> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Frollo vs Up Bank Australia 2026: Keep Your Banks or Switch? - URL: https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/compare-frollo-vs-up-bank-australia-2026/ - Published: 2026-06-11T23:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-09T06:40:51.000Z - Description: Two Australian-built money apps, both free, both five-star Excellent. The real question isn't features — it's whether you'll switch banks. - Author: Adam - Tags: Personal Finance & Budgeting, AI Comparisons, AI Reviews, #comparison Head-to-head verdict [**22**/25FrolloWinner](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/review-frollo-australia-2026/)[**21**/25Up Bank](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/review-up-bank-australia-2026/) **Our pick: Frollo.** The verdict below says who should buy the other. > **Winner: Frollo** for most Australians. It reads every account you already have, free, with no bank switch required. Pick **Up** instead if you're willing to make it your everyday bank. Up's built-in budgeting tools are the best in the country — but they only see Up money. > > *Last reviewed: 12 June 2026 by Adam.* ## Quick comparison | | Frollo | Up Bank | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Starting price (AUD) | $0 — GST not applicable (no charge) | $0/month — GST not applicable (no account fees) | | What it is | Free money app over your existing banks | A digital bank with budgeting built in | | Free tier | ✅ The whole app is free | ✅ Everyday account and Savers are free | | Data residency | Primarily stored in Australia (CDR-accredited) | Deposits onshore (APRA-regulated bank); data handled under the Privacy Act 1988 | | AU support | In-app help + email (support@frollo.com.au) | In-app support and chat, no phone line | | Best for | Seeing all your money without switching banks | The best day-to-day budgeting, if you switch | | Score (out of 25) | 22/25 — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent | 21/25 — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent | | Australian Fit | 5/5 — gate passed | 5/5 — gate passed | This is rare territory for us: two Australian-built apps, both ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent, both with a perfect Australian Fit score. The scores sit one point apart. The structural difference between them is what decides it. ## What both tools actually do Both apps answer the same question: where is my money going, and what's safe to spend? **Frollo** is a free personal money app built in North Sydney. You connect your banks, cards, loans, super, and investments. It pulls everything into one view using Australia's Consumer Data Right — the regulated Open Banking pipe. Frollo is an Accredited Data Recipient under the CDR, so you never hand over a banking password. It sorts your transactions automatically, tracks bills, and runs budgets and savings goals. There's no subscription, no ads, and no in-app purchases. **Up** is not an overlay app at all. It's an Australian digital bank — app-only, launched in 2018 as a collaboration between software company Ferocia and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. The banking licence sits with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, so deposits are APRA-regulated and covered by the Financial Claims Scheme up to $250,000\. The budgeting tools ride on top of your real account. "Upcoming" learns your bills and reserves for them. "Spendable" shows the one number that matters: what you can spend today without missing a bill. Neither app is a true AI assistant. Frollo's consumer app doesn't market AI at all — its categorisation is automatic, not intelligent. Up's "Upcoming" predictions are smart automation, not a chatbot. If you want a conversational money coach, that's WeMoney's territory — see our [Frollo vs WeMoney](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/compare-frollo-vs-wemoney-australia-2026/) comparison. ## Pricing in Australia This is the shortest pricing section we'll ever write. Both tools are free. | | Frollo | Up Bank | | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | Core product | $0 — GST not applicable (no charge) | $0/month — GST not applicable (no account fees) | | Ads or in-app purchases | None | None | | Transaction fees | n/a — it's not a bank | None; zero international and foreign-transaction fees | **Frollo** makes its money selling Open Banking infrastructure to brokers, lenders, and other businesses. The consumer app is free with no ads — there is no charge, so GST never enters the picture. **Up** charges no monthly fee, no account-keeping fee, and no transaction fees. GST is not applicable because there are no account fees to tax. Up also charges zero international and foreign-transaction fees, though third-party ATM operators may add their own. One caution: the bonus Up Saver rate is variable. Check up.com.au for the current figure — join Up for the budgeting tools, not the rate. In a category where overseas apps charge $100-plus a year, two free Australian options is a genuine local win. ## Where Frollo wins - **No bank switch required.** Frollo works on top of whatever banks you already use. Up's tools only see money held inside Up. This is the decisive structural difference. - **The whole picture.** Frollo aggregates banks, cards, loans, super, and investments across institutions. Up shows you Up — you won't see your full net worth across other banks. - **Open Banking done properly.** Frollo connects through the CDR as an Accredited Data Recipient. You authorise each bank through its own consent flow. No passwords change hands. - **Data sovereignty as a feature.** Frollo's privacy policy confirms your data is primarily stored in Australia. The one exception: opting into Yodlee screen-scraping can route that data through the United States. - **Our category Top Pick.