dvup vs Settle Up
The buy-it-once alternative. Pay for the whole group one time instead of subscribing forever.
dvup covers both halves of splitting money, which most head-to-heads skip past. There's the ongoing running tab for the people you split with every month, with recurring rent and balances that never reset, and there's the quick one-off tonight, where your friends pay from a link without installing anything. You don't keep one app for the trip and another for the household.
Feature by feature
Everything below was checked against Settle Up's own pages and store listing in July 2026. Where Settle Up wins or ties, the row says so.
| Feature | dvup | Settle Up |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt scanning (AI) | 5 free, then a quick ad each | Photos, Premium only |
| Guests can pay without the app | Share a link, no install | View-only browser link |
| Per-item split, incl. per-item tax | Yes | No line-item splitting |
| Daily cap on adding expenses (free) | No cap | None found |
| Settlement rails | Interac, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal | Bitcoin Lightning only |
| Balance visualisation | Animated bubbles + debt arrows | Circles sized by debt |
| Simplify / fewest transfers | Yes, free | Yes, can be turned off |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple currencies | Yes | Yes, editable rates |
| Recurring expenses (rent) | Yes, free | Premium only |
| Ads on the free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Price to remove limits | $29.99/yr | Subscription, or buy once |
| Bank / card import | No | No |
| Platforms | iOS, Android | iOS, Android, web |
Last reviewed July 2026. Prices are US App Store and vary by region. Free-plan limits change often, so check Settle Up's current terms before you switch. This is what each app documents, not an endorsement.
What Settle Up does better
Credit where it's due. These are real reasons to pick Settle Up over dvup, and pretending otherwise would just make the rest of this page less believable.
- Group Premium is one payment for the whole group, and Settle Up suggests adding it as a group expense so you split the cost. dvup has no one-time option.
- Their yearly is cheaper than dvup+, and once bought it works across iOS, Android and Windows.
- You can turn debt simplification off and pay only direct debts. dvup doesn't offer that switch.
- Circles sized by each person's debt — the same core idea as dvup's bubbles. dvup didn't invent this.
- No expense or group cap found anywhere, plus 24 languages, a web app, and a public developer API.
- Splitwise import, and a referral path that unlocks a Premium feature permanently.
Where dvup wins
- One app for both the one-off and the ongoing group. dvup keeps the running tab that never resets, and it does the quick split where guests pay straight from the link. You don't need a second app depending on which kind of split comes up.
- Guests actually pay from the link, then the tab closes itself after a day. Settle Up's browser link is view-only, so someone still ends up chasing the money.
- The AI scan reads the bill for you, every line including tax and tip, and it stays free: 5 to start, then a quick ad earns another, about one a day. Settle Up's Premium buys you a photo of the receipt, not the numbers off it.
- You already like the circles. dvup's move. Real physics rather than a static chart, and the debt arrows are drawn between people, so you see who pays who instead of just who's deepest.
- Per-item splitting and per-item tax. Settle Up splits even, by weight, or by multiple payers, with no line-item assignment.
- Recurring expenses are free on dvup and Premium-only on Settle Up.
- Rails people will actually use. Settle Up's only one is Bitcoin Lightning, which needs the recipient to have a Lightning address and the sender a compatible wallet.
- No iOS 17 floor, so older phones still work.
What it costs
Free with ads. Premium is a subscription, and Group Premium is a one-time buy that covers everyone in a group, up to a lifetime option. We're not quoting figures: the App Store and Settle Up's own site disagreed when we checked and we couldn't settle which is current, so look at the store for your region. What we can say is that their yearly came in under dvup+.
dvup is free to split, track and settle, with no cap on how much you log. AI scanning is the one thing with a cap, and even then you never have to pay: you get 5 free to start, then a quick ad earns you another, about one a day. dvup+ drops the ads and the daily wait for $2.99/month or $29.99/year.
Choose dvup if: You want a single app for both the quick one-off and the ongoing group. You want the scan to read the bill instead of storing a photo of it, and it stays free (5 to start, then a quick ad each) instead of sitting behind Premium. Tabs lets a guest pay straight from the link, where Settle Up's is view-only. And the circles you already like: dvup's are physics, with the arrows drawn between people so you see who pays who.
Try it without switching
You don't have to migrate anything to kick the tires. Settle a group right now with the free who owes who calculator, or work out the household with the rent split calculator. No sign-up.
Questions
What does Settle Up cost?
Free with ads. Premium is a subscription, and Group Premium is a one-time buy covering everyone in a group, up to a lifetime option. We're deliberately not quoting figures: when we checked, Settle Up's App Store listing and its own site disagreed, and we couldn't resolve which was current. Check the store for your region. Their yearly did come in under dvup+.
Is Settle Up cheaper than dvup+?
On the yearly plan, yes. Their yearly came in under dvup+ Personal at $29.99/year when we checked, and Group Premium is a one-time payment for the whole group, which dvup has no equivalent for. If price is the whole decision, that's a real point for Settle Up.
Doesn't Settle Up already do the bubble thing?
It does something similar, and we're not going to pretend otherwise: Settle Up draws a circle per person and the bigger the circle, the bigger the debt. dvup didn't invent that idea. What's different is that dvup's bubbles are animated and draw the debt arrows between people, so you see who pays who, not just who's deepest.
Does Settle Up scan receipts?
Its Premium buys receipt photo capture and storage, not reading the lines off the bill. So it's both narrower than dvup's scan and behind a paywall. dvup gives you 5 AI scans free to start, then a quick ad earns you another, about one a day, or dvup+ to skip the ads. You never have to pay to keep scanning.
How do you pay each other back?
Settle Up's only built-in rail is Bitcoin Lightning, which needs the recipient to have a Lightning address and the sender a compatible wallet. dvup deep-links into Interac e-Transfer, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, whichever fits where you are, and the Tabs guest link can pay out over Pix or UPI. dvup never holds the money itself.
Give dvup a try
Scan tonight's bill and everyone pays their share from one link, before the coats are on. Your first 5 scans are free, and a quick ad keeps them coming after that. On iOS and Android.