Choose Balancia when
you want to be able to leave with your records in reusable formats, read the source, keep the database and receipts on a server you choose, let guests in without an account, or decide exactly how currencies are balanced.
tricount alternative
Balancia vs tricount:an open-source alternative you can leave with your data.
Balancia is a free, open-source alternative to tricount. Both track a group's shared expenses and work out how to settle up. tricount is a managed mobile app operated by bunq; Balancia is software you use on a free hosted instance or run yourself, with a complete export of every group in JSON, CSV and Excel.
Checked against tricount's own pages on October 5, 2026. tricount can change its product and pricing; its pages, listed at the end, are the authority on what it offers today.
The short answer
Choose tricount when
you want a native mobile app, a managed service with nothing to administer, fuller offline use, or payment requests through your bank where they are offered.
Balancia and tricount, side by side
| Question | Balancia | tricount |
|---|---|---|
| Can your data leave in a reusable format? | BalanciaYes. Every group exports to JSON, CSV and Excel at any time. | tricountIts help centre lists CSV and PDF export among the features discontinued with Premium; the privacy policy still describes a right to portability. |
| Is it open source? | BalanciaYes. The complete application is published under AGPL-3.0-or-later. | tricountNo source distribution or self-hosted edition is offered; its terms restrict reproducing the service. |
| Who runs it? | BalanciaUse the free hosted instance, or run it on your own server. | tricountbunq B.V. owns and operates the app and the service. |
| Is it free? | BalanciaYes. No paid tier and no ads, on the hosted instance or on your own. | tricountYes. tricount presents the app as free, with no ads or daily cap, and its help centre says Premium was discontinued. |
| Can a group be shared by link? | BalanciaYes. A revocable link scoped to one participant in one group, with no account and nothing to install. | tricountYes. Its help describes opening a shared link on a phone and joining through the app. |
| Which splits are supported? | BalanciaEqual, exact amounts, percentages and weighted shares, with several payers on one transaction. | tricountEqual splits, and uneven ones entered as individual amounts or shares. |
| How are currencies handled? | BalanciaKeep each currency balanced separately, or convert at a rate you choose, frozen with each expense. | tricountA tricount has one default currency; expenses in another are converted into it at a daily exchange rate. |
| Are income and recurring entries supported? | BalanciaYes. Income, refunds and payouts are split like expenses, and both can repeat on a schedule. | tricountExpenses, transfers and income are documented; recurring entries are not. |
| Where does a group's data live? | BalanciaOn the Balancia instance you chose. A self-hoster controls its PostgreSQL database and receipt storage. | tricountIn the bunq-operated service and with its providers, under tricount's privacy policy. |
| Can receipts be attached? | BalanciaYes. Photos and PDFs stay on the instance, behind an authorization check on every request. | tricountYes. Photos, receipts included, are stored and processed by the managed service. |
| Are there native apps? | BalanciaNo. Balancia is an installable web app (PWA) that runs in the browser on iPhone, Android and desktop. | tricountYes. tricount is distributed as a mobile app. |
| 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. | tricountYes. tricount advertises adding expenses without signal and syncing later. |
| Does it move money? | BalanciaNo. It records repayments; it is not a bank or a payment processor. | tricountPayment requests and bank connections are offered under country-specific conditions; its help lists the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium. |
Leaving with your data
Portability is a promise in Balancia, not an upgrade. Any group downloads at any time as JSON, which keeps the complete record and the exact stored amounts; as CSV, for any data tool; or as an Excel workbook, for people who prefer a spreadsheet. Receipts are downloaded one at a time for now, and a self-hoster holds the database and the receipt storage directly.
This is a material difference from tricount as it is documented today. Its help centre lists CSV and PDF export among the features that went away with Premium, and its privacy policy describes portability without naming a reusable in-app format. If an exit path matters to your group, confirm the format with tricount's support before entering years of records.
What both do well
Both cover the everyday workflow: add the people, record the spending, divide it unevenly when that is fairer, see the balances, record repayments, cope with a second currency and keep a photo of the receipt. Either is a sound choice for a trip, a shared flat, a couple or an event.
tricount has the stronger phone-native experience, and its offline support reaches further than Balancia's, which stops at adding expenses and income. Balancia is the stronger fit when a group wants software it can deploy and inspect, a financial model it can audit, and a complete export in formats other tools read.
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.
tricount is owned and operated by bunq. Its privacy policy sets out the financial, identification, device and usage data used to run and improve the service, and the processing done by its providers. In exchange, nobody in the group has a server, a database, upgrades or backups to look after.
Moving from tricount to Balancia
Balancia does not have a tricount importer. Ask tricount's support what machine-readable copy of your data is available before planning a move.
Until a compatible export exists, moving a tricount means recreating its people, their opening balances and its expenses by hand. Keep the original until the new group's balances have been checked against it.
Questions people ask
Is Balancia a free alternative to tricount?
Yes. Balancia is free on its hosted instance and free to run yourself, with no paid tier and no ads. tricount is also presented as free; the difference is that Balancia is open source, self-hostable and exports every group in full.
Can I export my data from Balancia?
Yes. Every group downloads as JSON, CSV or an Excel workbook from its settings, at any time and at no cost.
Can I import a tricount into Balancia?
Not directly. Balancia has no tricount importer, so a group has to be recreated by hand. It does import Splitwise CSV exports and JSON backups.
Do participants need an account?
No. Only the person who creates the group needs one. Everyone else joins through a revocable guest link, in a browser, with nothing to install.
Does Balancia work without a mobile app?
Yes. 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. It is not in the App Store or Play Store.
Sources and trademarks
The tricount column draws on tricount's own pages, reviewed on October 5, 2026:
- Feature overview
- Expense and currency help
- Premium and export notice
- Payment request help
- Privacy Policy
- Terms and Conditions
tricount is a trademark of its owner. Balancia is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by tricount or bunq B.V. 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 Splitwise 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.