It depends on what made you quit. A spreadsheet wins on flexibility, cost and full control; an app wins on what keeps tracking going: logging from your phone in seconds, fixed expenses that log themselves, reminders, budgets and groups. If your spreadsheet has lasted for years, keep it; if you abandoned it, the problem was the logging.
The blog post "Spreadsheet or expense app?" covers when each one is the right answer. This page is the table: the same question, compared row by row with a specific app, Kesef, with what the spreadsheet does better stated plainly and the steps for moving from one to the other, in either direction.
Point by point
| Spreadsheet | Expense app (Kesef) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free with an online spreadsheet, or with the Excel you already have | Free to log, with ads; Kesef Pro is optional |
| Flexibility | Total: columns, formulas, charts and tables as you like | The app's structure: categories, tags, accounts and payment methods |
| Logging an expense | Open the file and type the row; awkward on a phone | From your phone in seconds, by hand or by voice |
| Fixed expenses | Copy the row every month | Entered once and logged on their own when the date comes |
| Instalment purchases | One row per instalment, or a formula | Log the purchase once and each month shows its instalment |
| Reminders | None, unless you build them | The day before each fixed expense or instalment, and at 80% and 100% of a budget |
| Several currencies | One more column and the rate by hand | 150+ currencies, each expense converted when logged |
| Shared expenses | Share the file and work out who owes what yourself | Groups with per-expense splits, balances and who owes whom |
| Screen | Computer or phone | Phone only: there's no web version |
| Your data | The file is yours, all of it | Export to CSV or JSON for free (last 30 days); full history and Excel, with Pro |
Where the spreadsheet wins
- Flexibility. If you want a column for the shop's tax ID or a quarterly pivot table, you build it. In an app you get what the app offers.
- Cost and ads. An online spreadsheet costs nothing and shows no ads. Kesef's free plan has ads, and some things (Excel, full history, Mercado Pago) are Pro.
- Control. The formulas are yours and so is the file; nobody decides for you how an expense is grouped.
- The big screen. To analyse a whole year, a computer beats a phone, and Kesef has no web version.
Where an app wins
- Logging in the moment. The expense gets logged at the checkout, not at night from memory. That's what most decides whether tracking lasts.
- What repeats logs itself: rent, utilities and subscriptions are entered once and show up when the date comes, when you open the app.
- Reminders without building them: the day before each fixed expense or instalment, and when a budget hits 80% and 100%.
- Real groups: everyone logs what they paid and the app works out who owes whom, without sharing an editable file.
- Mercado Pago and Apple Pay, with Kesef Pro: payments come in on their own, without typing them.
Who should keep their spreadsheet
If you've kept your spreadsheet for over a year without abandoning it, you have a system that works: an app will give you convenience, not consistency, and you already have the consistency. The same goes if you need columns or analysis no app offers, or if you log everything from a computer. In those cases, keep the spreadsheet.
If you've started it three times and dropped it three times, the problem wasn't the spreadsheet but the logging: opening a file to note down a coffee doesn't last. That's what an app changes.
Moving between them with Kesef
From Kesef to a spreadsheet: Profile → Export data. Free, to CSV (date, type, amount, category, payment method and note) or JSON, with the last 30 days. With Kesef Pro, any period or the full history, and to Excel with three sheets, named in Spanish: Movimientos (transactions), Por categoría (by category) and Por mes (by month).
From a spreadsheet to Kesef: Profile → Import data, which is free. Kesef reads a specific format: download the template from the app, paste your transactions into the "Gastos" (expenses) and "Ingresos" (income) sheets keeping the headers exactly as they are, and import it. Before confirming it shows you what will come in, and you choose to add to what you have or replace it. It also imports a Kesef JSON backup.
Kesef doesn't import a CSV, a spreadsheet in another format, or data from other apps: your rows have to go into the template first.
Or both at once: log on your phone, where it's quick, and once a month export the last 30 days to CSV, for free, to add them to your analysis spreadsheet.
- Export your expenses to Excel, CSV or JSON, and import them backExporting and importing in Kesef, in detail.
- Spreadsheet or expense app? When each one is the right answerSpreadsheet or app: when each one is the right answer.
- Exporting your expenses: what it's actually for and how often to do itWhat to do with your expenses once they're exported.
- 50/30/20 rule calculatorThe 50/30/20 rule, with your numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Is a spreadsheet or an expense app better?
A spreadsheet wins on flexibility, cost and control; an app wins on logging from your phone in the moment, fixed expenses that log themselves, reminders and groups. If your spreadsheet has lasted for years, there's no need to switch; if you abandoned it, an app fixes exactly the logging.
Can I import my spreadsheet into Kesef?
Yes, for free, if you move it into Kesef's template: download it from Profile → Import data, paste your transactions into the "Gastos" (expenses) and "Ingresos" (income) sheets with the headers it comes with, and import it. Kesef doesn't read a CSV or a spreadsheet in another format.
Can I export my expenses from Kesef to Excel?
To Excel, with Kesef Pro: a file with three sheets (transactions, by category and by month) and the period you choose. For free you can export to CSV, which any spreadsheet opens, or to JSON, with the last 30 days.
Can I use Kesef on a computer?
No: Kesef is an app for iPhone and Android, with no web version. If you analyse on a computer, export to CSV or Excel and carry on in your spreadsheet.
Is Kesef free?
Yes: downloading and using it is free, with no cap on logging, groups, recurring expenses and sync, with ads. Kesef Pro is optional (USD 5 per month, 35 per year with a 14-day trial, or 100 for life) and adds, among other things, Excel and full history when exporting.