# PocketGuard

> PocketGuard is a budgeting app for iOS, Android and the web that tracks spending, bills, debts and goals from linked bank accounts. PocketGuard, Inc. also sells a personal finance API and a white-label app to businesses.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pocketguard
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pocketguard.md (~4,850 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pocketguard.min.md (~1,180 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pocketguard.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-14

## Overview

**Grade F · 14.6/100 · rank #1053 of 1076 · #8 in Subscriptions, bills & personal finance · not agent-ready · not for agents · confidence medium**


## Assessment

PocketGuard is a subscription budgeting app with published plan prices, a 7-day trial and iOS releases every few weeks. There is no public API or MCP server an outside agent can call today. Its personal finance API and white-label app are sold to businesses through a demo request, with no public documentation.

## Facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Vendor | PocketGuard, Inc. (https://pocketguard.com) |
| Kind | Platform |
| Category | Subscriptions, bills & personal finance (https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/personal-finance) |
| Auth | OAuth or key · A PocketGuard account in the app or on the web, protected by a PIN, biometrics and bank-side MFA. Bank data arrives read-only through Finicity, Plaid, Salt Edge and Apple Wallet (https://pocketguard.com/security/). The business API is reached only by a demo request (https://pocketguard.com/pocketguard-api/), and no credential for an outside agent is documented. |
| Pricing | Paid (Paid) · PocketGuard Premium is $74.99 a year, $12.99 a month or $149.99 once, each with a 7-day free trial (https://pocketguard.com/pricing/, checked 14 October 2026). The App Store also lists in-app purchases from $2.99 to $74.99 (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id949414211). The business API and white-label app have no published price. |
| x402 | No · No x402, MPP or L402 found on pocketguard.com, the API page or the terms, checked 14 October 2026. |
| Licence | Closed service under the PocketGuard Terms of Use (PocketGuard, Inc.). |
| llms.txt | not found |
| Last release | 2026-10-06 |
| Surface listed | The PocketGuard app, read from pocketguard.com, its pricing, security, API and white-label pages, the terms, privacy policy, a help article and the App Store listing on 14 October 2026. No account was created and no demo was requested. |
| Outside agent access | None. The PocketGuard API has no public documentation, keys or prices, and access starts with a demo request. |
| What it acts on | Linked account balances and transactions, budgets, goals, debts, recurring bills and subscriptions (https://pocketguard.com/pricing/). |
| Bank connections | Finicity, Plaid, Salt Edge and Apple Wallet, read-only (https://pocketguard.com/security/). |
| Company | PocketGuard, Inc., Menlo Park, California (https://pocketguard.com/privacy/). |
| Capabilities | finance.budgets, finance.transactions, finance.bills, finance.subscriptions, finance.cancellation |
| Tags | hosted, official, closed-source, paid, ios, android, web, white-label, not-for-agents, sales-led |
| JSON | https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pocketguard.json |

## Score breakdown (methodology v0.4, October 2026 research run)

Assessed 2026-10-14 from public evidence against the published checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist). Confidence: medium. Performance and Task success pending (no score, not in the total); the total is Σ(score × weight) ÷ 80 over the 7 assessed categories. "This run" is each category's share of the 100 points.

| Category | Weight | This run | Score (0–100) | Points |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% | 20 | 15 | 3.0 |
| Performance | 10% | pending | pending | n/a |
| Schema & documentation | 13% | 16.2 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% | 16.2 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Security & auth | 14% | 17.5 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% | 12.5 | 20 | 2.5 |
| Task success | 10% | pending | pending | n/a |
| Maintenance & community | 7% | 8.8 | 56 | 4.9 |
| Transparency & trust (editorial 35, provenance 61) | 7% | 8.8 | 48 | 4.2 |
| Negative events | up to −15 | up to −15 | none recorded | 0 |
| **Total** | | | | **14.6 → F** |

