Penge vs Revolut
Co-founder of Penge · Published 6 September 2026 · 5 min read
Revolut is often recommended as a budgeting app, which undersells it and misses the point at the same time. It is a financial institution that offers cards, accounts and currency exchange, with spending analytics on top. Penge focuses on the read-only overview and money-management tools, and never holds your money.
Key takeaways
- Penge connects accounts from 2300+ banks in 30+ countries, plus manual accounts, in one read-only overview.
- Revolut can link external bank accounts through Open Banking in some markets, but we did not find the feature offered in Norway, Sweden or Denmark, so check inside Revolut before relying on it for a full overview.
- Penge can read your Revolut account too, so the combined view includes it.
- Revolut offers a free plan and paid plans, with cards, exchange and travel features. Penge is free with no ads.
- Penge and Revolut can be used together: Revolut for the account and card, Penge for a combined read-only view that can include the Revolut account itself.
The short version
Penge is built for one read-only picture across the accounts you already use, with categories, budgets and subscription tracking over the combined data. Revolut is the stronger choice when you want the account and card itself, especially for currency exchange and travel. Where Revolut's linked-accounts feature exists the two overlap more, but we did not find it offered in Norway, Sweden or Denmark, so there Revolut's analytics in practice cover the Revolut account only.
| Penge | Revolut | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A read-only overview | A bank account, card and app[2][4] |
| Holds your money | No, never | Yes[2] |
| Price | Free, no ads | Free plan plus paid plans[2] |
| Sees other banks | 2300+ banks in 30+ countries | Linked accounts via Open Banking, varies by market[1] |
| Categorization | History-based suggestions you confirm, with automatic mode opt-in | Default and custom categories[5] |
| Budgets | Week, month or year | Yes[3] |
| Finds subscriptions | Yes, across connected accounts | For payments from the Revolut account[6] |
| Platforms | iPhone | iPhone and Android[4] |
What Penge is better at
- Breadth. Accounts from 2300+ banks in 30+ countries, plus manual credit cards, cash and balances.
- Budgets by week, month or year, with live progress and spending pace day by day.
- Every transaction arrives with a category suggested from your own history, and you confirm it with one tap. Turn on automatic categorization in settings and Penge applies the most confident ones by itself, never overwriting a category you set.
- Read-only focus. Penge does not offer an account and cannot move your money.
What Revolut is better at
- Cards, currency exchange and travel features in the same app.[2]
- Making payments, transfers and exchanges. Penge cannot perform any of them.
- Android support as well as iPhone.[4]
The question that decides it
Do you want to act on your money or analyse it across providers? Choose Revolut when the account, card, payments and exchange are the point. Choose Penge when you want a read-only overview across supported bank accounts and manual balances without moving them to a new bank. Revolut can also analyse external accounts where its linked-accounts feature is offered, but availability and participating banks vary by market.
Worth checking either way: are your banks reachable? See the banks we support
A note on trust
Revolut is the institution holding your funds. Penge retrieves balances and transactions through GoCardless, a licensed account information provider, with read-only access. That means Penge cannot transfer or withdraw money. Read-only access does not remove privacy or security risks, so the useful distinction is what each product is authorised to do.
Get a full overview with Penge
Connect your bank and let the app categorize and budget automatically.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Revolut show my other bank accounts?
- In several European markets, yes, through its linked accounts feature. It is not offered everywhere, and we did not find it marketed for Norway, Sweden or Denmark, so check inside your own app.
- Can Penge show my Revolut account?
- Yes. Revolut is among the banks Penge connects to through Open Banking, with read-only access. Your Revolut balances and transactions appear alongside your other accounts, so you can keep paying with Revolut and let Penge handle the combined overview.
- Is Penge a bank, and do I have to become a customer?
- Penge is not a bank. You need a Penge user account, but there is no Penge bank account: the app reads your existing accounts through a licensed provider and cannot move money, open accounts or lend.
- Which is better for tracking spending abroad?
- Revolut is built for making the card payment and exchanging currency. Penge is for seeing it alongside the rest of your spending. When the bank supplies the foreign-currency original, Penge shows it with the settled amount. Otherwise it shows an approximate conversion to your primary currency when an exchange rate is available.