How to track recurring subscriptions and bills on iPhone?

The short answer: Add each expected subscription or bill as a recurring template in Expensa. The app adds a ledger entry on the dates you choose. It does not discover subscriptions from your bank, confirm that a charge cleared, or cancel a service for you.

This guide covers a planned bill. If you want to compare the ongoing free limits of several iPhone apps first, start with the free expense tracker comparison.

How it works

A recurring transaction is a template. You set it up, for example, as a $15.99 monthly streaming bill, and Expensa creates an entry in your own ledger on the scheduled date. When you next open the app, it catches up on due dates that passed while it was closed. This is an expected amount, which may differ from the final bank charge after a price change, tax or currency conversion.

Frequencies: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. Works for expenses and income.

Set one up

You don’t create recurring transactions from a separate screen — you create them from the regular Add Transaction flow.

1. Tap + on the dashboard to add a transaction.
2. Pick the type — Expense (Netflix) or Income (salary).
3. Enter the amount and currency. Pick the account that pays it and a category.
4. Tap the repeat button in the form. Pick a frequency.
5. Set the start date — this is the anchor for every future occurrence. Optionally set an end date.
6. Save.

If the start date is today, Expensa creates today’s transaction immediately and schedules the next one. If it’s in the future, the first one fires on that date.

For a monthly bill due on the 12th, set the start date to the next 12th and select monthly. Before saving, confirm the account and currency. If you use one card for the bill but choose a different account in the template, the scheduled entry will appear under the wrong account even though the bank charge is unchanged.

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Manage them in the Recurring tab

Once a recurring transaction exists, the Recurring tab is where you see it. Two segments: Expenses and Income. The header shows total monthly cost across the segment — double-tap the number to switch between monthly and yearly view.

Each row shows category, account, next run date, and amount. Tap a row for the detail sheet:

• Pause — stop generating new transactions without losing the template. Resume later with one tap.
• Cancel — soft-delete. Future transactions stop; past ones stay in your history.
• Edit — change amount, account, category, frequency, period, notes, or tags.

The “Started on” date is locked once the recurrence has fired at least once — but you can set the next transaction date directly if a charge moved.

A 10-minute subscription audit

1. Open two recent bank or card statements. Mark charges that repeat, and check the amount and billing date for each one.
2. Add a template only for a charge you still expect. Choose an expense category, such as Subscriptions, and the account you actually use.
3. Check the Recurring tab for the next date and monthly total. If a charge is yearly, switch the summary to yearly before comparing it with your statement.
4. When the next statement arrives, compare its actual charge with the scheduled entry. Edit the template after a price or date change. If Apple Pay already imported the same purchase, remove the duplicate ledger entry or use only one recording method for that bill.

This gives you a list to review. To stop a paid service, cancel it with the provider; canceling its Expensa template only stops future tracker entries.

Limits

Free plan: 3 active recurring templates. Premium removes that limit. Pausing a template stops future scheduled entries without deleting the template; check your active-template count before adding another on the free plan.

Notes that matter

Multi-currency works as expected. Notion in USD while your account is in EUR? Expensa stores the original amount and the rate at the time the transaction is generated, so reports stay consistent.

Notifications are app-wide. If you want a reminder when something is due, turn on recurrence reminders in Settings → Notifications — applies to all recurring transactions, not per-template.

Catch-up is idempotent. If you don’t open the app for two weeks, the missed transactions are created on launch — no duplicates if one already exists for the same day.

Apple Pay uses a separate recording path. On iOS 27+, Expensa’s new shortcut uses eligible Wallet notifications and can include online or in-app payments when a suitable notification arrives. On iOS 26 and earlier, the Wallet Transaction automation covers supported card taps; it should not be treated as a feed of every online subscription. Follow the iOS 27+ guide or iOS 26 and earlier guide. If both a recurring template and Apple Pay import record one bill, check for a duplicate: they do not verify each other against the bank.

Troubleshooting

Transactions aren’t generating. Open the app. Catch-up runs on launch and during background refresh; if the device hasn’t checked in for a while, opening it triggers the missed runs.

Wrong amount on a future occurrence. Edit the recurring template, not the individual transaction. Future transactions use the new amount; past ones keep the value they were created with.

Charge date moved. Edit the period — if the recurrence has already started, set the next transaction date directly.