How Splitinerary works

From creating a trip to settling up — a step-by-step walkthrough.

Create a trip

Click "+ New trip" from your dashboard. Give it a name, destination, and travel dates. You'll automatically be added as the trip manager.

Tip: You can edit trip dates at any time — perfect when plans are still forming.

Add travelers

Open the Travelers tab and click "+ Add traveler." Enter each person's name and whether they're an individual or a family/group. For families, specify how many members — this affects how shared costs are divided.

Tip: Set each traveler's join and leave dates if they're not present for the full trip — costs are prorated automatically.

Invite others

From the Travelers tab, click "Invite via email" to send a link. Recipients create their own account (or log in if they already have one) and are automatically linked to your trip.

Tip: You can designate multiple trip managers — great for large groups where several people will be entering expenses.

Enter expenses

Go to the Expenses tab and click "+ Add expense." Choose a category (housing, meals, excursions, or incidentals), enter who paid, and select which travelers to split it among.

Tip: Use "per day" for ongoing costs like groceries, "one-time" for fixed costs, and "per person" for individual activities.

Log lodging correctly

For housing, enter the check-in and check-out dates. You can enter a nightly rate or a total cost. Splitinerary automatically handles partial stays — someone who checks out early won't be charged for the nights they missed.

Tip: The check-out day itself is never charged (just like a real hotel). Departure days for early leavers are also excluded.

Configure family splits

When adding an expense, choose how families are counted: "By member count" charges a family of 3 three times an individual's share. "By family unit" gives every entity an equal share regardless of size.

Tip: Housing is almost always better split by member count. Group activities might make more sense by family unit.

Review the dashboard

The Dashboard tab shows a live summary of all expenses, per-traveler totals, and preliminary settlement amounts. Switch between "Summary," "Per expense," and "Per day" views.

Tip: The "Cost Grid" tab gives a full matrix of every expense vs. every traveler — great for spotting imbalances.

Settle up

At the end of your trip, the Dashboard shows a settlement plan — the minimum number of payments needed to make everyone whole. Share this with your group and collect or send money however you prefer.

Tip: The algorithm minimizes transactions, so a group of 6 may only need 3–4 payments total.

Ready to split your first trip?

Create a free account and have your first trip set up in under 5 minutes.

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