Free alternative to Splitwise, Tricount and Splid
Looking for a way to split group costs – without downloading an app and without a subscription? Here's what to know.
Start with what your group actually needs
A useful expense-sharing tool should answer a few ordinary questions clearly: who paid, who benefited, what each person owes and how to settle the result. Beyond that, your situation matters. A shared flat needs recurring bills, while a holiday group may care more about foreign currencies and working without reliable internet.
Compare tools against those needs rather than collecting the longest feature list. Splitwise limits free use and offers a paid Pro plan; Tricount and Splid are mainly apps you download. If you would rather use a free website without asking everyone to install an app, Zertally is an alternative worth considering. The best fit is the one your group can comfortably use consistently.
Join in the browser instead of organising downloads
Zertally works in the browser on your phone or computer. Create a group and invite people with a link; people can also be added without an account. That lowers the practical hurdle when you are organising a weekend with friends who use different devices or simply do not want another app.
You can add the website to your home screen for convenient access. It also works offline and syncs later, which helps when you are entering a purchase away from a connection. Check the shared record once you are connected before making a final settlement. Zertally is available in eight languages, useful when a group's members are more comfortable reading different languages.
Understand what free means here
All Zertally features are free. The service is financed by ads, with no subscription and no paid extras. That means you do not need to decide which member should pay to unlock a particular expense-sharing feature. It is still worth considering whether an advertising-funded website suits your preferences; free does not have to mean the same funding model everywhere.
The practical advantage is consistency. Receipt amount reading, the group kitty, budgets, exports and settlement tools belong to the same free offering. You can choose the workflow that fits your group instead of limiting your plans to a smaller set of unlocked functions. Keep the decision grounded in what you need, rather than assuming every available feature must be used.
Match the features to everyday situations
For an expense, enter the amount, purpose, payer and people sharing it. Split equally when everyone benefits equally, use shares for proportional contributions, or enter exact amounts when individual totals differ. A receipt photo reads the amount; check it and choose the participants yourself. Quick templates help with frequent expenses, while categories and comments give the record context.
For shared flats, recurring expenses cover regular costs such as monthly rent. A group kitty lets everyone pay in and records purchases paid from the shared pot. A group budget has a progress bar and shows when spending exceeds it. Different currencies are supported, with the day's exchange rate saved on each expense so historical entries do not change with later exchange-rate movements.
When it is time to settle, Zertally calculates who pays whom with as few transfers as possible, exact to the cent. You can use PayPal or, for euro payments when the recipient has entered an IBAN, a banking-app QR code. The payer selects I've paid after paying, and the recipient confirms receipt.
See how the shared balance works in practice
Imagine a weekend with three friends. Mia pays €150 for accommodation, Noah pays €60 for groceries, and Olivia pays €30 for a shared taxi. Every expense is shared equally. The total is €240, so each person's share is €80.
Mia paid €70 more than her share and should receive €70. Noah paid €20 less than his share and owes €20. Olivia paid €50 less than her share and owes €50. Noah can send €20 to Mia and Olivia can send €50 to Mia, settling the weekend in two transfers. The reimbursements total €70, exactly matching Mia's advance beyond her own share.
The point is not complicated arithmetic. It is keeping the evidence and assumptions together, so everyone can see why a balance exists. Review entries before paying, especially if one person missed a meal or an expense included personal shopping. No calculator can decide the group's definition of fair without the right inputs.
What should I know about privacy?
Bank details in Zertally are only visible to the people who need them, and receipt photos are only for group members. Even within a shared group, it is sensible to avoid including unnecessary personal information in photos, descriptions or comments.
Treat invitations with the same care you would any shared financial conversation: send the link to the intended people and check who belongs in the group. Practical visibility rules are useful, but they are not a reason to make sweeping assumptions about legal compliance or to put sensitive documents into an expense record unnecessarily.
How do we switch from another tool?
A straightforward approach is to finish and settle the old group, then start a new Zertally group for future expenses. Invite everyone with a link and agree a clear starting date. This avoids mixing old balances with new spending or entering the same purchase twice.
If you still have unresolved expenses elsewhere, decide together how to handle them before the new record begins. Do not assume there is an automatic import. Starting fresh with a clear boundary is often easier to understand than recreating a long history that nobody needs for the next trip.
Which kinds of groups does it suit?
Holidays, shared flats, couples and clubs can all use the same basic approach: record who paid and agree who shares each cost. A couple might split some expenses proportionally and others equally; a club might prefer a kitty for routine purchases.
You can view your balance across all groups, export PDF or Excel records and archive finished groups. Friendly email reminders are limited to one per day, and you can share an amount via WhatsApp. Use those options to support your group's agreement, not replace the conversation about budgets and payment dates.