Best Walnut App Alternative in India (2026)
If you're searching for a Walnut app alternative, you're not alone. Walnut — once one of India's most popular SMS-based expense trackers — was acquired by Capital Float in 2018 and has since been discontinued as a standalone product. Millions of Indian users who relied on Walnut to track their spending are now looking for a replacement.
The good news: there are better options today. And the best ones don't require you to share your bank account or OTP.
Why Did Walnut Stop Working?
Walnut was originally built by Thumbworks Technologies. It read your SMS messages to automatically detect bank transactions and credit card spends — a clever approach for its time. In 2018, Capital Float acquired Walnut for approximately $30 million, primarily for its user base and data.
After the acquisition, Walnut's focus shifted toward Capital Float's lending products. The expense tracking features were gradually deprioritised. By the early 2020s, the app stopped receiving updates and most users found it broken or unavailable.
What Made Walnut Good (And What Was the Problem)
Walnut worked well because it was automatic — you didn't need to manually enter anything. It read your SMS alerts from banks and tallied them up. But this came with real problems:
- Privacy risk — Walnut had full access to your SMS inbox, including OTPs, bank alerts, and personal messages
- Bank dependency — it only worked if your bank sent SMS alerts. UPI apps like GPay and PhonePe often didn't show up
- No control — you couldn't add cash expenses, petrol, or anything paid without a digital trail
- No Google Play availability — SMS-reading apps were removed from the Play Store after Google's 2019 policy changes, which killed the core functionality
Best Walnut App Alternatives in India (2026)
1. Spentt — Best Free Alternative, No Bank Linking
Spentt is a free expense tracker built specifically for Indian users. Unlike Walnut, it doesn't read your SMS or connect to your bank — you log expenses yourself in under 5 seconds. Your data is stored privately in your own Google Drive, not on any company's servers.
Why Spentt is the best Walnut replacement:
- Completely free — no subscription, no premium tier
- No bank account or SMS access required
- Works offline — log expenses even without internet
- Google Drive storage — your data belongs to you
- Tracks cash, UPI, card, and all payment types
- Monthly budget and spending pace insights built in
- Works on any browser — no app download needed
Free to use. No bank linking. Your data stays in your Google Drive.
Try Spentt free →2. Money Manager
Money Manager is a popular Android app that lets you manually track income and expenses with categories. It has a clean interface and good charting.
- ✅ Manual entry (private) ✅ Income + expense tracking
- ❌ Paid features behind a paywall ❌ Data stored on device only (no free cloud backup)
3. Monefy
Monefy is a simple budget tracker app with a circular spending wheel. Very easy to use but limited in features.
- ✅ Very simple interface ✅ Multiple currencies
- ❌ Limited to basic tracking ❌ No income tracking in free version ❌ Paid for full features
4. Google Sheets (Manual)
Some users switch to a Google Sheets template after Walnut stopped working. It's free and fully customisable — but tedious to maintain from a phone, with no insights out of the box. If you want the Google Sheets approach but with a better interface, Spentt stores your data in Google Drive just like Sheets would.
Walnut vs Spentt: Side-by-Side
| Feature | Walnut (old) | Spentt |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Bank linking required | Yes (SMS) | No |
| Privacy | Low (SMS access) | High (your Google Drive) |
| Cash expense tracking | No | Yes |
| UPI tracking | Partial | Yes |
| Works offline | No | Yes |
| Data ownership | Walnut's servers | Your Google Drive |
| Active & maintained | No | Yes |
| App download needed | Yes | No (browser-based) |
Why Automatic Tracking Doesn't Work in India Anymore
Walnut's auto-SMS model was clever in 2015. But today, most Indians pay via UPI — and UPI transactions often don't generate bank SMS alerts. You get a GPay notification, not an SMS to your bank number.
This means auto-tracking apps miss a large chunk of real spending — UPI spends at chai shops, autos, and street vendors go unrecorded. Manual logging, done quickly through a well-designed app, is actually more accurate than auto-SMS tracking in 2026.
How to Switch from Walnut to Spentt
No app download. No bank linking. No OTP sharing.
Final Verdict
If you used Walnut and are now looking for a replacement, Spentt is the closest in spirit — but better in every way that matters in 2026. It's free, private, works for all payment types including cash and UPI, and your data stays in your Google Drive forever.
Free forever. No ads. No bank account needed.
Start tracking free →Last updated: October 2026