Is Splitwise Pro Worth It? Here's the Math

You've hit the daily limit again. You're staring at an unskippable ad while trying to check how much your roommate owes you. You're wondering if Splitwise Pro is worth the upgrade. Let's break it down honestly.

What Splitwise Pro Actually Adds

Splitwise Pro unlocks features that the free tier restricts or removes entirely. Here's what you get:

• Unlimited expenses: The free tier limits you to a handful of expenses per day (commonly reported as 3). Pro removes this cap entirely.
• No ads: The free version shows banner ads throughout the interface. Pro removes them.
• Receipt scanning: Item-level OCR that lets you photograph receipts and assign individual items to people. Only available with Pro.
• Currency conversion: The free tier lets you enter expenses in different currencies, but Pro adds automatic conversion at current rates.
• Spending charts: Visual breakdowns of your spending by category and over time.
• Full data backup: Complete export of all your data in multiple formats.

These are genuinely useful features. If you split expenses regularly, especially on group trips or with roommates, the daily limit alone is reason enough to consider upgrading. Receipt scanning is particularly valuable for restaurant bills and grocery runs where everyone ordered different things.

The Cost Breakdown

Splitwise Pro costs roughly $3 per month, or about $30 per year (pricing varies by plan and region). That's not a lot for a single month, but subscriptions compound. Here's how it adds up:

• 1 year: ~$30
• 2 years: ~$60
• 3 years: ~$90
• 5 years: ~$150

For context, you're paying for an app that tracks who owes what. It does that well, but the recurring cost adds up, especially compared to alternatives that offer the same features for less.

What You Actually Need vs What You're Paying For

Most people upgrade to Splitwise Pro for one or two specific reasons: they hit the daily expense limit, or they want receipt scanning. Few people upgrade because they need spending charts or full data backup. The question is whether a subscription is the right way to pay for those one or two features.

If you only split expenses occasionally, maybe a dinner here and there, the free tier is probably fine. You won't hit the daily limit, and you can tolerate the occasional ad. But if you're actively tracking expenses with roommates, traveling with a group, or splitting grocery runs regularly, the free tier's restrictions become a real problem.

The Alternative Math

SplitterUp includes all of those Pro-tier features, unlimited expenses, receipt scanning, currency conversion, spending insights, and full data export, for a one-time purchase of $4.99 during its launch sale.

That's less than two months of Splitwise Pro, for lifetime access.

For a comprehensive feature comparison, see our full comparison page.

Where Splitwise Still Wins

To be fair, Splitwise has advantages that SplitterUp doesn't match yet. Splitwise has a massive established user base, which means your friends probably already have it installed. It also has a full web app, so you can manage expenses from a browser. If those factors matter to you, they're worth considering.

But if your main reasons for considering Pro are removing limits, getting receipt scanning, or ditching ads, you can get all of that and more for a one-time $4.99 purchase — less than two months of Splitwise Pro.

The Verdict

If you need what Splitwise Pro adds, you need it. The daily limit on the free tier is genuinely restrictive for anyone who splits expenses regularly, and receipt scanning changes how you handle restaurant bills and grocery runs.

The question isn't whether those features are worth paying for. It's whether they're worth paying for every month, forever. When the same features are available for a one-time $4.99, the math is hard to argue with.

For a detailed side-by-side comparison, read our full SplitterUp vs Splitwise breakdown. Or check out our roundup of the best expense splitting apps in 2026 for a broader view of the landscape.