Best App to Track Who Owes What Between Roommates

The math starts simple. Rent, three ways. Then the wifi bill hits. Someone covers Costco. One person fronted the security deposit six months ago. By month three, your group chat is a spreadsheet nobody can read and you’re all pretending not to remember who paid for the last Uber home. If you’re looking for the best app to track who owes what between roommates, you don’t need another Venmo request thread. You need one place where the numbers actually add up.

Short version: a roommate expense app should handle recurring bills (rent, utilities, wifi), one-off charges (groceries, furniture, that broken shower head), and let you settle up without doing the mental math. Splitwise is the most common pick, but the free plan caps you at three expense entries per day. Tricount, Settle Up, and homies are free alternatives worth a look, especially if you want chores and bills in one app.

What to look for in a roommate expense app

Skip anything that treats you like a solo user tracking friends. You live with these people. You want:

• Recurring bills — rent, utilities, streaming subscriptions, WiFi. Set once, splits every month.
• Group balances — not just “you owe Sam $12,” but “you owe the house $47 total, here’s the breakdown.”
• Custom splits — 40/30/30 for the person with the master bedroom, or 50/25/25 when someone leaves for the summer.
• Payment handoff — a button that opens Venmo, Zelle, or Cash App with the amount pre-filled.
• Notifications that don’t suck — a nudge on the 1st when rent is due, not 47 emails.
• A real free tier — not a trial. Not “3 entries per day.” Actually free.

If the app makes you open three tabs to log dinner, groceries, and rent, it’s not saving you time. It’s just moving the annoyance.

Splitwise vs Tricount vs Settle Up

Splitwise has the biggest user base and the cleanest UI, which is why everyone defaults to it. As of 2026, the free plan limits you to three expense entries per day, which is fine for casual use but painful during a Costco run or when you’re catching up on a week of bills. Pro is around $30/yr.

Tricount is fully free with no entry cap, handles multi-currency, and works well for group trips. Weaker on recurring bills, better for one-off tracking.

Settle Up is also free, sync-friendly across devices, and has decent recurring-expense support. UI is more utilitarian than Splitwise. Fine if you don’t want to pay.

None of them handle chores. If you also fight about who cleaned the bathroom last, you’re back to three apps.

Is there a free app that tracks bills and chores together?

Yes. Flatastic and homies are the two that pull bills, chores, and shared lists into a single roommate-focused app. Splitwise won’t. Venmo won’t. If you want one place for the whole house — rent split, chore rotation, shared grocery list, expense history — you want a roommate app, not a bill-splitter with roommate mode bolted on.

For a broader look at the money side, see our roundup of best apps to manage roommate expenses.

How to stop the “who owes what” argument for good

Three moves that work regardless of which app you pick.

Log the expense in the moment. Not at the end of the month. Not “I’ll remember.” Open the app at checkout. The whole system falls apart when receipts turn into vibes.

Set a monthly settle-up day. The 1st or the 15th. Everyone pays their balance, back to zero, move on. Rolling balances that stretch across months are how people end up “forgetting” $180.

Agree on the split rules upfront. Rent by room size. Utilities equal. Groceries only if someone actually ate it. Codify it once, then let the app enforce it. Nobody argues with the app.

Where homies fits

homies puts recurring bills, one-off expenses, and your chore rotation in the same app — no bouncing between Splitwise, a Notion board, and the group chat. It auto-splits based on rules you set once, sends the reminder for you, and if someone still ghosts the bill, the AI mediator drafts the follow-up so you don’t have to be the villain again. rooming, minus the drama. Join the waitlist at joinhomies.app.