Free Emma Alternatives in the UK
App Comparisons · The Subgrove Team · · Updated · 4 min read
The best free Emma alternative depends on whether you want to keep the bank link: Snoop is the free UK app that, like Emma, reads your accounts to find subscriptions; a manual tracker such as Subgrove, Bobby or Subby needs no bank login, so there's no connection limit to hit. The reason people go looking is usually the same: Emma's free Basic plan allows only two bank logins.
Where Emma's free plan runs out
Emma's plan comparison sets the limits plainly:
- Bank logins: 2 on Basic (free), 4 on Plus, unlimited on Pro and Ultimate.
- Prices: Plus is £4.99 a month, or £41.99 a year (£3.49 a month); Pro is £9.99 a month; Ultimate is £14.99 a month.
- Reminders: the plan descriptions list "set bill reminders" under Plus, not Basic.
A current account plus a credit card fills the free allowance. Add a savings account, a second card or a joint account and you're choosing between paying and leaving some of your money out of view. If an account isn't supported, Emma's help centre points you to offline accounts, an Emma Pro feature.
Why the cap is about the bank link, not subscriptions
Emma finds subscriptions by reading the transactions from linked accounts, so the number of accounts becomes the meter. A subscription paid from your third account simply never shows up on a two-login plan.
A tracker that doesn't connect to your bank has nothing to count. You type each subscription in once, and it doesn't matter whether it's paid from Monzo, a Barclaycard or PayPal. The cost is a few minutes of setup and remembering to add new sign-ups; our no-bank-account tracker page explains how that works in practice.
Disclosure: Subgrove is our app. Every other entry is described from its own website or app-store listing, checked in October 2026.
Free Emma alternatives for UK users
1. Snoop: free, bank-linked, built in the UK
If automatic detection is what you liked about Emma, Snoop is the closest free swap. It connects through Open Banking, shows your accounts together, and says it helps you cut bills and stop subscriptions you don't use. Snoop Plus costs £5.99 a month or £47.99 a year for its more advanced features.
- Pros: automatic, UK-focused, free core app.
- Cons: you're still sharing transaction data, and the extras are paid.
2. Subgrove: free for five subscriptions, any bank
Subgrove tracks subscriptions you add yourself and sends push and email reminders before each renewal, which Emma reserves for Plus. It works on iPhone, Android and desktop, and keeps a separate total for each currency if some subscriptions bill in euros or dollars. It's free for five subscriptions; Pro is $4.99 a month or $39 a year, billed in US dollars.
- Pros: no account limit, reminders on the free plan, works across devices.
- Cons: manual entry, no budgeting, the free plan stops at five subscriptions.
3. Subby: free with ads, no subscription cap
Subby now runs on iPhone as well as Android. The free version has no limit on subscriptions but shows ads; a one-time PRO purchase (£22.99 on the UK App Store) removes them and adds backups.
- Pros: unlimited free tracking, a one-off price rather than a monthly one.
- Cons: ads on the free version, and backups need PRO.
4. Bobby: under a pound on iPhone
Bobby is an iPhone-only manual tracker. On the UK App Store its "Unlock Subscription Limit" purchase is £0.99 and the all-in-one pack £1.99 or £2.99. See our Bobby review for more.
- Pros: cheap, simple, private.
- Cons: iPhone only; the listing mentions no sync or backup.
5. A spreadsheet: free, no limits, no alerts
Our spreadsheet template gives you the columns and formulas. It has no caps, but also no reminders, which is the part that actually stops a renewal.
Emma and the alternatives, side by side
| App | Free plan limit | Bank linking | Reminders free? | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emma | 2 bank logins | Yes | Plus only | £4.99/mo (£3.49 on annual) |
| Snoop | Core app free | Yes | Not stated | £5.99/mo or £47.99/yr |
| Subgrove | 5 subscriptions | No | Yes | $4.99/mo or $39/yr |
| Subby | Unlimited, with ads | No | Yes | £22.99 once (UK App Store) |
| Bobby | Limited | No | Yes | £0.99 once |
| Spreadsheet | None | No | No | Free |
Choosing between them
If you want Emma's automatic detection without paying, try Snoop. If you'd rather not connect a bank at all, choose by how many subscriptions you have: five or fewer stay free on Subgrove, with reminders included; a longer list fits Subby's free tier if you don't mind ads; Bobby is the cheapest one-off unlock on an iPhone. And if you like Emma but need one more account, Plus at £3.49 a month on the annual plan may simply be the cheapest fix.
If you're in the US instead
Rocket Money is the US specialist for bank-linked subscription detection, but its help centre says it's only available in the United States with US banks, so it's not an option from the UK. That's covered in more depth in our UK Rocket Money alternatives post. Want your real monthly total before choosing? The subscription cost calculator adds it up.