Home › Expenses with friends
Split expenses with friends, without having to chase anyone
The problem was never dividing by four. It is remembering who paid for what three weeks later — and above all, having to bring it up.
Create a group, invite your friends with a link, and everyone logs what they pay when they pay it. WeSplit keeps balances current and suggests the shortest set of transfers at the end: for four people, two transfers usually replace six criss-crossing repayments. Nobody has to chase anybody — the number is visible to everyone.
Where it actually earns its place
Dinner. One person picks up the bill, the others pay them back. And when not everyone ordered the same, the expense breaks down item by item: wine for three, dessert for two, mains each to their own.
A joint present. A birthday, a wedding, someone leaving. One person fronts it, ten take part, some for a different amount.
A night out. The groceries, the drinks, the taxi home paid by whoever still had battery.
A weekend. The rental, the fuel, the groceries, the dinner two people skipped.
Why the number of transfers matters
With four people who each owe each other something, the naive approach needs up to six transfers. Netting the debts brings it to three at most — and often two.
That is not a detail: every extra transfer is another chance to forget, to send the wrong amount, or to have to remind someone. Settling a group of n people never needs more than n−1 transfers, and that is exactly what the app suggests.
The maths, with a full worked example, is in our guide to splitting expenses with friends. Want the answer without creating a group? Use the calculator.
And the person who will not install anything
There is one in every group. The invite link opens the group directly in the browser, on a phone or a computer, with every feature — a free account is still needed to log expenses.
And if they really will not do anything at all, someone else can add them to the group as just a first name. They then count in the splits and the balances without having an account; they simply will not see the accounts on their side.
Nudging without the awkwardness
That is the real difficulty, and it is not a technical one. Two things help:
- The number is public within the group. Nobody has to announce a debt: it is already displayed, to everyone, without being aimed at anyone in particular.
- The nudge goes through the app. One button sends a notification to the person concerned. You are not the one writing the message.
Frequently asked questions
How do you split expenses with friends?
Create a group, invite people with a link, then log each expense with who paid and who it is split between. WeSplit keeps balances current and works out who owes what at the end, with as few transfers as possible.
Can a bill be split item by item?
Yes. The expense breaks into lines, and each line is assigned to whoever consumed it. The total and the shares follow automatically.
What if someone did not take part in an expense?
You untick them when logging it. They are left out of that line but stay in the group for the rest.
How do you nudge someone who has not paid up?
The balance is visible to everyone in the group, which saves having to announce it. A button also sends a reminder to the person concerned from within the app.
Does everyone have to install the app?
No. The invite link opens the group in the browser. Someone can even be added as just a first name, with no account, if they will not do anything at all.
Is the app free?
Yes, entirely. No subscription, no paid features, no ads and no ad trackers.
Create the group before the bill arrives
Free, no ads, on iPhone, Android and in the browser.
Create a group for free