** Frollo holds the higher score (22/25 vs 21/25) and tops our [Personal Finance & Budgeting roundup](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/best-ai-personal-finance-budgeting-apps-australia-2026/). ## Where Up wins - **The best budgeting UX in Australia.** Upcoming, Spendable, Pay Day, and Insights do the mental maths for you. No standalone budgeting app — Frollo included — matches this day-to-day experience. - **Live, accurate data.** Up's budgeting runs on your real transactions in real time. There's no syncing, no stale feeds, no "connection expired" errors. Overlay apps can't fully escape those. - **It's a real bank.** Deposits sit with APRA-regulated Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, protected by the Financial Claims Scheme up to $250,000. - **A faster, fresher app.** Up's app is consistently rated among the best banking apps in Australia, and sign-up takes minutes. Frollo's iOS app hasn't been updated since May 2025 — its B2B pivot shows. - **Free international spending.** Zero international and foreign-transaction fees on the Up card. Frollo isn't a bank — there's no spending product to compare. ## Which to pick — decision framework - **Your salary, mortgage, and cards are spread across existing banks, and you want them to stay there?** Pick Frollo. It's the only one of the two that can even see that money. - **You're happy to move your everyday banking?** Pick Up. Its Spendable number and bill prediction beat anything an overlay app can do, because they run on live transactions. - **You want maximum budgeting power?** Use both. Bank with Up, then add Frollo on top to watch everything else. Up sits inside the Australian banking system, so its data can flow to CDR-accredited recipients like Frollo. They're complementary, not exclusive — and both are free. - **You want an AI coach that talks back?** Neither delivers that. Read our [Frollo vs WeMoney](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/compare-frollo-vs-wemoney-australia-2026/) head-to-head instead. ## The verdict For the default reader, Frollo wins. The reason is structural, not sentimental. Up's superb tools come with a real cost: you must move your everyday banking to use them. Frollo asks nothing. Download it, consent through the CDR, and every account you own appears in one free view. That's the lower-friction path to the same goal, and it's why Frollo is our category Top Pick at 22/25. But the gap is one point, and Up earns its 21/25\. If you're already restless with your current bank, switch. Up's Spendable balance and bill prediction are the best day-to-day money tools in the country. They only work on Up money — that's the whole trade. So: unless you're willing to change banks, pick Frollo. If you are willing, pick Up — and consider running Frollo over the top anyway. Both are free, both are Australian, and both passed our Australian Fit gate at 5/5\. This category is a local-moat success story either way. Neither app replaces qualified financial advice. They show you your money; they don't advise on your super, mortgage, or investments. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Frollo or Up Bank better for tracking money in Australia? Frollo, for most Australians. It scores 22/25 against Up's 21/25 and reads every account you already hold — banks, cards, loans, super, investments — with no bank switch required. Up's budgeting tools are the best in the country, but they only see money held inside Up. Pick Up only if you're willing to make it your everyday bank. ### How much do Frollo and Up Bank cost in Australia? Both are free. Frollo's consumer app has no subscription, ads or in-app purchases; it earns its money selling Open Banking infrastructure to businesses. Up charges no monthly, account-keeping or transaction fees, and zero international fees on its card. GST is not applicable to either, because there is no charge to tax. ### Where do Frollo and Up Bank store Australian data? Frollo's privacy policy confirms your data is primarily stored in Australia, and it connects as a CDR Accredited Data Recipient — no passwords change hands. One exception: opting into Yodlee screen-scraping can route that data through the United States. Up's deposits sit onshore with APRA-regulated Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, with data handled under the Privacy Act 1988. ### Can I use Frollo and Up Bank together? Yes, and it's the maximum-budgeting setup. Bank with Up, then add Frollo on top to watch everything else. Up sits inside the Australian banking system, so its data can flow to CDR-accredited recipients like Frollo. They're complementary, not exclusive — and both are free. ### Do Frollo or Up Bank replace financial advice? No. Neither app replaces qualified financial advice — they show you your money, but they don't advise on your super, mortgage, or investments. Both scored ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent under our 25-point methodology, with Frollo the category Top Pick at 22/25\. Treat them as tracking tools, not advisers. ## Sources This comparison draws exclusively on our two full reviews. Both were verified against primary sources — vendor pages, app-store listings, APRA's ADI list — checked on 7 June 2026; Wayback snapshot URLs are recorded in each review: 1. [Frollo Review Australia 2026](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/review-frollo-australia-2026/) — score 22/25, Australian Fit 5/5\. Reviewed and verified 7 June 2026. 2. [Up Bank Review Australia 2026](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/review-up-bank-australia-2026/) — score 21/25, Australian Fit 5/5\. Reviewed and verified 7 June 2026. No pricing has changed between those reviews and this comparison. Both products remain free at the time of writing. --- *The AI Directory Australia is an independent editorial publication. Read our* [*Methodology*](https://www.theaidirectory.com.au/methodology/)*.* ---