Yes, for a running tab. Splitwise is good when different roommates pay different bills: it splits them, repeats the monthly ones and shows each person's balance. It's a harder fit for rent, when one person pays the landlord and needs everyone else's share first. Splitwise shows who owes that person; getting the money is still up to them. TableCash is built for that case: each roommate pays their share to the person on the lease, and the whole house sees who has paid.

What Splitwise does well

Splitwise is a shared tab. Someone adds the internet bill, it splits evenly, by percent or by exact amounts, and everyone's balance updates. A bill can repeat every week, every two weeks, every month or every year, with an email to everyone before it posts. Over a few months it nets everything out, so instead of a dozen small paybacks, each person sees one number. It's free, with a paid Pro plan, and it runs on iPhone, Android and the web.

Where roommates get stuck

The tab is the easy part when the rent is $2,400 and one person pays the landlord. Splitwise will show that three roommates each owe that person $600. Then that person still has to get it: settle up in Splitwise Pay where it's offered in the US, or ask each roommate to send it on Venmo or PayPal, then check it all came in before the 1st. That's the job the leaseholder was trying to hand off.

Side by side

	Splitwise	TableCash
Built for	A running tab of shared bills	The person who collects the rent and bills
Rent to the leaseholder	Shows who owes them; people settle up one by one	Each roommate pays their share to them by card, or marks it paid another way
Who has paid this month	Each person's balance	How much came in and how many have paid, for the whole house
Reminders	Email before a repeating bill posts	3 days and 1 day before the due date, to anyone who hasn't paid
Chores, rules, repairs	Not its job	Chores that take turns, house rules, repairs with a photo
Roommates need	Their own login, to add bills and settle up	A link, no app
Cost	Free, Pro is paid	Free to download; 3.5% + $1.49 on card payments only

Which one for your house

• Everyone pays a bill or two and you just need the math: stay on Splitwise. It's very good at that.
• The lease is in one name and that person pays the rent: TableCash. Set each share once, send one link, and see who has paid before you pay the landlord. Here's how that works.
• Both: some houses keep groceries and small stuff on a tab and put the rent and fixed bills where the person on the lease can see them come in.

Still working out who pays what? The split rent calculator splits it evenly or by room size. The other apps houses use, compared: best app for roommates.