We’ve all been in the awkward situation of trying to figure out how to split a bill, or where you’ve realised you left your wallet at home during a night out and needed a temporary helping hand.
In some cases, your friends may opt to do rounds of drinks or one valiant individual may choose to cover the dinner bill – and you pay them back later.
Even if you’re not a social butterfly, it can be easy to lose track of who owes what, which can cause tensions if left unresolved.
We reveal some free apps that should help you easily split bills and keep track of costs.
Of course, getting something for free may mean putting up with ads or being aware of one-off purchases for additional features.
If you're interested in finding ways to save money on your BT phone, broadband and TV bills, you can read our guide here.
Tricount
Tricount may be a good choice for tech-savvy friends as everyone in the group can add their expenses, leaving the app to do the maths.
A useful feature of Tricount is that it reveals who's paid for what and who owes money (and to whom).
You can receive notifications if anyone adds, edits or deletes expenses, but you have to sign up – and nothing prevents other users from deleting anything without permission.
If you decide to split expenses unevenly, you can adjust this in the app, which also works offline.
A premium service, which you have to pay for, is available to remove ads (although I did not see any in the app as an unregistered user).
Another premium service dubbed the “friends pack” offers ad removal alongside premium support and new purchase functions.
What do users think?
Apple Store: 4.8/5
Google Play: 4.7/5
Splitwise
Splitwise allows you to share bills and IOUs, which is free for the web, iPhone and Android.
While the site implies it is US-focused, you can use the app in the UK with all expenses set in sterling.
Unlike other apps, Splitwise gives users the option to find out their running bill over time (if the person paying is happy to wait), so you can send one big payment instead of a bunch of small ones.
It also takes the awkwardness out of asking for money back as the app provides email reminders if something is due, or if you forget to pay someone back.
Everyone can log into the app, see their balance and any new expenses.
One of the downsides to Splitwise is that you have to sign up for an account and if your friends want to get involved, they have to sign into the app and possibly keep an eye on their emails.
“Splitwise Pro” is available for an additional fee, including:
- Storage of high-resolution receipts in the cloud (10GB cloud storage);
- Open exchange rates integration to convert bills to different currencies;
- Access to “spending by category” budgeting tool;
- Search full expense history;
- No ads;
- Receipt scanning to assign costs to everyone involved.
Splitwise also offers free app “Plates by Splitwise” specifically to help you split restaurant bills between up to 10 people.
What do users think of Splitwise?
Apple Store: 4.5/5
Google Play: 4.6/5
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Splid
The oddly named Splid allows you to “split bills, not friendships” by helping you keep on top of your expenses and settle up. It’s available on the Apple Store and Google Play.
The app is completely free to use with no sign-up necessary – or ads!
You simply enter your expenses so Splid can work out who owes how much, and to whom.
You can choose from over 150 currencies (which Splid automatically converts the amount) and download summaries as a handy PDF or Excel file.
Using Splid, you can share groups online with the ability for everyone to simultaneously enter their expenses at the same time, although the app also works offline.
What do users think?
Apple Store: 4.9/5
Google Play: 4.8/5
Settle Up
Available on Google Play, Apple Store and Microsoft Store, Settle Up tracks IOUs to show who in a group of friends should pay the next balance.
For example, if you go on a trip, the app calculates how to settle up the bill to minimise the number of transfers.
All expenses are backed up and synced across the group with notifications of any changes, removing any possible disputes.
Similar to Splid, it has many currencies and exchange rates, but is vague about the exact amount available.
Surprisingly, there’s no requirement for every person in the group to download the app and you can easily share information to nearby devices or via links.
While the app is free, you can pay for a premium service primarily to get rid of ads.
Using this service, you can also:
- Add receipt photos;
- Categories;
- Recurring transactions.
What do users think?
Apple Store: 2.8/5
Google Play: 4.4/5
Microsoft store: 3.4/5
acasa
acasa does more than simply tell you who owes what and allow you to pay people back.
It also helps you set up and manage household bills, making it a good choice for roommates.
You can use the app to set up all your bills for free, including internet, gas, water and 100% renewable electricity in a few minutes.
acasa bills everyone in the house for their share of the bills directly, but you need to use acasaPay and payments may fail if everyone is not signed up.
Any payment issues may force someone else to foot the bill although this is tracked in the app.
The company claims you may be able to save up to £200 a year on your bills and users will benefit from full transparency over when bills are due.
What do users think?
Apple Store: 4.4/5
Google Play: 4.3/5
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