Photo: Andrey_Popov (Shutterstock)
One of the simplest joys in life is going out to dinner with friends. That is, of course, until the bill comes. All conversation now must turn to how much money each person owes for the loaded potato wedges and fried pickles the table shared. You’re in the mood for merriment, not complicated math. Of the many great technological advancements of the past decade are a handful of apps dedicated to solving this problem—by seamlessly splitting the bill for you. By using any of these free services, you’ll never again have to tediously figure out who pays how much for what exactly.
Splitwise is an app dedicated to fairly allocating to those who “want to be fair, but cannot decide what fair is.” The way Splitwise works is simple: First, you create a group between you and those you went to dinner with. After adding in all of the bill, you can allocate items to particular people. You can even go so far as to split certain items by percentages—this feature is great for shared appetizers, desserts, etc. Never again pay for an order of onion rings you did not partake in eating. Afterwards, just click the “settle up button,” and Splitwise will ask you to authenticate sending a Venmo for your portion of the bill to whoever put the meal on their card. Simple as that!
Where Tab differs from your standard bill-splitting application is it will let you upload a photo of your receipt, which then automatically converts the information into individual items within their app (other applications offer this service, but usually on their premium version). Once Tab has uploaded your receipt, you just click on the items that are yours, as well as items you owe a partial contribution to (i.e., shared sides), to arrive at a personal total owed for the bill. Additionally, Tab will automatically calculate your personal contribution for tax and tip, saving you from doing any frazzled napkin math. Tab also interfaces with Venmo, allowing you to pay your portion to whomever put the meal on their credit card.
Settle Up is a bill-splitting app that is praised for its basic interface, as well as its automatic synchronization with your Google account. Much like the other bill splitting apps, Settle Up allows you to allocate receipt items to individual people, while also dividing items into percentages as needed. Settle Up is unique in two ways. First, it can be used offline. Second, it offers real-time exchange rates, should you not be paying with American dollars. For these two reasons, Settle Up is a great choice for splitting the bill if you’re traveling with friends internationally. All of this is included in the app’s free version, just get ready to sit through an ad or two to get there.
What Splid brings to the table that the other bill-splitting apps don’t is the ability to choose among over 150 different currencies when using its services. Additionally, Splid boasts a user-friendly interface and, much like Settle Up, can also be used either online or offline. Splid doesn’t require an account to use, and also allows for any input information to be downloaded as an expense summary in Excel or as a PDF. Splid interfaces with Venmo to allow for a quick transfer of funds once all the information has been inputed.
