7 Best Walnut App Alternatives
in India for 2026
Walnut was one of India's most popular expense trackers. After its acquisition by SBI Card, many users started looking for alternatives that offer the same simplicity — without the privacy trade-offs of SMS-based auto-import.
Here are 7 genuine alternatives, tested and compared on the factors that matter most for Indian users: privacy, language support, free tier, and ease of use.
Quick Comparison
Data as of April 2026. SMS / bank login requirements based on publicly available app permissions and privacy policies.
Detailed Reviews
myhishobmyhishob
Best overall — privacy-first, free forever, built for India
Best for: Indian households who want full privacy with no SMS access
✅ Pros
- No SMS permission required — ever
- No bank login or account linking
- Data stored in India (Firebase Mumbai)
- Supports English, Hindi, and Marathi
- 100% free — no subscription, no premium tier
- Works offline for reading all your data
- Family shared expense mode
- Custom categories with emoji + colour
⚠️ Cons
- Manual entry only (no auto-import)
- Android only currently
Money View
Auto-import from SMS, also offers personal loans
Best for: Users who want automatic SMS-based expense import
✅ Pros
- Automatic transaction import from SMS
- Free to use
- Credit score tracking
- Also offers personal loans
⚠️ Cons
- Requires SMS read permission
- English only
- Data used for loan profiling
- Privacy trade-off for auto-import convenience
ET Money
Better for investments than expense tracking
Best for: Users who also want to manage mutual fund investments
✅ Pros
- Strong mutual fund investment platform
- Tax-saving investment suggestions
- Expense tracking via SMS
- Free basic tier
⚠️ Cons
- Expense tracking is secondary to investments
- Requires SMS permission
- English only
- Premium features require subscription
Monefy
Simple and visual, but no India-specific features
Best for: Users who want a clean visual pie-chart expense tracker
✅ Pros
- No SMS permission required
- Clean, visual pie chart interface
- Manual entry — privacy by design
- Passcode/fingerprint lock
⚠️ Cons
- No Indian language support
- No Indian-specific categories
- No family sharing mode
- Pro features behind paywall
- Data may not be stored in India
Goodbudget
Envelope budgeting, designed for couples and families
Best for: Couples or families who follow the envelope budgeting method
✅ Pros
- Envelope budgeting system
- Syncs across multiple devices
- No bank login required
- Works for couples sharing a budget
⚠️ Cons
- Free tier limits to 10 envelopes
- English only — no Hindi or Marathi
- US-centric categories and currency defaults
- Plus plan is expensive at ₹680+/month
- No Indian-specific design
Splitwise
Best for splitting group expenses, not personal budgeting
Best for: Splitting bills with friends, roommates, or travel groups
✅ Pros
- Excellent group expense splitting
- Very popular in India for shared bills
- No bank login required
- Simple interface
⚠️ Cons
- Not a personal expense tracker
- No budget or savings features
- No INR-specific design
- Personal finance insights missing
- Pro required for some features
Money Manager Expense & Budget
Feature-rich but complex, best for power users
Best for: Power users who want detailed financial accounting features
✅ Pros
- Double-entry accounting
- Detailed reports and graphs
- No SMS permission required
- Asset and liability tracking
⚠️ Cons
- Complex interface — steep learning curve
- No Hindi or Marathi support
- Free version has ads
- Overkill for basic expense tracking
- No India-specific features
Why Indian users are looking for Walnut alternatives
Walnut was acquired by SBI Card and the app's focus shifted significantly after the acquisition. Many long-time users found that updates became infrequent and the app's direction became less aligned with pure expense tracking. Others have concerns about SMS-based auto-import apps in general: when an app reads your SMS messages to import transactions, it gains access to every message that arrives on your phone — not just banking alerts.
The core value Walnut provided was automatic expense tracking — you didn't have to manually log anything, because the app read your bank SMS alerts and did it for you. But that convenience comes at a significant privacy cost. Your spending data, income, and account balances are visible to the app.
If you valued Walnut for its simplicity but are open to spending 15–30 seconds manually logging each expense, myhishobgives you equivalent visibility into your spending — without any SMS access, without any bank login, and entirely free. The manual entry habit also tends to build better financial awareness than auto-import: you're conscious of every purchase the moment you log it.
Our verdict
For most Indian users looking to replace Walnut, myhishob is the closest match: free, Indian-language support, built for Indian spending patterns, and no SMS or bank access required. For users who specifically need auto-import and are comfortable with SMS permissions, Money View remains a solid choice.
Try myhishob Free — No SMS Required