^{Tricount vs Splitwise? Which Expense-Sharing App Should You Choose?}

At first glance, Tricount and Splitwise look nearly identical. You add expenses, choose how you you want to split biills,and settle up at the end. But once you look closer, they’re actually quite different in how they charge, what they prioritise and how they feel to use day-to-day.This guide breaks down the major differences, what people like and dislike about each, and which one is best depending on how you split expenses.

A new bill-splitting app you may not have heard of yet is Cino which splits bills automatically using shared virtual cards which are connected to everyone's personal bank cards. It's a great Splitwise alternative if you want to remove the admin around shared expenses, as bills are split when you pay - not afterwards.

Key differences between Tricount and Splitwise

Splitwise is feature-rich but increasingly paywalled. The free tier now has daily limits and delays when adding expenses, and the subscription (Splitwise Pro) unlocks all power features.

• Tricount is simpler, cleaner, more “European,” and most importantly: free and ad-free. Its older Premium plan has been removed.
• Splitwise has more advanced tools (receipt scanning, charts, analytics, itemised bills, deep history search, bank integrations).
• Tricount has fewer “power features” but is effortless for groups who just want to track shared expenses without friction.
• Splitwise expects every participant to create an account; Tricount can work without one.
• Tricount now includes a free virtual card via bunq so your purchases can auto-appear in the app (not real-time multi-card splitting — more a logging convenience).

If you want a powerful tool and don’t mind a subscription → Splitwise.
If you want simple, free, and unlimited → Tricount.

Let’s go deeper.

How Both Bill-Splitting Apps Work (The Shared Core)

Splitwise and Tricount both let you:

• Create a group for a trip, flat, or event
• Add people
• Log expenses
• Choose how to split (equally, by percentage, shares, or exact amounts)
• Let the app simplify who should repay whom

For basic use — like three mates on a trip or flatmates tracking rent and groceries — both are more than enough. The differences show up in the details around limits, pricing, and how “smart” you want the app to be.

Pricing & Limits

Splitwise

Splitwise used to be very generous on its free tier. Recently, though, it introduced:

• Daily limits on the number of expenses you can add
• A delay timer between adding expenses
• More aggressive nudges toward Pro

This has caused a backlash in reviews, with many long-time users feeling the app is becoming pay-to-use.

Splitwise Pro (around £3.99/month or £39.99/year) unlocks:

• Unlimited expense adding (no limits, no delays)
• Multi-currency conversion
• Receipt scanning & itemised bills
• Spending charts and analytics
• Full history search
• Card transaction import (in certain regions)
• Extra export options and backups

If you’re adding lots of small expenses every day (e.g., group trip, shared groceries, multiple meals), the free tier friction becomes noticeable.

Tricount

Tricount previously had a Premium tier, but the new app has removed it entirely. Now:

• The app is free
• Ad-free
• Unlimited
• And does not push you into a subscription

Some previously Premium features like CSV export are currently missing in the new version, but most people won’t notice unless they need deep analytics.

Features & User Experience

Splitwise’s Strengths

Splitwise is designed for people who want power and detail:

• Receipt scanning and itemising (great for restaurants)
• In-depth spending analytics and charts
• Advanced searching of old expenses
• Payment integration via Open Banking (in some countries)
• Very mature app with years of refinement

It’s ideal for:

• Long-term house shares
• Couples combining finances
• Expense-heavy trips where people order different things
• People who want their spending tracked “properly”

Splitwise’s Weak Points

What people complain about:

• The new free-tier limits and delays
• The feeling of being pushed into a subscription
• The price being quite high for a bill-splitting app
• Every participant needing an account
• Recent dips in user satisfaction on review sites

If you dislike upsells or subscriptions, this might frustrate you.

Tricount’s Strengths

Tricount is designed for simplicity. People consistently praise it for being:

• Clean and easy to understand
• Great for trips (especially with multiple currencies)
• Fast to set up — you can use it without an account
• Free from limits and subscription pressure
• Light and intuitive for non-technical people

The new integration with a free bunq virtual card is handy if you want expenses to auto-appear in your Tricount. (It’s not real-time splitting like Cino — it’s more about auto-logging.)

Ideal for:

• Travelling with friends
• Weekend trips, events, festivals
• Couples who want something simple
• Shared expenses that don’t need analytics

Tricount’s Weak Points

It’s not designed for “power users”:

• No receipt itemisation
• No deep analytics
• No advanced search
• Some long-time Premium features are missing after the redesign
• The new version’s interface gets mixed reviews

If you’re the kind of person who loves charts, receipts and year-long expense breakdowns, Tricount may feel too light.

User Sentiment (What People Actually Say)

Splitwise: what people like

• “Stopped fights in our flat”
• “Great for complex splits”
• “Pro features are worth it for receipt scanning”

What they dislike:

• “Free version now too limited”
• “Feels paywalled compared to before”
• “Too much upsell pressure”

Tricount: what people like

• “Super easy for trips”
• “The best for multi-currency holidays”
• “Love that it’s free and no ads”
• “Friends who don’t want accounts can still join quickly”

What they dislike:

• “Wish it had analytics/exports like the old Premium”
• “New app design isn’t as good as the old one”

Overall sentiment:
Splitwise is loved for power features but criticised for becoming aggressively monetised.
Tricount is loved for being simple and free, but some wish it had more advanced features.

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Are there any alternative options? 

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There are many alternative bill-splitting apps out there but most of them do the same thing, they just have slightly different displays. Cino is the first app that's really doing something different when it comes to bill-splitting. Instead of manually adding expenses and settling up later, Cino splits the bill for you with shared virtual cards that are linked to your own personal bank cards. This solves a problem no other bank or app has – no one has to gfront h tota I pron. Everyone's share is deducted automatically from their own accounts. So all the admin around splitting bills is removed entirely.

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