Android users always get the leftover list. "Best apps" articles are written on iPhones, tested on iPhones, and the Android version is an afterthought. So here is one just for you. No iPhone required for any of this.
Start with the non-negotiable: a budget planner. A study abroad budget planner app free tier should cover the basics without nagging you to upgrade every third screen. What to compare: does it handle multiple currencies cleanly, can you set per-category monthly caps, and does it warn you before you overspend rather than after. Free tiers are fine for students. Paid tiers mostly add bank syncing and fancy reports, which are nice but not essential in year one. I used a free tier for two years. It was fine.
Next, an expense tracker for daily logging. A city by city student expense tracker app is only useful if you actually open it. So judge ruthlessly on speed. Can you log a coffee in under ten seconds? Does it work offline on the subway? Yes to both, it is a keeper. No to either, delete it. The best tracker is the one you do not abandon by week three. Everything else is decoration.
Then the roommate math. Splitwise is free on Android and handles the eternal "you paid for groceries, I paid for utilities" problem. Get every roommate on it in week one. This is the single highest-value app install on this list and it costs nothing.
Currency conversion gets its own slot. XE Currency on Android works offline and covers every currency you will touch. You will check prices in your home currency for months. That is normal. It fades.
Before you even download a tracker, run a study abroad cost of living calculator app, iOS or Android, to set realistic targets. Then map your spending against a real monthly budget for international students breakdown for your city, not a generic template. An app cannot tell you what rent costs in your neighborhood. Data can. That is what our city cost database is for. Targets first, tracking second. Most people do it backwards.
Set these up before departure and month one gets dramatically less scary. Want the budget built for you? The pre-departure concierge at studyabroadadvisor.fyi does it with students before they fly.