Cilantro vs Copilot Money
Copilot is a beautifully made budgeting app for people who like to tend their money on an iPhone or Mac. Cilantro takes the opposite approach: it's observe-only and built for two — it watches your accounts, tells you what changed, and lets you flag a charge and ask your partner right in the app. No budgeting, and it costs less per year.
| Cilantro | Copilot Money | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $69.99/yr ($5.83/mo) | $95/yr |
| Monthly price | $8.99/mo | $13/mo |
| What you do to use it | Link accounts. No budgets, no tagging. | Categorize and tend a budget (AI-assisted). |
| Budgeting | None by design | Category-based (its core) |
| Unusual-charge & anomaly alerts | ✓ Built in | Recurring detection, not anomaly alerts |
| Auto-detected trip recaps | ✓ Across both cards, any currency | — |
| Built for couples | ✓ Joint shows for both, flag & ask in-app | Solo-oriented; clunky as a couple |
| Investment tracking | Balances only | ✓ Included |
| Platforms | iPhone | iOS, iPad, Mac, web (no Android) |
When Copilot is the better choice
If you're a solo user deep in the Apple ecosystem who enjoys hands-on budgeting — categorizing, widgets, Shortcuts, investment holdings in one place — Copilot is one of the most polished apps around, and it's a delight to use on Mac. Cilantro doesn't try to be that.
When Cilantro is the better choice
If you share money with a partner, Cilantro was built for two from the first screen: joint cards show for both of you, private stays private, and you can flag a charge and ask about it without leaving the app. Copilot has no Android app, so if one of you is on Android it can't be your shared tool — Cilantro's household model is the point. And if you'd rather not budget at all, Cilantro just watches and tells you what changed.
Now on iPhone & Android · 7-day free preview · one subscription covers your household.