Compared
Orla vs Splitwise.
Splitwise keeps score of who owes whom. Orla keeps the book that debt belongs to, so settling up is a payment against a budget.
Checked on 28 August 2026 against Splitwise's own Pro page.
Side by side
Two different jobs, and where they overlap.
The overlap is one row of this table. The rest is the difference.
| Orla | Splitwise | |
|---|---|---|
| What it isIn one sentence | A book for all your money, with splitting built into it | A shared record of who owes whom, and the best known one there is |
| PriceTheir own pages, this month | Free plan with no time limit and no card; paid from $25 a month | Free with ads; Pro sells "unlimited expenses" and "a totally ad-free experience", and names no price on its own page |
| Where an expense comes fromBefore anyone splits it | A connected bank, card, exchange or wallet, split without retyping it | Typed in, or imported from a card: "Currently available only in the US" |
| After you settle upWhere the money lands | A real payment in the same book, against the same category and budget | A balance cleared in the app; the payment itself happens somewhere else |
| The rest of your moneySalary, rent, savings, coins | Same book, same categories, same reports | Not what it does; shared expenses only |
| GroupsA trip, a flat, a family | Spaces with roles and their own books, and a personal space that stays private | Groups and friends, with default split settings on Pro |
| Getting everyone inWhere they win | Each person signs up, and one of you connects the accounts | Everybody already has it, and a trip is organised in one message |
Fair is fair
When Splitwise is the right choice.
Most of the time, honestly, and here is when.
- →All you need is who owes whom on one trip, and everyone in the group already has it installed
- →You do not want a budgeting app at all; you want a scoreboard that takes ten seconds
- →Nobody in the group is going to connect a bank account, and they should not have to
Where Orla is different
The split stops being a separate scoreboard.
This matters when the sharing is not a one week trip.
- →A flat you share every month: the rent, the bills and your own groceries live in one budget, and your share of each is already counted
- →Settling up is a payment recorded against the right category, so the month adds up afterwards
- →The same book holds the salary the rent comes out of, and the coins, if that is where your money is
Questions
The questions the table does not answer.
Can Orla replace Splitwise?
For a shared flat or a household, yes: the expense arrives from a connected account, your share is counted, and settling up is recorded as a real payment against the same budget. For a one week trip with six people who all already have Splitwise, it is not worth moving anybody.
Does splitting cost anything in Orla?
No. Group and shared spaces are on the free plan, which has no time limit and asks for no card. What the paid plans add is live bank and exchange sync, invoices and the rest of the book.
What does Splitwise do that Orla does not?
It gets everyone in. A trip is organised in one message because the other five people already have the app, and that is worth more than any feature on a short trip. Splitwise also scans and itemises receipts, which we do for documents rather than for splitting a restaurant bill.
Didn't find your answer? [email protected]
Read next: how a group space works, shared money in a household.
Start
Split the trip, and keep the book afterwards.
The free plan has no clock on it, and a group space works on it.