The friendlier Splitwise alternative
PayMeLater does the job people download Splitwise for — tracking who owes what and splitting shared bills — with no ads, no accounts needed for your friends, and a ledger that stays private. Free on iOS and Android.
PayMeLater vs Splitwise
Let’s be straight: both apps are free to download and both offer a paid upgrade, so we won’t pretend to win on price. The difference worth comparing is the model — a private ledger built around your friends, versus a shared ledger built around groups.
| PayMeLater | Splitwise | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | Friends and IOUs | Groups and shared ledgers |
| Friends need an account? | No — and bills sync when they join later | Yes, for shared groups |
| What an entry remembers | Reason, date and full change history | Amount, payer and a note |
| Splitting a bill | Drag friends onto the items they had | Equal, percentage or exact shares; itemised splits in Pro |
| Currencies | Live rate saved with every IOU | Supported; auto-conversion in Pro |
| Getting paid back | No reminders — settle in your own time | Automated payment reminders in Pro |
| Privacy | No feed; contact names stay on your device | Group activity feed |
| Ads | None | Between screens on the free plan |
Splitwise details reflect its published free/Pro feature split as of July 2026 and may change — check Splitwise’s current plans before deciding.
Built around IOUs, not groups
Splitwise organises life into groups; PayMeLater organises it around people. Every entry keeps its reason and a dated change history, so a balance is never just a number you have to take on faith — it’s a record you can both read.
Item-level splitting, done by hand
Splitting by who-had-what is the whole point of a bill splitter — and in PayMeLater it works the way you’d explain it at the table: drag friends onto items, settle the bill into IOUs, done.
Questions, answered
Is PayMeLater really a free alternative to Splitwise?
Yes — PayMeLater is free to download and use, with no ads. You can track IOUs and split bills without paying anything; an optional premium is there for power users who want more.
Do my friends need PayMeLater accounts like they do on Splitwise?
No. PayMeLater works as your own private ledger — you can track balances and split bills without your friends installing anything. When a friend joins later, the bills that name them are waiting, shared bills sync between you, and you’re both notified of changes.
Can I switch to PayMeLater mid-way through a trip?
Yes. Settle or note your existing balances, add them as opening IOUs with a reason like "carried over", and split everything new in PayMeLater from there.
Switching takes one download.
No accounts for your friends, no import ceremony — just start logging the next bill in PayMeLater.
Free to download · multi-currency · no ads, ever