Splitwise

Splitwise solves a narrower problem than most apps on this list, who owes whom, not what should the household spend this month. Add a shared expense, say one person covers the grocery run, and Splitwise calculates each person’s share and keeps a running balance across everyone in the group, settling up periodically rather than after every single purchase. Everything is entered by hand, there’s no bank account linked at any point, which means it works as well for splitting a vacation with friends as it does for two roommates sharing rent.

The core app is free and covers unlimited groups and expenses, while Splitwise Pro, at roughly $3 a month or $20 a year, removes ads and adds currency conversion and receipt scanning. It’s not a budgeting app in the sense of tracking spending limits or net worth, and people who want that should pair it with one of the all-in-one tools rather than expecting Splitwise to replace one. It fits couples who keep mostly separate finances but split specific costs, and any group of roommates or friends who got tired of doing the math themselves.