Best Free Emma Alternative in the UK (2026)
App Comparisons · The Subgrove Team · · 4 min read
Emma is a genuinely good UK budgeting app, and for a lot of people it's worth paying for. But if you came to it for one reason — keeping track of what you're subscribed to — and you wanted to do that for free, you've probably hit the wall that sends people looking for an alternative: the free plan only lets you connect two bank accounts.
That's the honest catch. A current account and a savings account, and you're already at the limit. Add a credit card or a second bank, and Emma's free tier no longer covers your money — the plan comparison shows Basic capped at two connections, with four on Plus (£4.99/month, or £3.49 billed annually) and unlimited reserved for Pro and Ultimate. For a full budgeting app that's a reasonable model. For someone who just wanted a free subscription list, it's a paywall in a place you didn't expect one.
Why the free cap bites for subscription tracking
Here's the thing worth naming: the two-account limit only matters because Emma tracks subscriptions by reading your bank feed. It has to connect to accounts to spot recurring charges, so the number of accounts becomes the meter. Budgeting and enhanced tracking sit behind the paid tiers too, so the free version is deliberately a taster.
A tracker that doesn't link to your bank has no such meter. It doesn't count accounts because it never touches them — you add the subscriptions yourself. That sounds like more work, and it is, for about two minutes. In exchange, "free" stays actually free no matter how many banks, cards, or currencies your life spreads across.
The best free Emma alternatives for UK subscription tracking
1. Subgrove — free subscription tracking with no account limit
Subgrove does one job: track your subscriptions. There's no bank linking, so there's nothing to cap — the free tier covers up to five subscriptions across any bank, card, or country. You add each one manually (about two minutes for ten), get push renewal reminders with per-subscription timing, and see everything in a list or calendar view.
Because it's a PWA, the same app installs on iPhone, Android, and desktop and works offline — and it folds pounds, euros and dollars into one honest monthly total, which the UK-and-travels crowd tends to need.
- Pros: Free with no account cap, private, cross-platform, multi-currency, purpose-built for renewals.
- Cons: Manual entry; no budgeting; no automatic detection.
- Pricing: Free for up to 5 subscriptions; Pro is $1.99/month, $10/year, or $15 lifetime.
2. A spreadsheet — free forever, if you'll do the upkeep
The most free option is a file you own. Our template gives you the columns to start. It has no cap on anything — and no reminders, which is the feature that actually stops a renewal in time.
- Pros: Free, totally private, no limits of any kind.
- Cons: No reminders, no normalization, all manual.
3. Bobby — free-to-start on iPhone
If you're on an iPhone, Bobby is a lovely free-to-start manual tracker; a small one-time unlock lifts the free cap. No bank linking, so no account meter.
- Pros: Beautiful, private, cheap to unlock.
- Cons: iOS only; data on one device. See our Bobby review.
- Pricing: Free tier; ~£2–3 one-time unlock.
4. Snoop or Plum — if you actually want the bank-linked model
Worth being fair: if what you liked about Emma was automatic detection, a free manual tracker isn't a like-for-like swap. UK bank-linked apps like Snoop and Plum have free tiers that read your transactions the way Emma does — you'll just be trading the same bank access for the same convenience, on a different account limit.
- Pros: Automatic detection; UK-focused.
- Cons: Bank linking required; free tiers still gate the best features.
Quick comparison
| App | Free subscription cap | Bank linking | Platforms | Paid from (as of this writing) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emma (free) | 2 connected accounts | Yes | iOS, Android, web | £4.99/mo (£3.49 annual) |
| Subgrove | 5 subscriptions, any accounts | No | iPhone, Android, desktop (PWA) | $1.99/mo; $15 lifetime |
| Spreadsheet | Unlimited | No | Anything | Free |
| Bobby | Limited free | No | iOS only | ~£2–3 one-time |
| Snoop / Plum | Varies | Yes | iOS, Android | Freemium |
Which free Emma alternative should you pick?
If you specifically want free subscription tracking without a bank-account limit, most UK users want Subgrove. It doesn't count your accounts because it never connects to them, so five subscriptions stay free whether you bank with one provider or five — and it works on every device you own, in every currency you pay in.
Pick a spreadsheet if you want zero limits and don't mind losing the reminders.
Pick Bobby if you're iPhone-only and want a pretty free-to-start app.
Stay with Emma — or try Snoop or Plum if automatic bank-fed detection is the part you actually wanted, and you're fine linking accounts to get it.
Emma isn't the wrong app; it's a budgeting app being asked to do a subscription job on a free plan that wasn't built for it. If tracking subscriptions is the actual goal, a purpose-built tracker does it for free without metering your bank. For the wider list — including bank-linked options — see our Emma alternatives for subscription tracking guide, and if you're here because Rocket Money doesn't reach the UK, the UK Rocket Money alternatives post covers that gap. Want your real total first? The free subscription cost calculator adds it up in two minutes.