SettleUp has more features. splitty is faster. Pick your priority.
SettleUp Full setup Everything, eventually Two very different philosophies
SettleUp and splitty represent opposite ends of the bill-splitting spectrum. One app tries to do everything. The other tries to do one thing perfectly. Understanding this difference is key to choosing the right tool.
SettleUp: The Swiss Army knife
SettleUp is a full-featured expense management platform. It tracks ongoing shared expenses with roommates. It handles multi-currency trips across countries. It categorizes expenses for budgeting. It exports data to CSV for tax season. It syncs across iPhone, Android, and web browsers.
This breadth comes with complexity. You create an account. You set up groups. You configure categories. You learn the interface. SettleUp is powerful—but power tools require training.
splitty: The scalpel
splitty does exactly one thing: split tonight's restaurant bill, right now, as fast as possible.
You hold your phone over the receipt and tap capture. The app reads every line item—every appetizer, every drink, every modifier. You tap items to assign them to people. Tax gets distributed proportionally. You set the tip. You send Venmo requests. Done. 30 seconds. No account. No group creation. No learning curve.
splitty doesn't track ongoing expenses because that's not its job. It doesn't export data because there's nothing to export—each bill is a single session, settled immediately. It's a scalpel, not a Swiss Army knife.
The feature-speed tradeoff
More features = more complexity = more time. This is inevitable. SettleUp's feature depth requires infrastructure that slows down simple tasks.
splitty: Restaurant bill
- Open app (no login)
- Capture receipt
- Items appear automatically
- Tap items, assign to people
- Set tip
- Send Venmo requests
Total: ~30 seconds
SettleUp: Restaurant bill
- Open app, log in
- Select or create group
- Tap "Add expense"
- Enter expense name
- Enter total amount
- Select who paid
- Choose split type
- Select participants
- Configure split (equal, %, custom)
- Add to group ledger
- Switch to payment app separately
Total: 3-5 minutes
Both apps achieve the same result: figuring out who owes what. But the paths are radically different. splitty optimizes for speed by removing every step that isn't essential to a restaurant bill. SettleUp includes those steps because they're essential for other use cases—just not this one.
The Scorecard
Feature-by-feature. No spin. Just facts.
splitty SettleUp Where SettleUp wins (and it's a lot)
Let's be direct: SettleUp has features splitty doesn't have. If you need these features, SettleUp is the better choice.
Ongoing shared expenses
Roommates splitting rent, utilities, groceries month after month. SettleUp tracks running balances and settles up periodically. splitty settles immediately—there's no "running balance" concept.
Multi-currency trips
Traveling through Europe? Expenses in euros, pounds, francs. SettleUp handles currency conversion automatically. splitty assumes one currency per receipt (your local currency).
Cross-platform groups
Your roommate has Android, you have iPhone, someone prefers the web app. SettleUp syncs across all platforms. splitty is iOS-only.
Expense categories
"How much did we spend on groceries this month?" SettleUp can tell you. splitty doesn't categorize—each receipt is independent.
Data export
Need expense records for taxes or reimbursement? SettleUp exports to CSV. splitty doesn't retain data for export—settlements are immediate and final.
Recurring expenses
Rent is due every month. SettleUp auto-creates the expense. splitty has no concept of recurring—it's for one-time restaurant bills.
Bottom line: If your use case involves tracking expenses over time, across currencies, or across platforms—SettleUp is the right tool. Don't fight the wrong battle. Use the right tool for the job.
Where splitty wins
For one specific use case—restaurant bills—splitty is dramatically better.
Camera reads the receipt
SettleUp requires you to enter expenses manually. Even for a simple dinner, you're typing the amount, selecting participants, configuring the split. splitty scans the receipt and reads everything automatically. Every line item. Every modifier. Every tax amount.
This isn't a small difference. A 12-item receipt takes about 4 seconds to scan with splitty. Entering it manually into SettleUp takes several minutes of typing.
Item-level precision
SettleUp splits whole expenses. "Dinner was $200, split 4 ways = $50 each." But what if one person had a $60 steak and another had a $15 salad? SettleUp doesn't know—it splits the total.
splitty knows exactly who had what. The camera reads every item. You assign each one. The person with the salad pays for the salad. The person with the steak pays for the steak. Tax and tip distributed proportionally to each person's share. Fair.
No account friction
SettleUp needs an account to sync across devices. That makes sense for their use case—ongoing expense tracking requires persistence. But for a one-time restaurant bill, account creation is pure friction.
splitty requires nothing. Open the app. Split the bill. Close the app. You could delete it afterward and lose nothing—the split is done, Venmo requests sent.
