SubHound vs Rocket Money vs Bobby: Which Recurring Payment Tracker Is Worth It?
SubHound vs Rocket Money vs Bobby, head to head.
Three tools, three philosophies. One wants your bank login and a monthly fee. One lives only on your iPhone. One charges you once and stays out of the way. Here is the honest breakdown.
The head to head
| SubHound | Rocket Money | Bobby | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free dashboard, £49 once for lifetime alerts | Free, Premium US$6 to $12 a month | One-off, a few pounds |
| Bank login required | No | Yes, via Plaid | No |
| Detection | Smart Import: paste statements or receipts | Automatic from your transactions | Manual only |
| Renewal alerts | Email, SMS, WhatsApp, calendar | Push notifications | Push notifications |
| Platforms | Any web browser | iOS, Android, web | iOS only |
| Cancels for you | No, but keeps direct cancel links | Yes, for some services | No |
| Best in | UK | US | Global, iPhone only |
| A subscription itself | Never | Optional monthly Premium | No |
Price: the whole point
Rocket Money Premium costs up to US$12 a month. Over two years that is close to US$300, which is more than most people spend on the subscriptions they are trying to cut.
Bobby costs a few pounds, once. SubHound costs nothing for the dashboard and £49 once for lifetime alerts at the current founding price.
If the tool fighting subscription creep has subscription creep of its own, something has gone wrong.
Privacy: who sees your money
Rocket Money works by connecting to your bank through Plaid and reading your transactions. That is how automatic detection works, and for plenty of people that trade is fine. But you are handing a third party read access to your financial life.
Bobby and SubHound never touch your bank. You tell them what you pay, they remind you before it renews. Less magic, more control, nothing to leak.
Detection: automatic vs accurate
Automatic detection sounds great until it guesses wrong. Bank feeds can mislabel transactions, miss annual payments, or count the same service twice. You end up checking the list anyway.
Manual entry takes twenty minutes, once. After that you have a list you actually trust, because you made it. SubHound's Smart Import sits in the middle: paste a statement line or receipt and AI fills the form, you confirm. No bank connection needed.
The verdict
- Choose Rocket Money if you are in the US, want everything automated, and are happy paying monthly for it.
- Choose Bobby if you only ever use an iPhone and want the cheapest option going.
- Choose SubHound if you are in the UK, want alerts on any device, do not want to share your bank login, and refuse to pay a subscription to manage subscriptions.