Concepts
Split bills vs household sharing
Buddies for IOUs; households for partner visibility.
Split bills (buddies / IOU contacts) track who owes whom after a shared expense—dinner with friends, group trip, roommate utilities. Household sharing is a live partner ledger with shared vs private visibility. You can use both: household with a partner, splits with friends.
Choose split bills when…
- You need equal, exact, percent, shares, or line-item splits
- You want Settle up to clear a balance with one buddy
- IOU data can stay local without cloud sync
Choose household when…
- You share ongoing expenses with a partner
- You want shared dashboard views with privacy toggles per entry
- You are signed in with cloud sync (optional E2EE)
Common mistakes
- Expecting household to simplify group IOUs — Use split groups for multi-person debt graphs.
- Adding buddies for a spouse — Partners usually want household, not IOU wallets.
- Assuming Expense Trail sends payments — We track balances; you pay friends outside the app.
Product guides: Split expenses · Households · Buddies.