Potluck vs Settle Up
Settle Up has phone apps, a web app and a Premium plan with a lot in it. Potluck is one web page that everyone uses without an app or an account. Here’s how they compare, including where Settle Up is ahead.
What this page says about Settle Up is from its own website, web app and app store listings, checked October 28, 2026. Apps change.
| Side by side | Potluck | Settle Up |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no limits | Free, with Premium for you or for one group |
| Friends join by | Tapping a link: it opens in their browser | A link or a QR code |
| Without the app | Everything: it’s a web page | View the balance in a browser, or sign in to its web app |
| Account needed | No one needs one | Its web app asks you to sign in with Google, Apple or email |
| Who pays whom | The fewest payments | Minimizes the transfers |
| Expenses in other currencies | Not yet: one currency per potluck | Yes, at real-time rates |
| Works offline | Read-only, for now | Yes |
| Export | CSV | CSV by email; Excel with Premium |
| Receipt photos, recurring expenses | Not yet | With Premium |
The difference: what friends can do without the app
Settle Up goes further than most: its listing says it “doesn’t need every group member to download the app”, and a group link lets friends view the balance in their browser without downloading anything. To add an expense there’s its apps for Android and iOS, or its web app, whose first screen is “Sign in with Google”, “Sign in with Apple” or “Sign in with email”.
Potluck is a web page all the way through. Your friends tap the link in the group chat, pick their name from the list, and add the taxi themselves, in the browser they already have. Nobody installs anything and nobody makes an account. It matters most with the friend who never installs anything, or the cousin who joins for one weekend and paid for dinner.
Where Settle Up is ahead
- Other currencies. All currencies, at real-time exchange rates. Potluck has one currency per potluck and doesn’t convert yet.
- Offline. Settle Up says it works offline. Potluck needs a connection to add an expense, for now.
- More in Premium. Receipt photos, categories, recurring and future expenses, reminders to pay, an Excel export and charts, for you or for a whole group. Potluck has none of these yet.
- Read-only people. Settle Up can give someone read-only access. In Potluck, everyone in a potluck can change anything (every change has an undo).
- Import from Splitwise. Its tips say you can bring a Splitwise group’s members and balances in. Potluck has no import.
- Real phone apps. If your group already has Settle Up installed, the app isn’t an obstacle, and a native app feels at home on a phone.
If those matter to your group, Settle Up is a good choice.
Where Potluck is different
- No app, no accounts, for anyone. Everyone can add and fix expenses from the link, not only look.
- Free, with nothing held back. No paid plan to unlock features: what Potluck does, it does for everyone.
- Everyone can fix anything. Anyone in a potluck can change a mistake, like a shared doc, and every change is in the activity with who made it and an undo.
- The fewest payments. At the end, Potluck works out who pays whom in as few payments as possible. Settle Up minimizes them too.
What Potluck doesn’t do yet
Expenses in more than one currency, adding expenses offline, receipt photos and recurring bills like rent aren’t here yet. If you need one of these every day, Settle Up may suit you better for now.
Questions
Is Settle Up free?
Settle Up is free to download, with in-app purchases. Its Premium is a subscription for you in every group, or a one-time purchase for everyone in one group, and adds receipt photos, categories, recurring and future expenses, reminders, an Excel export and charts. Potluck is free, with everything in it.
Do my friends need the Settle Up app?
Not to look: its App Store listing says a group link lets friends view the balance in their browser without downloading anything. To do more there’s its phone apps or its web app, whose first screen asks you to sign in with Google, Apple or email. In Potluck, friends tap the link, pick their name and add expenses in their browser, with no account.
Does Settle Up work in a browser?
Yes: it has a web app at settleup.app, which asks you to sign in with Google, Apple or email. Potluck is only a web page, so there’s nothing to sign in to.
Can Settle Up handle different currencies?
Yes. Its listing says it offers all currencies and real-time exchange rates. Potluck has one currency per potluck and doesn’t convert yet.
Can I move from Settle Up to Potluck?
There’s no import. The simplest way is to settle up the group and start fresh. Or carry what’s owed over: for each “Ben owes Ana $40”, add one expense in Potluck paid by Ana, $40, split only to Ben.