Best Apps for Splitting the Bill With Friends

Alessandra Bulow

Ever go to a restaurant with friends and whip out a calculator to figure out who owes what after the meal? Hopefully not, but you’ve probably seen it happen. While some people are happy to split a check evenly, others want to itemize every single thing that was ordered. Since there are tons of phone apps that cater to both camps, we checked them all out. Here are the best apps for splitting the dinner check.

Gratuity (Free) - On a single screen, you can calculate the tip for a restaurant, bar or delivery, rate the service, then split the check evenly. This isn’t the app for people who want to itemize. 

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Cover (Free) - New York City’s Carbone and San Francisco’s Coi are just a few of the two cities’ restaurants that have started to offer this app that allows guests to pay electronically. You can add gratuity, split the check evenly between your friends, and then pay without flagging down your waiter. Treating a friend is easy, because there’s a feature that allows you to pay for anyone else in the group too.

Tabbed Out (Free) - At participating bars and restaurants around the country, you can use this app to open and close your tab. When you’re ready to leave, you can add gratuity, split the check, and pay with you credit card on your phone too.

Plates by Splitwise (Free) - You can choose to split the bill equally or just calculate the cost of your own food and drinks with this app.

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Tab (Free) - Snapping a photo of the bill with your phone camera creates a digital version. Then tap your items, and calculate the tip.

Divvy ($0.99) - It’s another app that transforms a paper bill into a digital receipt. This one is best for extra nitpicky diners because they can check that all of the prices are correct before itemizing what each person owes and calculating the tip.

Billr ($1.99) - If you are dead set on always itemizing the check, this is the app for you. It can add gratuity and split the bill for up to 16 people. Seriously though, if you’re part of a large party and refuse to pay for the guacamole that you didn’t eat, there’s no app that will ever help you.

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