Pocketbook was Australia's most popular free personal finance app at its 2018 peak with over 800,000 users. It shut down in July 2021 when owner Zip Co refocused on BNPL. Richify is the AI-powered alternative many former Pocketbook users have moved to.
| Feature | Richify | Pocketbook |
|---|---|---|
| App status | Active and growing | Shut down July 2021 |
| AI financial coach | Felix + 6 specialist agents | ✗ |
| Free plan | Yes — full access | Was free with ads |
| Free calculators | 15+ AU-specific (super, HECS, FIRE, stamp duty) | Basic budget tools only |
| Multi-country support | AU, US, CA, UK, IN, MX, BR, ES, TR, AR, ID, CN | Australia only (when active) |
| Bank linking | Manual (privacy-first) | Auto-linked via Yodlee |
| Super tracking | Manual + super calculator | Manual, no super calculator |
| HECS calculator | Yes — repayment timeline | ✗ |
| Investment education | AI agents inspired by Buffett, Dalio, Wood | ✗ |
| Privacy | No bank credentials needed | Stored bank credentials (Yodlee) |
| Currently downloadable | App Store + Google Play | Removed from stores |
| Gamification | Scores, badges, streaks | ✗ |
The Verdict
Pocketbook ceased operations in July 2021 and is no longer downloadable from App Store or Google Play. The Australian PFM segment now includes Richify (AI coaching + 15+ AU calculators + privacy-first manual entry), Frollo (CDR Open Banking + AFSL-regulated transaction tracking), Up Bank (built-in budgeting via the bank app), WeMoney and MoneyBrilliant (paid full-feature). Richify and Frollo cover different layers — calculators+education vs Open Banking aggregation — and do not overlap functionally.
Track your net worth, run calculators, and get built-in AI insights — all in one app. Start with a free trial.
Try Richify — Free TrialNo. Pocketbook officially shut down on 14 July 2021. Owner Zip Co (which acquired Pocketbook in 2016) wound down the app as part of strategic refocus on its core BNPL business. Existing users were given 30 days to export their data, after which the service was discontinued. The app is no longer downloadable from App Store or Google Play, and old installations no longer connect to bank feeds. Tens of thousands of Australians who used Pocketbook were left looking for alternatives.
Pocketbook (founded 2012, acquired by Zip Co in 2016) was Australia's most popular free personal finance app at its peak with 800,000+ users. It shut down because Zip Co decided to focus exclusively on its BNPL (buy now pay later) business and discontinued non-core products. Pocketbook also faced sustainability challenges: it was free with ads, which generated little revenue, and bank-linking via Yodlee was costly to maintain. The closure was announced in May 2021 with 60 days notice.
Several options depending on what you used Pocketbook for. For free AI-powered planning + AU calculators: Richify (super, HECS, FIRE, stamp duty, retirement, drawdown). For Open Banking transaction tracking: Frollo (CDR-regulated), Up Bank (built-in). For paid full-feature: WeMoney, MoneyBrilliant. Richify differentiates with: (1) Felix AI coach in plain English, (2) 15+ AU-specific calculators, (3) 100% free with no ads, (4) privacy-first (no bank credentials needed), (5) works in 12 countries (useful if you have UK/US/NZ accounts).
Probably not. Pocketbook gave users 30 days to export their data via CSV export in mid-2021, but most users didn't preserve those files. If you still have a CSV export from 2021, you can manually parse it but no app today supports a 'Pocketbook Import' button. Best practice when migrating to any new finance app: start fresh from current month, then optionally backfill 6-12 months from your bank statements (most banks let you download up to 7 years of statements as PDF or CSV).
No — by design. Pocketbook used Yodlee bank-credential aggregation. Richify follows a privacy-first model: holdings are entered manually (account balances, super balance, investments) and bank credentials never leave the device. AFSL-regulated alternatives that provide auto-linked transaction tracking via CDR Open Banking include Frollo and Up Bank's built-in features.
Yes — Richify is free with no ads (different from Pocketbook's ad-supported model). Core features include all 15+ Australian calculators (super, HECS, FIRE, stamp duty, drawdown, retirement, mortgage, refinance, compound interest, currency converter, net worth), Felix AI coach, and multi-account tracking. Premium specialist AI agents (Buffett, Dalio, Wood-style perspectives) are an optional paid upgrade. We don't sell ads or data — the business model is freemium with a paid tier for power users.