Splitwise is the default expense-splitting app because it shipped first, not because nothing has caught up since. In 2024 the free tier added daily expense limits and ads to the entry that used to be friction-free. That single change pushed a lot of casual users — couples splitting groceries, friends running a one-week trip — to look for something else.
This is a fact-based comparison of seven apps that have meaningful traction in 2026. We use real pricing (verified at time of writing), real feature sets, and one honest column for "where it falls down". We include our own product, NomadCrew; it's labeled as such so you can discount it appropriately.
What to actually compare
Most "best splitting app" lists rank by feature count. That's a bad metric. The four things that actually matter on the ground:
- Cost on the free tier. Specifically: are there daily expense limits, ads, or paywalls in front of the simplification feature?
- Multi-currency support. Does it convert at the rate on the date of the expense, or does it re-convert at settlement? The first is correct; the second redistributes FX risk and creates disputes.
- Settlement logic. Does it offer debt simplification (one transfer per pair, fewest payments total) or only pairwise tallies?
- Privacy posture. Where is your data hosted, who can read it, and does the company sell or train on it?
Anything beyond those four — receipt OCR, recurring expenses, Slack integrations — is a tiebreaker. Get the four basics right or nothing else matters.
The seven
1. Splitwise (the baseline)
Still the most installed, still the most familiar. Free tier in 2026 limits new expenses to a small daily count, shows banner ads, and gates currency conversion to Pro (≈$3/month or $30/year). Simplify-debts works on free; multi-currency is paywalled.
- Best for: people who already have a five-year ledger they don't want to migrate.
- Falls down: the free tier is now actively annoying. The mobile app feels older than it should. Privacy policy permits aggregated data sharing with partners.
2. Settle Up
A long-running independent app, originally Czech. Multi-currency works on free; the paid tier ($2/month) unlocks unlimited groups and removes ads.
- Best for: small groups with one ongoing trip.
- Falls down: UI is functional rather than warm; web app lags behind mobile.
3. Tricount
Owned by BNP Paribas since 2022. Web + mobile, free with optional paid features. Strong in Europe, weaker in the US.
- Best for: Eurozone groups doing short trips.
- Falls down: since the acquisition, account creation pushes you into Lydia/BNP-affiliated payment flows.
4. NomadCrew (ours)
A web-first personal-finance app with a built-in trip mode. Free tier has no daily expense limit, no ads, multi-currency on day one (38 currencies via the Frankfurter API), and a settlement engine with three split modes (equal, percent, exact). Data lives on Supabase; we don't sell or train on it. Read how to split travel expenses for the workflow we built around.
- Best for: groups who travel across currencies; couples and households who also want a personal-finance board.
- Falls down: no native iOS/Android app yet (PWA only). Younger product than Splitwise — fewer years of receipts in the wild.
5. Spliit (open source)
A free, open-source alternative you can self-host. Maintained on GitHub by a small community. No accounts required for participants; you share a group URL.
- Best for: privacy-maximalists who can run a Docker container.
- Falls down: no recurring expenses, no proper multi-currency settlement, no mobile app.
6. Tab (formerly TabApp)
US-focused, polished UI, free for splitting and paid (≈$5/month) for recurring + analytics. Strong at restaurant-bill splits via receipt scan.
- Best for: US groups who eat out a lot and want OCR.
- Falls down: weak abroad — limited currencies and no per-date FX caching.
7. Honeydue (couples)
Specifically built for couples, not groups. Joint and personal accounts, bill reminders, an in-app chat. Free; revenue comes from bank partnerships.
- Best for: couples merging finances without merging bank accounts.
- Falls down: not a trip app — no group flow, no settlement engine.
The comparison table
| App | Free tier expense limit | Multi-currency | Debt simplification | Recurring | Self-host | | ----------- | ----------------------- | -------------- | ------------------- | --------- | --------- | | Splitwise | Yes (daily cap) | Pro only | Free | Pro only | No | | Settle Up | No | Free | Free | Paid | No | | Tricount | No | Free | Free | No | No | | NomadCrew | No | Free (38 cur) | Free | Free | No | | Spliit | No | Limited | Yes | No | Yes | | Tab | No | Limited | Yes | Paid | No | | Honeydue | n/a (couples only) | No | n/a | Yes | No |
The table reveals the actual landscape: Splitwise free is now the weakest free tier in the list, and the open-source option (Spliit) trades polish for control. The middle of the table — Settle Up, Tricount, NomadCrew — is where most groups will land.
Which one to pick: a decision tree
Are you doing a one-off trip with friends? Settle Up, Tricount, or NomadCrew. Pick by which UI you tolerate. NomadCrew if you're crossing more than two currencies, because per-date FX caching is built in.
Are you a couple splitting ongoing household expenses? Honeydue if you want a couples-specific tool; NomadCrew's shared boards if you want one app for personal finance + couple expenses + the occasional trip. See our guide for living across currencies if one of you earns in a different currency.
Are you a household of 3+ roommates? Tricount or NomadCrew. Tricount is lighter; NomadCrew gives you recurring expenses (rent, utilities) on the free tier, which Tricount doesn't.
Are you a digital nomad living across borders? NomadCrew, hands down — it was built around this case. The digital nomad personal finance guide walks through the full workflow.
Are you privacy-maximalist with a homelab? Spliit, self-hosted. Accept that you're trading features for control.
Are you already deep in Splitwise and not annoyed? Stay. The migration cost is real, and the data export from Splitwise free is limited. Switch only when the daily expense cap actually hits your workflow.
What we'd want to see in a v2 splitting app
A rough wishlist, irrespective of which app ships it first:
- Settlement via crypto or instant SEPA as an optional rail, instead of every group ending in a Venmo screenshot.
- Tax-aware splits for couples in different brackets — split by post-tax marginal contribution, not by gross income.
- Receipt OCR that's auditable — show me the line items it extracted, let me edit before it commits. Half the OCR features today are black boxes you have to fix anyway.
- Encrypted export. Splitwise's CSV export drops categories. Nobody's CSV export should be lossy.
Most of this is buildable. Some of it (instant rail settlement) requires partnerships we won't see for another year or two. The point is the category is still moving, which is why a "best app" article in 2026 isn't the same answer it would've been in 2022.
Where to go from here
If you're picking a splitter for an upcoming trip, the no-drama splitting guide walks through the workflow regardless of which app you use. If you're planning the trip itself, the group trip budget template covers the eight line items that always get forgotten.
You can also just open NomadCrew, create a trip space, and invite the group with one link. No card, no ads, no daily limit. If it fits, stay; if it doesn't, the CSV export is one click and we won't make it weird.
For background reading on why splitting is hard at all, NerdWallet's piece on the psychology of group money is a solid primer, and Investopedia's overview of joint finance models covers the couples side.