Linked List: FOSS Apps for Bill Splitting with Friends

I am a BillMonk refugee. I used it until it went down. Even though it was not FOSS, it was the first app I had seen and used for bill splitting. Today, there are lots of FOSS alternatives. Some of my favorite ones are listed below in this Linked List edition.

Linked List: FOSS Apps for Bill Splitting with Friends
Linked List: FOSS Apps for Bill Splitting with Friends

I use GroupTabs to keep a money tab while traveling or any other large group bill splitting. It's a FOSS app and uses CouchDB/PouchDB as the backend.

  • You can install it like any PWA app. It works offline like an App and syncs later.
  • No login or accounts. Each tab/group has an access code or Capability URLs that you can share with friends to collaborate. It's the same logic if you want to access from multiple machines. There are no roles, so everyone has the same level of access.
  • It has a limited set of features, but it is feature-complete. It works as defined and works very well.
  • Its code is simple, and the backend is a simple data store, making it easily hackable and user-friendly.
  • It can be self-hosted. It can also be hosted on the home network, which can sync once you return home or connect to the home network next time, or you can make it accessible on your VPN network. All these are possible.

SplitIt is another excellent FOSS alternative with lots of features if you want. It competes with SplitWise.

  • It has a decent mobile interface, but it is not a PWA. It doesn't work offline. This is a significant limitation for me.
  • You can use it without creating an account or log in. It has Capability URLs you can share with friends, which they can use to participate without logging. There are no roles, so everyone has the same level of access.
  • It has more features like bill scanning, reimbursements, many ways of splitting bills, attachments, etc.
  • It uses the Postgres database as the backend, so self-hosting is possible.

SplittyPie is an easy expense-splitting app. It's a FOSS app.

  • It's a PWA app that works offline as well.
  • You can use it without creating an account or log in. It has Capability URLs you can share with friends, which they can use to participate without logging. There are no roles, so everyone has the same level of access.
  • It uses Firebase to host and store data. You can host it on your Firebase account, but it is not truly independent and almost impossible to host at home.

How do you split bills while traveling or otherwise? Do you have any favorite tools or good old Google Sheets?


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2 Responses

  1. Harish says:

    Thanks a lot for this. I recently started looking for alternatives to Splitwise, as I realized they have started charging for adding more than 5 transactions per day, and their premium price was a ridiculous 200 per month or something. Google sheets technically should work, but I am too lazy to make it work, and it seems like a lot of work.

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