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Splitwise VS Firefly III

Compare Splitwise VS Firefly III and see what are their differences

Splitwise logo Splitwise

Splitwise is a free tool for friends and roommates to track bills and other shared expenses, so that everyone gets paid back. On the web, iPhone, and Android!

Firefly III logo Firefly III

Financial manager, it can help you keep track of expenses, income, budgets and everything in...
  • Splitwise Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-23
  • Firefly III Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-12

Splitwise features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Splitwise provides an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, making it straightforward for users to add expenses, keep track of debts, and settle up.
  • Multi-Platform Availability
    Available on the web, iOS, and Android, Splitwise ensures users can access and manage their expenses from almost any device.
  • Expense Tracking
    The app allows users to easily log and categorize expenses, which can be particularly useful for group trips, shared households, or any shared financial responsibility.
  • Flexible Split Options
    Users can split expenses equally, by percentages, shares, or custom amounts, providing flexibility in how costs are divided among group members.
  • Currency Conversion
    Splitwise supports multiple currencies, which is handy for international travel or groups with members from different countries.
  • Bill Reminders
    The app sends reminders for outstanding balances, helping users to stay on top of their payments and avoid forgotten debts.
  • Integration with Payment Platforms
    Splitwise can integrate with payment platforms like PayPal and Venmo for easy settlement of balances.

Possible disadvantages of Splitwise

  • Privacy Concerns
    Since Splitwise involves sharing financial information with others, there could be privacy concerns for those unwilling to share detailed expense data.
  • Subscription-Based Features
    Some advanced features, such as expense exporting and additional integrations, require a Splitwise Pro subscription.
  • Manual Entry Requirement
    Splitwise requires users to manually enter expenses, which could be time-consuming and prone to errors if not done diligently.
  • Limited Automatic Reconciliation
    While Splitwise helps track who owes whom, it does not automatically reconcile or pay off balances, leaving users responsible for manual payment.
  • Dependency on Group Honesty
    The accuracy of the expense records relies on the honesty and diligence of all group members, which may not always be reliable.
  • Potential for Confusion
    The various options for splitting bills (equally, by shares, etc.) can sometimes lead to confusion or disputes among users over what is fair.

Firefly III features and specs

  • Open Source
    Firefly III is open-source software, which means it's free to use, modify, and distribute. Users can also contribute to its development on GitHub.
  • Self-Hosting
    Users have the option to self-host Firefly III, giving them full control over their financial data and ensuring privacy and security.
  • Feature-Rich
    Firefly III includes a wide range of features such as budgeting tools, asset tracking, and detailed reporting, which help users manage their finances comprehensively.
  • Customization
    The software can be extensively customized to fit individual needs, from custom fields to personalized reports and dashboards.
  • Community Support
    Being an open-source project, Firefly III has an active community that can offer support, share tips, and provide plugins or extensions.

Possible disadvantages of Firefly III

  • Technical Requirements
    Self-hosting Firefly III requires some technical knowledge, including server setup, maintenance, and possibly dealing with command line interfaces.
  • Installation Complexity
    The installation process can be complex for users who are not familiar with web server environments, databases, and related technologies.
  • Limited Third-Party Integrations
    Compared to some commercial financial management tools, Firefly III has fewer integrations with third-party services and financial institutions.
  • User Interface
    While functional, some users may find the user interface less polished or intuitive compared to commercial alternatives with more development resources.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Self-hosting requires ongoing maintenance, including updates, backups, and security management, which can be a burden for some users.

Analysis of Splitwise

Overall verdict

  • Splitwise is a highly effective tool for managing shared expenses, especially if frequent splitting of costs is involved. Its features make it easy to track who owes what, and its automatic calculations save time and reduce errors.

Why this product is good

  • Splitwise is popular because it simplifies sharing and tracking expenses among groups, making it ideal for roommates, friends on trips, or any group spendings.
  • It automatically calculates balances and reminds users about payments, reducing the awkwardness of asking others for money.
  • Offers a user-friendly interface both on web and mobile apps, which makes managing expenses convenient and accessible.
  • Supports multiple currencies, which is great for international travel groups.
  • Integration with payment platforms like PayPal and Venmo for easy settlement of debts.