Integrated payment
splitty sends Venmo requests directly from the app. One tap per person. Clear descriptions of what they owe and why. SettleUp tells you the balances but leaves payment to external coordination.
Why complexity matters at restaurants
Restaurant bill splitting has unique constraints that favor simplicity:
- Time pressure. The waiter is waiting. Your friends want to leave. There's social pressure to figure this out quickly. A 5-minute app workflow feels like forever.
- One-time event. You probably won't split a bill with this exact group at this exact restaurant again. Creating a "group" for a single dinner feels like overhead.
- Physical receipt available. You have the receipt right there. Reading it automatically is faster than transcribing it manually.
- Immediate settlement. Everyone's here. Everyone can pay now. Running balances don't make sense—settle up immediately.
SettleUp's features are designed for ongoing relationships: roommates, travel companions, family. Those contexts have different constraints—you're willing to invest setup time because you'll use the group repeatedly. Restaurants don't work that way.
Real-world scenarios
Birthday dinner at a steakhouse
12 people. Orders range from $30 salads to $75 ribeyes. Someone's vegetarian. Someone ordered extra cocktails. The birthday person doesn't pay.
splitty: Scan the receipt. Assign items to people (birthday person gets nothing assigned). Their share gets distributed to everyone else. Venmo requests sent before you leave the table.
SettleUp: Create a group with 12 people. Enter the total expense. Try to figure out fair percentages for 12 different order amounts. Give up and split evenly. The salad person subsidizes the ribeye.
Monthly roommate expenses
3 roommates. Rent is $3,000 split evenly. Utilities vary. Someone buys groceries for everyone. Bills come in throughout the month. Settle up at month's end.
SettleUp: Perfect use case. Create a group. Log expenses as they happen. At month's end, SettleUp calculates optimal settlements. Running balances stay accurate.
splitty: Not designed for this. No running balances. No recurring expense support. Wrong tool for the job.
Work lunch with expensable attendee
4 people at lunch. One person expenses their meal to the company. The other 3 split the remainder.
splitty: Scan receipt. Assign work-person's items to them. Don't include them in the Venmo requests. They expense their portion separately. Clean.
SettleUp: Enter expense. Configure custom split excluding one person. Works, but more steps than scanning a receipt.
Pick the right tool
Different situations call for different solutions
Use splitty when...
- Restaurant bills—right now
- Item-level fairness (steak vs. salad)
- No setup, no account, no friction
- Venmo requests sent instantly
Use SettleUp when...
- Ongoing roommate expenses
- Multi-currency international trips
- Cross-platform groups (iOS + Android)
- Expense categories and data export
Questions & Answers
Everything you need to know about splitty vs SettleUp
01 What's the main difference between splitty and SettleUp?
Scope and speed. SettleUp is a full expense management platform with categories, recurring expenses, data export, and cross-platform sync. splitty does one thing: split tonight's restaurant bill in 30 seconds. SettleUp is the Swiss Army knife. splitty is the scalpel.
02 Does SettleUp have receipt scanning?
No. SettleUp requires manual entry of every expense—you type the amount, select who paid, choose a category, and decide how to split it. splitty reads your receipt automatically. Hold your phone over the receipt and tap capture, every item appears, assign who had what.
03 Can SettleUp split by individual item?
Not really. SettleUp is designed to split whole expenses (like 'dinner was $150, split 4 ways'). It doesn't know who had the steak vs. the salad. splitty lets you assign each line item to specific people, so the salad-orderer pays for the salad.
04 Why does SettleUp require an account?
SettleUp syncs across devices and platforms—iPhone, Android, web. That sync requires an account. splitty is local-first and single-session. You don't need an account because there's nothing to sync. Different architectures for different use cases.
05 Is SettleUp better for ongoing expenses?
Yes, absolutely. If you have recurring bills with roommates (rent, utilities, groceries), SettleUp's features make sense—categories help you track spending, recurring expenses auto-populate, CSV export helps with taxes. splitty isn't designed for this.
06 Which is faster for a restaurant bill?
splitty. By far. With SettleUp, you'd create a group (if you haven't), add the expense, enter the amount, choose how to split... With splitty, you capture the receipt and everything appears. 30 seconds vs. several minutes.
07 Does SettleUp work on Android?
Yes. SettleUp has iOS, Android, and web apps. splitty is currently iOS-only. If you need cross-platform support and your group has Android users, SettleUp has that advantage.
08 What do they cost?
SettleUp's free tier covers most features, with premium options for power users. splitty offers 3 free workflows to try, then $9.99/year or $24.99 lifetime for unlimited splits.
More comparisons
See how splitty stacks up against other bill-splitting apps.
