Splitwise vs Tricount vs Flatmate Flow: the best free bill-splitting app for a share house (2026)
Splitwise, Tricount and Flatmate Flow compared honestly for a share house in 2026. Where each one wins on bill-split depth, breadth beyond bills, and cost, and which free app actually fits your house.
Cards on the table: we make Flatmate Flow, so here is the honest routing. Pick Splitwise if you only need to split bills and your housemates already use it. Pick Tricount if you split for travel or trips across currencies and want zero signup. Pick Flatmate Flow if you want one free app for the whole share house, bills plus chores plus shopping plus budget, instead of a split app plus three other tools.
The proof (first-party): Every feature in Flatmate Flow is in the free tier, including custom per-person splits, recurring bills, multi-currency, and an AI receipt scanner. It does require a free account to sync a household, and it has no Splitwise or Tricount import, so you start fresh. The screenshots below are the real product, not mockups:
How we judged all three#
The same four questions, applied to each, so it reads fair:
- Bill-split depth: can it handle unequal, real-house splits and recurring bills?
- Breadth beyond bills: chores, shopping, budget, or just money?
- Cost and free tier: what is free, and what hits a wall?
- Best for: who is each one actually built for?
At a glance#
| Splitwise | Tricount | Flatmate Flow | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill-split depth | Clean, fast splits; recurring on Pro (as of 2026) | Solid one-off splits, best multi-currency; recurring bills weak (as of 2026) | Custom per-person (equal, percentage, fixed), recurring bills auto-generate, multi-currency |
| Breadth beyond bills | Nothing beyond splits | Nothing beyond splits | Chores, shopping (AI receipt scan), budget, calendar, polls, notice board |
| Cost / free tier | Free tier capped at 3 expenses/day with a short cooldown and banner ads; Pro $4.99/mo (as of 2026) | Free, no signup needed (as of 2026) | Every feature free, no credit card; free account required |
| Best for | Housemates who only split and already use it | Travel and trip splitting across currencies | A whole share house wanting one app |
(Splitwise and Tricount figures are mirrored from current sources as of 2026. Verify each on their own sites before publishing.)
Splitwise#
Where it wins#
Splitwise is the default for a reason. The split flow is clean and quick, and the biggest advantage is not a feature: the people you would split with already have it installed, with a user base reported around 100M+ as of 2026. It also settles up with payments inside the app, so you can pay a housemate without leaving it. If money is the only thing your house tracks, Splitwise is hard to beat.
Where it doesn't keep up#
It only does money, and the free tier now bites. As of 2026 the free plan caps you at 3 expenses per day with a short cooldown between entries and banner ads, with recurring bills and other extras behind Pro at $4.99/mo. A share house also runs chores, a shopping list, and a budget, none of which Splitwise touches, so most houses end up pairing it with a chat group and a fridge magnet.
Tricount#
Where it wins#
Tricount is built for trips, and it shows. Multi-currency is its strongest card, so a holiday with mixed euros, pounds, and dollars settles cleanly. As of 2026 you can start a tricount with no signup, just share a link, which makes it the lowest-friction way to split a one-off group cost. It was acquired by bunq, the European bank, which keeps it actively maintained.
Where it doesn't keep up#
It is a travel splitter, not a household app. As of 2026 recurring bills are weak, so the monthly rent-and-utilities rhythm of a share house is awkward to model. Like Splitwise, there is nothing beyond splitting: no chores, no shopping list, no budget view. For a one-week trip it is great; for an ongoing house it runs out of road fast.
Flatmate Flow#
Where it wins#
One app for the lot, free. Splits go deeper than down-the-middle: equal, percentage, or a fixed amount per person, recurring bills generate themselves, and multi-currency is supported. The shopping list ticks itself off when you snap a receipt (the AI scanner is powered by Claude). Chores rotate on real cycles including fortnightly and 28-day, the budget pulls from actual bills and shopping so you can see where the money went and export it at tax time, and there is a shared calendar, polls, and a notice board. Nothing is paywalled.
Where it doesn't keep up#
The honest gaps. The user base is smaller than Splitwise, so the housemate you invite probably will not already have it. We do not process payments inside the app yet, so settling up happens via your usual bank transfer. There is no native iOS App Store build yet (it is an installable web app and live on Google Play, with iOS coming). It is a free account, so everyone in the house signs up, and there is no Splitwise or Tricount import, so you start the household fresh. We are newer, and it shows in those places.
Which one should you pick?#
A decision tree, and it does not always land on us:
- Splitting a holiday or one-off trip, especially across currencies? Tricount. No signup, best multi-currency.
- Only ever splitting bills, and your housemates already live in Splitwise? Stay on Splitwise, even with the daily cap.
- Want chores, shopping, budget, and bills in one free app for the whole house? Flatmate Flow.
- Need to settle up with payments inside the app today? Splitwise, since we do not process payments yet.
- Sick of running three tools to keep one house organised? Flatmate Flow.
Honest reality#
Most share houses end up running two or three tools at once: bills on one, shopping in a chat, chores on the fridge. The case for consolidating to one app is not that any single split feature is dramatically better than Splitwise or Tricount. It is that the friction of running three tools is what kills follow-through. When everyone looks in one place, things actually get done. If your need is genuinely just splitting, a dedicated splitter is the right call, and we will say so.
Frequently asked questions#
Is Splitwise still free in 2026?#
There is still a free tier, but as of 2026 it is capped. Reports put the free plan at 3 expenses per day with a short cooldown between entries and banner ads, with recurring bills and other extras behind Splitwise Pro at $4.99/mo. Verify the current limits on Splitwise's own site, since these change.
Splitwise vs Tricount, which is better for a share house?#
For an ongoing share house, Splitwise is the closer fit because Tricount is built for travel and, as of 2026, handles recurring bills weakly. Tricount wins for one-off trips and multi-currency splitting with no signup. Neither does chores, shopping, or a household budget, so a house that wants more than splitting will outgrow both.
What is the best free bill-splitting app for housemates?#
It depends on what your house needs. For pure splitting where everyone already uses it, Splitwise. For travel and multi-currency with no signup, Tricount. For one free app that covers bills plus chores, shopping, and budget across the whole house, Flatmate Flow, which keeps every feature free but requires a free account.
Does Flatmate Flow have a daily expense limit like Splitwise?#
No. Flatmate Flow has no daily expense cap and every feature is in the free tier with no credit card. The one requirement is a free account so the household can sync across members. There is no import from Splitwise or Tricount, so you start the house fresh.
Want one free app for the whole house? Sign up free, no credit card, nothing to cancel. Or see the full feature list first.
By Dan Kilkelly, Flatmate Flow. Last updated 2026-06-23.