Every major iPhone tip tracker, side by side — by the makers of one of them.
| App | Rating (count) | Free tier | Ads | Account required | Where your data lives | Paid price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TipKeep: Server Tip Tracker | 4.9 (26) | Unlimited logging, 30-day history | None, ever | No | Your iPhone only | $24.99/yr (7-day trial) · $7.99/mo · $39.99 lifetime |
| ServerLife | 4.8 (9,530) | Core tracking | Yes (free tier) | Account-based (cloud) | Their servers (sync) | ~$2.99/mo · ~$29.99/yr tiers + $0.99/mo ad removal |
| Just The Tips | 4.5 (2,993) | Full tracking | Video ads (free tier) | Yes — email sign-up | Cloud backup (account-based) | Premium unlock ($1.99–$19.99) |
| TipTracker | 4.8 (9,354) | Core tracking | Yes, incl. reports after paying | Optional ($10.99) | Device / paid account | À la carte: ~$8.99 no-ads, ~$3.99 add-ons |
| Waiter Pal | 4.9 (790) | Limited (features moved to paid) | Had ad complaints | Not required for basics | Device + optional online sync | Subscription tiers |
| Server44 | 5.0 (17) | Core tracking | Free tier; PRO removes ads | No | Device (offline) | Server44 PRO tier (3-day trial) |
| TipSee | 3.1 (265) | Core tracking | Heavy | No | Device; manual/email backups | Ad removal IAP |
Ratings and prices from Apple's App Store API, August 19, 2026. Competitor pricing tiers change often — check their listings for current offers.
The pitch: log cash, card, tip-out, sales, and hours in about 10 seconds, watch a glass jar fill toward your weekly goal, and see what you walked with — plus your real hourly after tip-outs. No account, no ads, everything stays on your phone, works offline. It's the only one on this list with lock-screen widgets (Server44 added a basic home-screen widget in May 2026), and it generates a shareable "YOU WALKED WITH $243" receipt after every shift. Tax-ready yearly totals and CSV export cover the $25k tip deduction paper trail, and it imports your old history from other trackers free.
When NOT to pick it: it's the newest app here — 26 ratings vs ServerLife's 9,500+. iPhone-only, no Android. And because nothing ever touches a server, there's no cross-device cloud sync — if you want your history mirrored on a second device automatically, ServerLife does that and TipKeep doesn't (TipKeep's answer is CSV export you control). Free tier keeps 30 days of history; older shifts stay saved on your phone but need Pro to view.
Best for: servers and bartenders who want the fastest possible log, zero ads, and records nobody else holds.
The pitch: the category incumbent — 750,000+ workers by their own count — with a decade of polish. Cloud sync across devices, income forecasting (rare in this category), hourly averages, and famously fast human support. If you work from two devices or want your history to survive a lost phone without thinking about it, this is the strongest choice — that's a genuine advantage of account-based storage.
What reviews complain about: the flip side of cloud accounts — a recurring complaint over the years is data loss around logins (reviews describe years of history disappearing after account issues). Free-tier ads, and frustration when features moved to higher-priced tiers. You also pay in pieces: subscription tiers plus a separate ad-removal purchase.
Best for: multi-device users who want sync + forecasting and are comfortable with an account.
The pitch: the analytics nerd's tracker — per-day-of-week averages, year-over-year comparison graphs, and detailed multi-job/position configuration. A responsive developer who ships updates.
What reviews complain about: the recent addition of forced video ads on the free tier has drawn complaints from some long-time users — a beloved free app is mid-transition to an ad-supported one, and part of its base is unhappy about it.
Best for: data lovers who want day-of-week and year-over-year breakdowns.
The pitch: a long-running, widely-used tracker with solid core logging and a big historical user base. (Now listed as "TipTracker - track your income" — the old "by Pace" branding is gone from the App Store title.)
What recent reviews complain about: the pricing model — reviewers count ~$10.99 for an account, ~$8.99 to remove ads, and ~$3.99 for individual add-ons ("$24 right off the bat"), with several reporting ads still appearing after paying, purchases not restoring on new phones, and entries not saving. The high overall rating is largely legacy; recent reviews trend much harsher.
Best for: existing users already invested in it; hard to recommend for new users at current pricing.
The pitch: arguably the best-looking of the established field — reviewers regularly single out its modern design — with shift start/end times and clean graphs.
What reviews complain about: features that used to be free moved behind a paywall, ad complaints, and a slowing update cadence from a solo developer — no update since December 2025 as of this writing.
Best for: design-first users who want basic tracking and catch it on a good pricing day.
The pitch: a brand-new tracker with cash/card split, tip-outs, true hourly rate, and tax-ready exports, stored on-device with no account. It's on both iPhone and Android — one of the few modern options if you're on Android. A paid Server44 PRO tier (3-day trial) adds unlimited jobs, longer insights, and removes ads. (Now listed as "Tip Tracker + Pay: Server44" — it's added a pay-tracking angle to its App Store name.)
The caveat: it's about seven months old with 17 ratings — too early to know how it handles the long haul (data migrations, pricing changes, longevity) — and its monetization is still settling.
Best for: Android users comfortable with a very young product.
The pitch: one of the first tip trackers on the App Store, still free, with manual and email-based backup options.
What recent reviews complain about: ads "every third button press," a dated interface, and slow loading. There's no cloud account — backups are manual/email-based, so staying protected is on you. Multiple recent reviewers say they're leaving for other apps on this list.
Hard to recommend in 2026 except for nostalgia.
10-second logging · no account · no ads · ★ 4.9 on the App Store