### Why each score

- Reliability 15: Read with the hosted lines. No status page found, and status.pocketguard.com has no DNS record (0). No readable incident history (5). No limits published, and no interface for an outside agent (0). No overload or retry guidance (0). No SLA (0). On the App Store since 7 January 2015 and not labelled beta (10).
- Performance: Pending. Latency is measured per call by our probes, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until the first probe window closes.
- Schema & documentation 0: Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. The PocketGuard API has no public reference, so the contract, description, typed-input and example lines score nothing (0 of 25, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15). pocketguard.com/llms.txt returns 404 (0 of 10). Nothing to version (0 of 15).
- Agent ergonomics 0: Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. With no public interface, context cost, pagination, errors, retries and defaults have nothing to score (0 on each line). The CSV export is for people.
- Security & auth 0: Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. With none public, the credential, least-privilege, injection and audit lines score nothing (0 of 30, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15). For the record, bank data is read-only and the app uses a PIN and biometrics. security.txt returns 404, and no disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification was found (0 of 20).
- Payments & pricing 20: Read with the hosted rule. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public on the pricing page, $74.99 a year, $12.99 a month or $149.99 once (10). A 7-day free trial, with no statement on whether it needs a card, scored as hedged (10 of 20). A person signs up in the app (0). The business API is sales-led.
- Task success: Pending. Task success needs the category task suites run through each tool, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until then. A data provider's data-quality score is published on its listing now and becomes half of this category when it's scored.
- Maintenance & community 56: Read for a closed service. iOS 5.20.5 on 6 October 2026 (30). Four iOS versions from 21 August to 6 October (20). Feature-level release notes and a help centre with dated articles, such as one updated 3 September 2026, and support@pocketguard.com, untested (6 of 15). No SDK (0). No package or CI to judge (0).
- Transparency & trust 48: Closed service under dated terms naming PocketGuard, Inc. (15). The privacy policy, dated 12 May 2025, gives retention criteria but no periods and leaves service providers unnamed (12 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices found (2 of 20). Aggregators are named on the security page and Billshark and Finicity in the terms, with no full subprocessor list or regions (6 of 20).

Fix list for a coding agent, everything this grade says the listing lacks, the biggest gain first (13 items): https://www.anchorterminal.com/fixes/pocketguard.md (JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/fixes/pocketguard.json)

### What we couldn't check

- Whether the 7-day trial needs a card.
- What the PocketGuard API's authentication, rate limits and contract look like; none is public.

### Sources

- API page: <https://pocketguard.com/pocketguard-api/> (seen 2026-10-14)
- white-label page: <https://pocketguard.com/white-label/> (seen 2026-10-14)
- pricing: <https://pocketguard.com/pricing/> (seen 2026-10-14)
- security page: <https://pocketguard.com/security/> (seen 2026-10-14)
- terms of use: <https://pocketguard.com/terms/> (seen 2026-10-14)
- privacy policy: <https://pocketguard.com/privacy/> (seen 2026-10-14)
- export help article: <https://pocketguard.com/help/export-transactions/> (seen 2026-10-14)
- App Store listing and version history: <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id949414211> (seen 2026-10-14)
- robots.txt: <https://pocketguard.com/robots.txt> (seen 2026-10-14)

## Who's behind it (provenance 61/100, checked 2026-10-14)

| Check | Finding | Points |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Legal entity named | PocketGuard, Inc. | 20/20 |
| Domain age | pocketguard.com, registered 2000-05-02 (26 years) | 15/15 |
| Endpoint on the vendor's domain | no hosted endpoint | n/a |
| Terms of service | read, states 6 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 1 clause that costs points | 7.1/10 |
| Privacy policy | read, states 8 of the 8 things a reader expects | 10/10 |
| Status page | not found | 0/10 |
| Changelog | not found | 0/10 |
| security.txt | not found | 0/10 |

The terms were last updated 26 November 2024 and the privacy policy 12 May 2025.

pocketguard.com/.well-known/security.txt returns 404. status.pocketguard.com has no DNS record.

RDAP gives a registration date of 2000-05-02 for pocketguard.com, older than the app.

### Terms and privacy, as read

A reading by a fixed set of rules, each answered with the vendor's own sentence. Not legal advice.

**Terms of service** (https://pocketguard.com/terms/), read 2026-10-14, dated 2024-11-26, states 6 of the 7 things a reader expects.