Recommended for

  • Roommates who need to regularly split household bills and expenses.
  • Groups of friends or families who often travel together and need to manage shared travel costs.
  • Colleagues or classmates working on projects or events that require shared funding.
  • Anyone who wants to avoid the hassle of manually tracking and settling shared expenses.

Splitwise videos

Splitwise - iPhone App Review! [2020]

More videos:

  • Review - Tricount vs Splitwise - App comparison
  • Demo - Splitwise Demo

Firefly III videos

No Firefly III videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Splitwise and Firefly III)
Personal Finance
61 61%
39% 39
Expense Tracking
100 100%
0% 0
Finance
50 50%
50% 50
Financial Planner
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Splitwise and Firefly III

Splitwise Reviews

12 Best Bill Splitting Apps in 2023
Splitwise is among the most commonly used group payment apps that can easily keep a systematic record of all your informal debts including restaurant bills, travel expenses, cost of accommodation, and much more. With this expense sharing app, users can either create groups or split the bill privately among friends. Splitwise also registers and saves all the expenses and...
6 Best Bill Splitting Apps for Hassle-Free Expense Sharing
Splitwise employs an intelligent algorithm to calculate the exact amount owed by each user. It shows who paid for what, how much amount was paid by each member, and any outstanding balances. Furthermore, the application also keeps everyone updated about their balances and recent transactions.
Best Bill-Splitting Apps
For example, shared items like appetizers would be split among the entire group or just a few people in the group. The app can handily accommodate large parties by allowing you to add up to 10 people to each group. Once youโ€™ve divided up the food among all the plates you can add in tax and tip. The app is made by the same company as Splitwise and is completely free. The only...
7 Best Budgeting Tools and Apps for Personal Finance
This oneโ€™s not a complete budgeting app but itโ€™s still a handy one. Splitwise is a nifty app that helps people track how much they owe to friends and colleagues and vice versa. It makes sharing expenses on outings, meals, events, etc easy to track by logging in each transaction. It basically keeps a total over time, so that you can pay back the money in a large payment,...

Firefly III Reviews

We have no reviews of Firefly III yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Firefly III seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Splitwise mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Splitwise yet. Tracking of Splitwise recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Firefly III mentions (7)

  • GnuCash 5.9 Released
    I use Firefly III (https://firefly-iii.org). It's a self-hosted web app which is nice for me because I tend to use it from my phone most of the time. It does have a pretty extensive API, perhaps not as easy to do bulk edits as a text file, but should be fairly straightforward. It also has a rule system that could be used to do bulk edits too. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Looking for an app to track my finances that can automatically connect with my banking accounts. Any tips?
    Firefly is open source and free: https://firefly-iii.org. Source: over 4 years ago
  • YNAB is Costly and Mint gives your data away.. Any alternatives that allow me to upload transactions (don't need sync), and auto categorize my transactions?
    I also use Firefly (https://firefly-iii.org). If you're comfortable self-hosting, it's a nice option. There are importer tools for things like YNAB or CSV files from your bank. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Budgeting Software for multiple currencies?
    I use Firefly III but it's self-hosted. It does support multiple currencies though. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Cheaper YNAB alternative?
    If you're tech savvy, I would recommend locally hosted Firefly III with parsers of PDF bank statements (it's Canada, most banks can't even properly export CSV with all transactions...) Https://firefly-iii.org/. Source: almost 5 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Splitwise and Firefly III, you can also consider the following products

Tricount - Manage and share expenses with friends

HomeBank - Free, easy, personal accounting, for everyone

Splid - Splid helps friends manage their money.

Money Manager Ex - Money Manager Ex is a free, open-source, cross-platform, easy-to-use personal finance software.

Settle Up - SETTLE UP is an indispensable app for friends and flatmates who need to keep track of shared bills...

YNAB - Working hard with nothing to show for it? Use your money more efficiently and control your spending and saving with the YNAB app.