That's it. It remains one of the cheapest paid options in the category.
The drawbacks
iOS-only. There is no Android version, no web version, no desktop app. If you switch phones — or just want to check your subscriptions from a laptop — you can't. This is the single biggest reason people look for a Bobby alternative.
Local data, limited sync and backup. Bobby's data lives on your device with limited sync/backup options. Lose or replace the phone without a proper backup, and you can lose your carefully entered list.
Sporadic development. Updates have been infrequent over the years. The app still works, but iOS moves on — and features like modern notification options or widgets evolve slowly, if at all. Buying even a $2.99 unlock feels different when you're not sure the app is actively maintained.
Manual entry (shared by design). Like every manual tracker, Bobby can't detect subscriptions automatically. If you want bank-powered detection, you're looking at Rocket Money or similar — see our Rocket Money review.
Who should pick Bobby?
Bobby is a genuinely good choice if all of the following are true:
- You use an iPhone and plan to stay on iPhone.
- You track your subscriptions on your phone only, and you're diligent about device backups.
- You want the absolute cheapest one-time price.
- You value beautiful, minimal design above active development.
For that person, Bobby is still lovely, and ~$2.99 once is hard to argue with.
When to pick an alternative
Look elsewhere if:
- You use Android, Windows, or want web access. Bobby simply doesn't exist there. Subgrove is a PWA — the same app installs to your home screen on iPhone, Android, and desktop, and works fully offline.
- You worry about losing your data with your phone. Local-only storage is a real risk with limited backup options.
- You want dependable renewal reminders. Subgrove sends push reminders with per-subscription timing (on iOS this needs 16.4+ and a home-screen install), plus list and calendar views and true monthly cost across weekly, monthly, yearly, and custom cycles.
- You want active development. A tracker you'll rely on for years should be moving forward.
Subgrove is free for up to 5 subscriptions; Pro is $1.99/month, $10/year, or a $15 one-time lifetime unlock — so a Bobby-style "pay once" option exists there too, just at a higher price for a cross-platform app.
Verdict
| Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Design | Excellent — still the category benchmark |
| Price | Excellent — ~$2.99 one-time |
| Platforms | Weak — iOS only |
| Sync & backup | Weak — local data, limited options |
| Development pace | Concerning — sporadic updates |
Bobby earned its reputation honestly: it made manual subscription tracking feel simple and pleasant, at a price anyone can afford. In 2026, its constraints are what they've always been — one platform, one device, and a development pace that inspires little confidence about the future. If you live entirely on iPhone, it's still a fine pick. If your life spans more than one screen, or you want your subscription list to outlive your current phone, a cross-platform tracker is the safer home for that data.