- To know. Restricts automated access (costs points). "send automated or machine-generated search queries or use robots, crawlers or similar applications to collect or compile content from the Services;"
- To know. Says access can be ended without notice or for any reason. "PocketGuard may remove or block access to the Services, or any part thereof, for any reason that PocketGuard may consider to be justified in its sole discretion including, but not limited to:"
- Gives the date it was last updated. Last updated 2024-11-26.
- Names the governing law or courts. The law of the State of California.
- Says how changes to the terms are announced. Says it gives notice of a change.
- Not found in the text. Refers to a service level or uptime commitment.
- Also in the text (2026-10-14). PocketGuard caps its total liability at 50 US dollars. "THEN THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE POCKETGUARD PARTIES TO YOU SHALL BE LIMITED TO FIFTY US DOLLARS"
- Also in the text (2026-10-14). Users appoint PocketGuard or its vendors as their agent with limited power of attorney to retrieve account data from their financial providers. "us or our third-party vendors as your agent with limited power of attorney to access and retrieve your Provider Account Data on your behalf"
- Also in the text (2026-10-14). All prepaid subscriptions become non-refundable if PocketGuard stops providing the service, including through liquidation or bankruptcy. "IN THE EVENT THAT WE CEASE PROVIDING THE SERVICE, WHETHER AS A RESULT OF A LIQUIDATION, BANKRUPTCY, OR OTHERWISE, ALL PREPAID SUBSCRIPTIONS WILL BE TREATED AS NON-REFUNDABLE."

**Privacy policy** (https://pocketguard.com/privacy/), read 2026-10-14, dated 2025-05-12, states 8 of the 8 things a reader expects.

- Gives the date it was last updated. Last updated 2025-05-12.
- Says how long data is kept. For as long as needed, with no period named.
- Says whether personal data is sold or shared for advertising. Says it does not sell personal data.
- Gives a privacy contact. privacy@pocketguard.com.
- Says where data is transferred or stored. Relies on standard contractual clauses.
- Also in the text (2026-10-14). PocketGuard may use a user's financial information to suggest financial products and services from its marketing partners. "We will never share your Financial Information with our marketing partners without your express consent, but we may use your Financial Information to generate offers for financial products and services from our marketing partners that may be of interest to you."
- Also in the text (2026-10-14). PocketGuard may sell aggregated or de-identified data derived from personal information to third parties for any purpose it chooses. "We may use such aggregated, de-identified, or anonymized data and disclose, share, or sell to third parties for our lawful business purposes or any other purposes, determined in our discretion, unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law"

## Probe metrics

Not measured yet. Our benchmark probes haven't run, so there's no availability, latency or error rate from a run and Performance is pending. Live uptime, where we poll the endpoint, is under Live and doesn't change the score.

## Strengths

- Plan prices published without login, $74.99 a year, $12.99 a month or $149.99 once, each with a 7-day trial.
- Bank data arrives read-only through Finicity, Plaid, Salt Edge and Apple Wallet, per the security page.
- Four iOS releases between 21 August and 6 October 2026.
- Transactions export to CSV from the app, per a help article updated 3 September 2026.

## Weaknesses

- No public API or MCP server an outside agent can call.
- The PocketGuard API is reached only by a demo request, with no public docs, keys or prices.
- The terms forbid robots, crawlers and automated queries against the service.
- No status page or security.txt, and the privacy policy names no retention periods.

## Before you call it (notes for agents)

1. Don't plan to call PocketGuard from another agent. There is no public API, so hand budgeting tasks to the person, or point a business to the API demo request.
2. To move a person's data elsewhere, ask them to export transactions as CSV in the app. The emailed link lasts 24 hours.

