Plates was innovative in 2013. splitty has a camera.
Plates by Splitwise 3-5 min You type everything Plates had a good idea—but technology moved on
When Plates launched in 2013, it was clever. You add items to virtual "plates" for each person, drag shared items between plates, and the app calculates everyone's total. The visual metaphor works. The drag-and-drop is satisfying.
There's just one problem: you have to type every single item manually.
A typical dinner receipt has 8-15 line items. With Plates, that's 8-15 things you're typing into your phone while your friends wait:
"Burger" → $14.99 "Caesar Salad" → $12.50 "Craft IPA" → $8.00 "Fish Tacos" → $16.00 "Side of Fries" → $5.00 ...and on and on In 2013, this made sense. Receipt scanning didn't exist in consumer apps. But it's 2026 now. splitty scans the receipt and reads everything automatically—every line item, every modifier, every tax. You don't type anything.
Plates hasn't been updated since 2013. The app still works, but it's frozen in time. Meanwhile, splitty is actively developed with modern features like Venmo integration, weighted splits, and shared item handling.
The math doesn't work
Let's be concrete. Here's a real dinner receipt with 10 items, tax, and tip:
splitty
- Capture receipt (2 seconds)
- All 10 items appear automatically
- Tap items, assign to people (15 seconds)
- Tax auto-calculated per person
- Set tip amount once
- Send Venmo requests
Total time: ~30 seconds
Plates
- Tap "Add item"
- Type "Ribeye Steak"
- Type "$42.00"
- Repeat for each of 10 items
- Manually calculate tax %
- Drag items to plates
- Switch to Venmo app
Total time: 4-5 minutes
The difference is about 10x faster. Not because splitty's UI is better— Plates' drag-to-plate concept is actually quite nice—but because typing is slow. Every item you type is a context switch. Every price is a chance for error.
And here's the thing about tax: With Plates, you have to guess the tax percentage and enter it manually. Is it 8%? 8.875%? 9.5%? With splitty, the actual tax amount is read directly from the receipt. No guessing.
The Scorecard
Feature-by-feature. No spin. Just facts.
splitty Plates What Plates got right
Credit where it's due: Plates has some good ideas that influenced the whole category.
- The "plates" metaphor. Dragging items to virtual plates is intuitive. It makes the abstract concept of bill-splitting visual and physical.
- Shared items. Plates handles shared appetizers well—you can drag an item to the center and mark who's splitting it.
- Simple UI. No account required for basic use. No complex settings. Open the app, add items, split.
If Plates had receipt scanning, it would be a serious competitor. But it doesn't— and it hasn't been updated in over a decade. The Splitwise team seems to have abandoned it in favor of their main app.
Which app should you use?
Match your situation to the right tool
Use splitty
Fast & done- You have a receipt (scan it instantly)
- You don't have a receipt (manual entry works too)
- You want to be done in under a minute
- You want to send Venmo requests directly
- You need accurate tax from the actual receipt
Use Plates
Track over time- You specifically love the drag-to-plate visual interface
- You're nostalgic for 2013-era app design
- You don't mind typing every item manually
- You're okay using abandonware (no updates in 13 years)
Reality check: 95% of restaurant bill splits involve a physical receipt. For that 95%, splitty is 10x faster.
Abandoned vs. actively developed
Plates
Last update: 2013- No bug fixes in 13+ years
- No iOS compatibility updates
- No security patches
- No new features
- No modern UI updates
Frozen in time. Doesn't support newer iPhones optimally or integrate with modern payment apps.
splitty
Last update: 2026- Updated for each new iPhone
- Venmo API changes handled
- User-requested features added
- Regular bug fixes & improvements
- Modern iOS 26 design
That's the difference between a maintained product and abandonware.
Pick the right tool
Different situations call for different solutions
Use splitty when...
- Any restaurant bill with a receipt
- Complex orders with modifiers
- Accurate tax from the actual receipt
- Venmo requests sent in one tap
Use Plates when...
- Splitting without a receipt
- Very small bills (2-3 items)
- You prefer the visual 'plates' metaphor
- You have 5 minutes to type
Plates hasn't shipped an update since 2013. splitty shipped one last month. Everyone pays fair—before dessert.
Questions & Answers
Everything you need to know about splitty vs Plates
01 What is Plates by Splitwise?
Plates is a restaurant bill-splitting app made by the Splitwise team in 2013. The concept is clever—you drag menu items onto virtual 'plates' for each person. However, it requires you to type every item manually. There's no receipt scanning.
02 Is Plates still being updated?
No. Plates was last updated in 2013. The app still works, but it hasn't received new features, bug fixes, or iOS updates in over a decade. splitty is actively developed with regular updates.
03 Does Plates have receipt scanning?
No. Plates requires you to manually type every item on the receipt—the name and the price, one by one. On a 12-item receipt, that's 12 things you're typing. splitty reads everything automatically from a photo.
04 Why choose splitty over Plates?
Speed. With Plates, you type 'Burger $14.99', 'Caesar Salad $12.50', 'IPA $8.00'... for every single item. With splitty, you capture the receipt and everything appears. The 'plates' drag-and-drop UI is nice, but the manual entry kills it.
05 Can Plates send Venmo requests?
No. Plates calculates what each person owes, but you need to switch to Venmo manually to request payment. splitty sends Venmo requests directly from the app—one tap per person.
06 Is Plates free?
Yes, Plates is free. But free doesn't matter much when you're spending 5 minutes typing items that splitty reads in 3 seconds.
07 When should I use Plates instead of splitty?
Honestly? There's no clear reason. splitty has both automatic receipt scanning AND manual entry. The only advantage Plates has is its drag-to-plate visual interface—but it hasn't been updated since 2013. splitty does everything Plates does, plus receipt scanning, plus Venmo integration.
More comparisons
See how splitty stacks up against other bill-splitting apps.
