Comparison
CrestCast vs PocketSmith
Both of these are forecasting apps rather than spending trackers, which is rare, so the choice comes down to what each one forecasts. CrestCast models the whole UK household as one connected picture: cashflow, profit and loss and net worth, with the date each debt clears falling out of the same numbers. PocketSmith projects your account balances forward from your budgets.
| CrestCast | PocketSmith | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Plan a UK household: where the money is heading, when debts clear, and a decision tested | Forecast your account balances and manage your money, in any country |
| Bank connection | None. You enter what it knows, or import a CSV | Yes. Automatic feeds, in the UK through Salt Edge Open Banking |
| What the forecast is | Cashflow, profit & loss and net worth as one connected model, plus debt clearance dates | Projected account balances, driven by the budgets you assign to each account |
| Forecast horizon | Ten years, a deliberate cap. There is no setting that extends it | Tiered: 6 months free, 10 years Foundation, 30 years Flourish, 60 years Fortune |
| Scenarios | Save whole versions of your plan and compare them side by side | Secondary scenarios per account, switched on and off and stacked together |
| Household | One subscription covers the household. Your partner logs in as themselves, with joint, personal and household views | A collaborator can log in separately with full permissions over your data. For data of their own they need their own account (family members get 40% off a monthly subscription) |
| UK focus | Built only for the UK: income tax, National Insurance, the student loan plans, ISAs and pensions | Global tool with multi-currency support. Documents no UK tax, ISA or allowance features |
| Price | £7.99/mo or £79.99/yr, one subscription for the household | Free tier; Foundation £14.95/mo (£9.99 billed annually); Flourish £24.95 (£16.66); Fortune £39.95 (£26.66) |
PocketSmith's prices and tiers correct as at 16/09/2026. Taken from PocketSmith's own plans page, which is also the source for the tiered forecast horizons.
PocketSmith is a trademark of its owner; this comparison is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by PocketSmith.
Why we forecast ten years and not thirty sets out what we removed and why, including the cases where a longer horizon really is the better tool.
Where CrestCast is different
The clearest difference is what the word forecast means in each product. PocketSmith forecasts account balances: it takes each account's current balance and pushes it forward using the budgets assigned to that account. CrestCast forecasts the household, as a three-way model: cashflow, profit and loss, and net worth, all reconciling to each other, the way a business would look at itself. That is why CrestCast can tell you the month a debt clears rather than only showing the balance curve that gets there.
The second difference is who the product thinks the user is. PocketSmith is built around one person with accounts, and a partner joins as a collaborator on that person's data. CrestCast is built around a household from the start: both incomes, joint and personal accounts kept apart but added up, children, and one subscription covering all of it. If you have ever tried to plan a mortgage overpayment with a tool that only really understands one of you, that difference is the whole point.
The third is scope. PocketSmith is a global tool, built to serve many countries. CrestCast is UK only, so income tax, National Insurance, the student loan plans, ISAs and pensions are modelled in detail, and the product is built around UK rules alone.
And CrestCast never connects to your bank. You do the typing, and in exchange nothing is read from your accounts, ever. Here is why I built it that way.
What a balance forecast does not produce
Figures shown are the sample profile, not a real household.
Which should you choose?
Choose CrestCast if the thing you actually want to answer is a household question. Can we afford the bigger house. What happens to us if one of us goes part time. When is the mortgage actually gone, and would overpaying beat saving. Comparing two versions of your plan side by side works because all three statements come from one model.
Choose PocketSmith if you want automatic bank feeds, so transactions arrive and are categorised without typing; if you hold money in more than one currency; if you want file import (OFX, QFX, QIF and CSV) or a public API; if you want a horizon past ten years, which its Flourish and Fortune tiers sell; or if you want a free tier and a track record back to 2008 behind the software.
Common questions
›Is CrestCast a good PocketSmith alternative?
For a UK household that wants to plan, yes. CrestCast models the whole household as one connected forecast, cashflow, profit and loss and net worth reconciling to each other, which a balance projection does not produce. PocketSmith is a genuine forecaster and it has bank feeds; CrestCast does not connect to any account, so you enter what it knows or import a CSV. The trade is a UK-only, household-shaped plan against a global, bank-connected one.
›Does PocketSmith work with UK banks?
Yes. PocketSmith connects to UK banks through Salt Edge, an FCA-registered aggregator, using Open Banking. How many banks you can connect depends on your plan: 2 accounts on the free tier, 6 banks from one country on Foundation, 18 on Flourish, unlimited on Fortune. CrestCast has no bank connection at all, which is a deliberate design choice: nothing is read from your accounts, no credential is shared, and the model holds exactly what you decided to put in it.
›How does PocketSmith forecasting differ from CrestCast forecasting?
PocketSmith projects the balance of each account forward from its current actual balance, using the budgets you assign to that account, and its own documentation notes the forecast graph shows daily balances for about three months ahead and weekly balances beyond that. CrestCast models the household instead, as one connected set of statements. One answers "what will this account hold on that date", the other answers "what will this household be worth, and when is the mortgage gone".
›What does PocketSmith cost in the UK?
PocketSmith bills UK customers in pounds, and says so plainly in its own documentation: subscriptions are charged in GBP for users in the United Kingdom. Checked on 16/09/2026, its plans page showed a free tier, Foundation at £14.95 a month or £9.99 a month billed annually, Flourish at £24.95 or £16.66, and Fortune at £39.95 or £26.66. One thing worth knowing before you sign up from the wrong place: PocketSmith sets your billing currency from the country associated with your account at sign-up, and its documentation says changing that country from within settings is not possible. CrestCast has one plan. 30 days free, no card. Then £7.99 a month or £79.99 a year for the whole household. Prices change, so check both sites before you decide on cost.
›Which is better for a couple?
CrestCast is built for two people from the start: one subscription, two logins, and a standing line between joint money and each person’s own, so you can look at the household, the joint accounts, or either partner alone. PocketSmith works the other way round. You invite a collaborator who logs in separately and, in its own words, has full permissions and can do everything you can, which works well if you genuinely share everything. If you each want your own picture as well as the shared one, you are into two accounts, and whether that costs anything depends on whether the free tier is enough for the second person.
›Can I use both?
Some people will, and it is a reasonable setup. Let PocketSmith pull your transactions in and tell you what actually happened, and use CrestCast to model the decisions ahead of you. They overlap on forecasting, but they are pointed at different questions.
Other comparisons
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A bank-connected app for couples, next to a household forecaster that connects to nothing.
- CrestCast vs Money Dashboard →
Money Dashboard closed in 2023. What UK users lost, and what replaces which part of it.
- Moneyhub alternatives →
Moneyhub has closed its consumer app. How to split aggregation from planning now.
- CrestCast vs ProjectionLab →
ProjectionLab simulates a lifetime year by year. CrestCast forecasts a UK household day by day.
- Do you need a financial adviser? →
What an adviser charges, what they are worth, and where a planning tool is enough.
This is not advice
This comparison is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by PocketSmith. Details about PocketSmith come from its own public site, plans page and Learn Center, checked on 16/09/2026, and may be out of date by the time you read this. Check PocketSmith's own site for its current features and pricing. Nothing here is financial advice.
Forecast the household, not just the account.
CrestCast turns both incomes, the joint bills, the mortgage and the kids into one cashflow, profit and loss and net worth forecast, so you can test a decision before you make it.
30 days free, no card. Then £7.99 a month or £79.99 a year for the whole household.