## Similar tools

Ranked by shared capabilities, then score. Same-category tools with no shared capability key are listed last.

| Tool | Grade | Score | Rank | Shared capabilities | x402 | Markdown |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rocket Money | F | 17 | 1046 | finance.subscriptions, finance.cancellation, finance.bills, finance.budgets, finance.transactions | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/rocket-money.md |
| Hiatus | F | 14.3 | 1054 | finance.subscriptions, finance.cancellation, finance.bills, finance.budgets, finance.transactions | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hiatus.md |
| Snoop | F | 26.7 | 1027 | finance.subscriptions, finance.bills, finance.budgets, finance.transactions | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/snoop.md |
| Quicken Simplifi | F | 20.7 | 1037 | finance.subscriptions, finance.budgets, finance.bills, finance.transactions | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/quicken-simplifi.md |
| Emma | F | 17.4 | 1044 | finance.subscriptions, finance.budgets, finance.bills, finance.transactions | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/emma.md |
| Copilot Money | F | 16.3 | 1049 | finance.budgets, finance.transactions, finance.subscriptions, finance.bills | no | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/copilot-money.md |

## Panel reviews (0)

Reviewed by the Anchor panel (https://www.anchorterminal.com/reviewers/index.md): .

Desk reviews, written from public documentation, pricing, terms, source and status history on 1 October 2026. No calls made. For a desk review, the outcome says whether the reviewer's questions could be answered from public material: success, partial or failure. How reviews work: https://www.anchorterminal.com/reviews/how-it-works.md

## Notable

- pocketguard.com/pocketguard-api/ describes a personal finance API for businesses covering transactions, budgets, goals, bank syncing and recurring payments, reached by a demo request (source: <https://pocketguard.com/pocketguard-api/>)
- A white-label iOS and Android app is sold to businesses through the same demo request (source: <https://pocketguard.com/white-label/>)
- The terms forbid automated or machine-generated queries and robots or crawlers that collect content from the services (source: <https://pocketguard.com/terms/>)
- The terms name Billshark and Finicity as third-party providers (source: <https://pocketguard.com/terms/>)
- Transactions export to CSV through an emailed link valid for 24 hours (source: <https://pocketguard.com/help/export-transactions/>)

- #8 of 10 in Best subscription, bill and budgeting tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-finance/index.md
- All 43 personal finance comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-finance/index.md

## Compare

- [Emma vs PocketGuard](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emma-vs-pocketguard.md): F 17.4 vs F 14.6
- [Hiatus vs PocketGuard](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hiatus-vs-pocketguard.md): F 14.3 vs F 14.6
- [PocketGuard vs ScribeUp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pocketguard-vs-scribeup.md): F 14.6 vs F 7.9
- [Copilot Money vs PocketGuard](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/copilot-money-vs-pocketguard.md): F 16.3 vs F 14.6
- [PocketGuard vs Quicken Simplifi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pocketguard-vs-quicken-simplifi.md): F 14.6 vs F 20.7
- [PocketGuard vs Rocket Money](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pocketguard-vs-rocket-money.md): F 14.6 vs F 17
- [PocketGuard vs Snoop](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pocketguard-vs-snoop.md): F 14.6 vs F 26.7
- [PocketGuard vs YNAB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pocketguard-vs-ynab.md): F 14.6 vs B 65.1
- [Plum vs PocketGuard](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/plum-vs-pocketguard.md): F 27.4 vs F 14.6

## Verify this listing

For the vendor. The badge or a plain link to this page verifies the listing, from a page on pocketguard.com or one of its subdomains. It shows the listing is the vendor's and that the vendor knows it's here, and it never changes a grade, rank or review. The vendor sends the page's address to `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` as `{"slug": "pocketguard", "url": "…"}`, or calls the `verify_listing` tool at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp. We fetch the page once, then again every week; two failed checks in a row and the verification lapses, and a later pass restores it. What we check: https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/index.md#verify

HTML badge:

```html
<a href="https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pocketguard"><img src="https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/pocketguard.svg" alt="PocketGuard on Anchor Terminal" height="20"></a>
```

Markdown badge, for a README:

```markdown
[![PocketGuard on Anchor Terminal](https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/pocketguard.svg)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pocketguard)
```

Plain link:

```html
<a href="https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pocketguard">PocketGuard on Anchor Terminal</a>
```

## Share this listing

For the vendor. Sharing assets for social media, two PNGs of 1200 × 630 that say PocketGuard is listed on Anchor Terminal, with the vendor's logo and this page's address and no grade or score.

- Dark: https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/share/pocketguard-dark.png
- Light: https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/share/pocketguard-light.png
- Create a video and download its frames: https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/listing-video/index.html?listing=pocketguard