Splitwise’s free limits, and what to use instead

I build kisir, a free app for splitting group expenses, so read this with that in mind. I’ll keep to what Splitwise says on its own pages and leave out what I couldn’t check.

What Splitwise’s free version limits

Splitwise is still free to use. Its App Store description says so in plain words: if you don’t buy Splitwise Pro, you can keep using Splitwise for free.

What the free version holds back is spelled out on the Splitwise Pro page, checked in October 2026. Pro is sold as “no limits and no ads”, and its first item is unlimited expenses: add as many as you like each day, with no interruptions. Read the other way round, that means the free version:

• limits how many expenses you can add per day, and
• shows ads.

Splitwise doesn’t print the exact daily number on that page. Users in app reviews and forums have reported different figures over the past few years, so I won’t repeat one here. If you add a whole trip’s receipts in one evening, you are the person this limit is for.

Pro also includes features that are not in the free version, as of October 2026: currency conversion at today’s rates, receipt scanning and itemisation, charts by category, expense search, default splits for a group, card transaction import (US only) and early access to new features.

What Pro costs

The Splitwise Pro page doesn’t show a price. The US App Store lists Splitwise Pro as an in-app purchase at several prices, from $2.99 to $39.99, which suggests monthly and yearly plans that vary by region. Check the price in your own app before deciding.

What Splitwise does well

It is fair to say this plainly: Splitwise is the best-known app in this space for a reason. It has around 29,000 ratings on the US App Store, a web version, and features kisir doesn’t have at all — receipt scanning, itemised bills and bank card import in the US. If those matter to you, Pro may well be worth it.

Your options if you don’t want to pay

1. Wait until tomorrow

If you hit the cap once a year on holiday, the simplest option is to note the remaining receipts and add them the next day. It costs nothing, but it means someone keeps a list on the side, which is exactly what an app is supposed to save you from.

2. A spreadsheet

A shared spreadsheet has no limits and everyone already has one. It works well for a flat with the same bills every month. It works less well on a trip: offline phones, several currencies, costs that were only for some people, and someone has to do the final “who pays whom” by hand. If you go this way, start from a free shared expenses template rather than a blank sheet.

3. Splitwise Pro

If you use Splitwise every week, already have your groups there, and want receipt scanning or bank import, paying for Pro is the least disruptive choice.

4. Another app

There are other apps for splitting costs, each with its own free and paid parts; check their current terms before you move a group. I compared them, with what each does well, in the best apps to split expenses and in separate pages for Tricount, Splid and Settle Up.

kisir is one of them. What it does, without any paid tier:

• No daily limit, and no limit on groups or people.
• No sign-up. You pick a name; friends join by link, QR code or code. People without the app can be added by name.
• Any currency per expense, with today’s rate filled in and changeable to what your bank charged.
• Works offline for adding, editing and deleting expenses.
• The fewest payments to settle the group, and export to CSV or Excel.
• No ads.

What it doesn’t do, so you can decide honestly: no receipt scanning, no itemised bills, no recurring expenses, no bank connection, and no web version — it is an iPhone and Android app.

Moving from Splitwise

kisir doesn’t import from Splitwise. The clean way to switch is at a natural break: settle up the current group in Splitwise, export it there if you want a record, and start the next trip or the next month in the new app. Trying to move a half-finished group usually costs more time than it saves.

The short version

As of October 2026, Splitwise’s free version limits how many expenses you can add per day and shows ads; Pro removes both and adds currency conversion, receipt scanning and more. If you use those features, Pro is a fair deal. If you only need to split costs and settle up, a free app with no daily cap — kisir or one of the others — does the job.