Splitty is a group expense app that BHD Group built and hosts in Muscat. It tracks who paid, who owes and who pays whom, for a trip, a shared flat or a dinner. It runs on the web in 52 languages and as free apps on iPhone and Android.
The problem
Shared money in a group usually lives in the wrong places. One person keeps a private note on their phone. Someone else posts a screenshot in the group chat. Weeks later, nobody agrees on the numbers.
The apps I looked at handled debts between pairs of people well. They treated a pooled fund as an afterthought. Many groups also do not share one language or one currency. I wanted one record that the whole group sees at the same time. Each person reads it in their own language.
The kitty comes first
The core idea in Splitty is the shared kitty. Contributions go in and expenses go out. Splitty tracks the two separately. So a pooled fund works, and so does a pay-as-you-go trip.
Each expense is one of three kinds. The kitty can pay it. A person can pay for the group and get the money back later. Or it is a personal cost that belongs to one person. Splitty does the math for each kind.
The simple settle-up view aims for one payment each. A detailed view shows every debt between people. Splitty records who paid whom. It does not move money, and it is not a payment provider. I kept that line on purpose.
Languages and currencies
Splitty ships in 52 languages. They include Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tagalog and Chinese. Right-to-left languages get a full right-to-left layout. Two people on the same trip can read the same balances in two different languages.
Money follows the same rule. A person enters each expense in the currency they actually paid in. The trip stores the exchange rate it used. A later edit does not silently rewrite old balances. In a money app, that rule matters more than any feature.
Joining must be easy
A group app fails if half the group will not sign up. So an invite is a link that opens in any browser. A guest can join a trip without an account. Sign-in uses a one-time code by email or WhatsApp, so there is no password to remember. The web app installs to the home screen and opens without a connection.
More than the bills
A trip is more than its bills. Splitty keeps the itinerary next to the money, with flights, stays and day plans. A person can photograph a receipt onto any expense. An Apple Wallet trip pass shows the balance on the lock screen and updates when it changes. A group can export every transaction as a CSV file. A reminder can go by WhatsApp to someone who still owes.
Web first, then the stores
We started on the web, because a link reaches everyone in a group. The store apps followed. On the App Store it is "Splitty: Split Bills & Trips", and it needs iOS 16.4 or later. On Google Play the official package is om.splitty.app. Bin Haider Darwish L.L.C. publishes both apps. The web app at splitty.om stays available on Android and desktop.
How it earns
Splitty is free to use. Trips, people, expenses and settling up have no trip limit. Splitty Pro costs OMR 12.000 a year. It adds the PDF trip report and credits for WhatsApp reminders. I keep the core free on purpose. A split only works when the whole group uses the app.
What it taught me
Splitty sits in the BHD Group portfolio next to our business software. A consumer app needs a different discipline. A finance team will accept a slow screen if the invoice is correct. A friend on a trip will close the app and go back to the group chat.
So the work on Splitty is mostly removal. Every step between opening the link and seeing the first balance is a step where a person can leave. The same test works for any product: count the steps to the first useful result, then cut them.
Related: BHD Group and my other ventures and Why we built our own ERP instead of buying one.