Choose Balancia when
you want every feature without a subscription, guests who join through a link instead of signing up, exact multi-currency handling, a complete export, or the option of keeping the whole thing on a server you run.
Splitwise alternative
Balancia vs Splitwise:an open-source alternative you can host yourself.
Balancia is a free, open-source alternative to Splitwise. Both work out who owes whom after a group shares costs. The difference is the model: Splitwise is a managed service with a paid Pro tier; Balancia has no paid tier, lets guests join without an account, and can run on your own server.
Checked against Splitwise's own pages on October 5, 2026. Splitwise can change its product and pricing; its pages, listed at the end, are the authority on what it offers today.
The short answer
Choose Splitwise when
you want an established managed service with native iOS and Android apps or card-linked transaction import, and would rather not think about where it runs.
Balancia and Splitwise, side by side
| Question | Balancia | Splitwise |
|---|---|---|
| Is there a paid tier? | BalanciaNo. Every feature is in the repository; the hosted instance has no paid plan, no ads and no cap on expenses. | SplitwiseYes. Splitwise Pro is a paid subscription; its page lists unlimited expenses, currency conversion, receipt scanning, charts and an ad-free experience among what it adds. |
| Is it open source? | BalanciaYes. The complete application is published under AGPL-3.0-or-later. | SplitwiseNo source distribution or self-hosted edition is offered on its service pages. |
| Who runs it? | BalanciaUse the free hosted instance, or run it on your own server. | SplitwiseSplitwise Inc. provides and operates the service. |
| Can someone take part without registering? | BalanciaYes, through a revocable link scoped to one participant in one group. | SplitwiseThe standard Splitwise flow is account-based. |
| Which splits are supported? | BalanciaEqual, exact amounts, percentages and weighted shares, with several payers on one transaction. | SplitwiseSplitwise supports shared bills and uneven splits; check its current product for what each plan includes. |
| How are currencies handled? | BalanciaKeep each currency balanced separately, or convert into one base currency at a rate frozen with each expense. | SplitwiseSplitwise lists currency conversion at current exchange rates as a Pro feature. |
| Can a Splitwise group be brought across? | BalanciaYes. Balancia imports a group's CSV export or the account's JSON backup, with a preview before anything is written and no duplicates on a re-run. | SplitwiseIts groups export as CSV, which is the file Balancia reads. |
| Can you take your data with you? | BalanciaYes. Every group exports to JSON, CSV and Excel, at no charge. | SplitwiseA group exports as a CSV spreadsheet; Splitwise's support describes the full account backup, in JSON, as a Pro feature. |
| Where does a group's data live? | BalanciaOn the Balancia instance you chose. A self-hoster controls its PostgreSQL database and receipt storage. | SplitwiseIn Splitwise's managed service and with its service providers, as its privacy statement describes. |
| Where do receipts go? | BalanciaPhotos and PDFs stay on the instance, behind an authorization check on every request. | SplitwiseStored and processed as part of the managed Splitwise service. |
| Are there native apps? | BalanciaNo. Balancia is an installable web app (PWA) that runs in the browser on iPhone, Android and desktop. | SplitwiseYes. Splitwise has web, iOS and Android applications. |
| Does it work offline? | BalanciaPartly. Expenses and income can be recorded with no network and are sent on reconnect; editing and repayments need a connection. | SplitwiseCheck the current Splitwise apps for their offline behaviour. |
Moving from Splitwise to Balancia
- 1Export the Splitwise group as a CSV spreadsheet, or download the account's JSON backup if your plan includes it.
- 2In Balancia, open the Import page of the group it should land in.
- 3Upload the file and read the preview: the people, expenses and repayments it will create.
- 4Match the imported people to the group's participants, then confirm.
Balancia keeps a fingerprint of what it imported, so running the same file again adds nothing twice. Final shares arrive as exact amounts; the name of the original split method and historical exchange rates are not recreated.
Privacy and control
With a self-hosted Balancia, the operator chooses the server, the storage, the domain, the email provider and every optional integration. The application needs no outside service to run, and telemetry starts off. Category suggestions and receipt scanning run locally and send no expense to an AI provider.
That control is also a responsibility: somebody has to apply updates, configure HTTPS, protect the secrets, watch the instance and test the backups. Splitwise takes that work on, and its privacy statement governs how it and its vendors handle what you enter.
What it costs
Balancia charges nothing — no licence, no subscription, no feature held back — on the hosted instance or on your own.
Running your own copy still has real costs: a server, storage, backups, a domain, perhaps email delivery, and the time to look after them. If all you want is to split a dinner tonight, the hosted instance is the easier choice; self-hosting earns its keep when control is worth the upkeep.
Questions people ask
Is Balancia a free alternative to Splitwise?
Yes. Balancia has no paid tier: every feature, including multi-currency groups, receipts, recurring expenses and exports, is available on a free account and in the open-source code.
Can I import my Splitwise groups into Balancia?
Yes. Balancia reads a Splitwise group CSV export or an account JSON backup, shows a preview of every person, expense and repayment it will create, and duplicates nothing if the same file is imported twice.
Does Balancia limit how many expenses I can add?
No. Balancia has no paid plan, so there is no free allowance to run out of.
Do my friends need a Balancia account?
No. Only the person who creates the group needs one. Everyone else can join through a revocable guest link, then add expenses, record repayments and attach receipts.
Does Balancia have an iPhone or Android app?
Balancia is a progressive web app. It runs in the browser on iPhone, iPad, Android and desktop and can be added to the home screen, but it is not distributed through the App Store or Play Store. If native apps matter most, Splitwise has them.
Sources and trademarks
The Splitwise column draws on Splitwise's own pages, reviewed on October 5, 2026:
Splitwise is a trademark of Splitwise Inc. Balancia is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Splitwise Inc. This comparison is offered to help people choose a hosting and data-ownership model, not to suggest the two products match feature for feature.
Also see tricount alternative
Start with tonight's dinner.Sort out the trip later.
A group takes a minute to set up, and the people in it do not need accounts.