Splitwise or a shared budget: which does a couple need?
They answer different questions. Splitwise keeps track of shared expenses and who owes whom. A shared budget like Fam108 tracks where the household’s money goes against a plan. Plenty of couples need one of them; some need both.
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Checked on
Everything we say about Splitwise below comes from its official website on the date above. This is not a contest: the two kinds of app do different jobs.
Splitwise and Fam108 side by side
| Compared | Splitwise | Fam108 |
|---|---|---|
| Main question | Who owes whom? | Where does our money go, and how much is left? |
| Price | Free; Pro is paid and ad-free | Free for two; Plus $3.99/month or $29.99/year |
| Who it is for | Housemates, trips, groups, friends and family | A couple or a family sharing one budget |
| Budgets by category | — | Monthly budgets; weekly on Plus |
| Settling up | Balances and who owes who | Not supported: it shows who spent what |
| Platforms | iPhone, Android, web | Web; Android as a beta APK. App Store and Google Play: coming soon |
Splitwise: as stated on splitwise.com on the check date. “—” means the official site does not say.
What Splitwise does well
Splitwise keeps track of shared expenses and balances with housemates, on trips, in groups, with friends and family, and shows who owes who. It is free on iPhone, Android and the web; Splitwise Pro removes ads and adds features such as receipt scanning, charts and graphs, and currency conversion.
What a shared budget does instead
A shared budget starts from a plan: how much the household can spend on groceries, eating out or the kids this month. Fam108 shows what is left in each category while you enter an expense, gives a trip or a project its own budget and end date, and puts who spent how much this month on the home screen. It does not work out who owes whom.
Which one a couple needs
If the two of you keep your money separate and settle up from time to time, a splitting app such as Splitwise answers your question. If you run a household together and want to see where the money goes and how much is left, that is a budget. Many couples use both: a budget for the household and a splitting app for a trip with friends.
Using both
The two apps do not connect to each other, so an expense goes into each one separately. A simple split that works: the household’s spending in Fam108, the costs you share with friends in a splitting app, settled when the trip is over.
Splitwise vs a shared budget: questions and answers
Can Fam108 split bills?
No. It shows who paid for what and who spent how much this month, but it does not work out who owes whom or send payment requests.
Is Splitwise a budget app?
Splitwise describes itself as a way to keep track of shared expenses, balances and who owes who. Fam108 is built for budgets: limits per category and what is left in each.
Which is better for a trip?
To keep the trip’s spending within a budget, Fam108 gives the trip its own budget, end date and daily limit (a Plus feature). To settle up with friends afterwards, a splitting app is the right tool.
Do they work together?
Not automatically: they do not connect, so you add expenses in each. Many people keep the budget in one and settle up in the other.