Pareto
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A bill splitting app built for restaurant bills
There are two kinds of bill splitting apps. Shared-expense trackers keep a running tab between people over weeks or months. Pareto splits one bill, right now, from the receipt, and gets everyone to pay you back before you've left the table.
The quick answer
- Use a shared-expense tracker for roommates, trips and couples: lots of expenses over time, settled up occasionally, with everyone in the group on the app.
- Use Pareto for dinners, bars and group orders: one receipt, people who ordered different things, and you want your money back tonight without making anyone sign up for anything.
How they compare
| Pareto | Shared-expense trackers | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Splitting one bill by what each person ordered | Tracking shared expenses and balances over time |
| Starting point | A photo of the receipt | An expense you type in |
| Tax and tip | Shared automatically in proportion to each order | Entered as part of each expense |
| Getting paid | Everyone gets a Venmo link for their exact share by text | Balances in the app; settle up when you're ready |
| Your friends need | Nothing: they tap a link and pay in Venmo | Usually an account in the same app |
| Your account | None needed | Usually required |
| Running balances | No, each bill stands alone | Yes, that's its core feature |
| Platforms | iPhone | Varies |
Why restaurant bills are different
A dinner bill is one receipt with a dozen line items, shared plates, tax, a tip, and four people who each want to pay for what they had. Typing that into an expense tracker means adding the items yourself, working out each person's share of the tax and tip, and then still asking everyone to pay.
Pareto is built around that moment. It reads the receipt from a photo, you tap each dish onto the person who ordered it, and it splits the tax and tip in proportion to each order (the fair way to split a bill). Then it texts everyone a Venmo link for their exact amount. Nobody downloads anything, and there's no running balance to reconcile later.
What Pareto doesn't do
If you share rent and groceries with roommates, or you're tracking who paid for what across a week-long trip, a shared-expense tracker (or Venmo Groups) is the better fit. Pareto doesn't keep balances between bills, and it's iPhone-only for now. Pareto's free version shows ads after your first 10 scans; Pareto Pro removes them and adds payment tracking and reminders.
Try it on your next dinner
Scan the receipt, tap each dish onto a friend, and send everyone their Venmo link. Free on iPhone.
Download Pareto