A Splitwise alternative for couples who share a budget
Splitwise is built for settling up: roommates, trips, the friend who covered dinner. Couples who share a household often find that is the wrong question. They are not trying to pay each other back, they are trying to stay inside a grocery budget together. Happy Dad is built for that second job.
How they differ
| Happy Dad | Splitwise | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Shared budget: where the household's money goes | Shared debts: who owes whom |
| Category budgets with limits | Yes, with green, amber and red status | No monthly budgets |
| Settle up and IOUs | No | Yes, its core feature |
| Both phones update live | Yes, with a push notification | Yes |
| Bank login | Never | Not required |
| Price | Free, no ads. Optional Happy Dad+ at $1.99/month | Free with ads and a daily expense cap; Pro is about $4.99/month or $39.99/year |
| Platforms | iPhone | iPhone, Android, web |
Splitwise prices as listed on its App Store page in November 2026. They vary by country.
Pick Splitwise if
- You keep separate money and need to pay each other back.
- You split costs with roommates, friends or a group trip.
- Someone in the group uses Android.
Pick Happy Dad if
- You run one household and want to see spending against a monthly budget.
- You want to know who spent what, without turning it into a debt.
- You both have iPhones and want logging an expense to take about two taps.
Happy Dad at a glance
- Happy Dad is a shared budget app for couples, families and people budgeting on their own.
- Free on iPhone, with no ads. There is no Android app yet.
- Never asks for a bank or card login. You add each expense yourself, in about two taps.
- Each person uses their own iPhone. The budget updates live on every phone in the household, with a push notification.
- Partners join with a 6-digit invite code. Households can have more than two members.
- Monthly category budgets turn green, amber, then red as you spend. View them as a list or as tiles with a pie chart.
- Happy Dad+ is optional: $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year, first month free. It adds a web dashboard with insights and a forecast, plus spreadsheet exports.
- It does not import bank transactions or track who owes whom.
Questions
Can Happy Dad settle up who owes whom?
No. It shows who spent what in a shared budget, but it does not track IOUs or balances between people.
Can I use Splitwise and Happy Dad together?
Yes. Some couples use Happy Dad for the household budget and Splitwise for trips or friends.
Related: Track and split expenses with your partner · A simpler, free YNAB alternative for couples · A Honeydue alternative with no bank linking