dvup vs Settle Up
The buy-it-once alternative. Pay for the whole group one time instead of subscribing forever.
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) | Included on free plan | 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, Pix, UPI, Venmo | 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 | $19.99/yr, 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.
- Premium Yearly undercuts dvup+, and it works across iOS, Android and Windows once you've bought it.
- 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
- Guests can actually pay from the link. Settle Up's browser link is view-only, so someone still has to chase the money.
- Settle Up's Premium buys photo capture and storage, not line-item extraction. dvup's scan reads the receipt, and it's on the free plan.
- 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.
- The bubbles are animated and draw the debt arrows between people. Settle Up's circles do neither.
- No iOS 17 floor, so older phones still work.
What it costs
Free with ads. Premium is $3.99/month or $19.99/year on the US App Store, though Settle Up's own site is indexed a little cheaper — we couldn't resolve which is current. Group Premium is a one-time buy covering everyone in a group, from $5.99 for a week up to $149.99 lifetime.
dvup is free to split, track and settle, with a monthly allowance of receipt scans on the free plan. dvup+ is $2.99/month or $29.99/year if you scan a lot. The free tier shows ads.
Choose dvup if: You want scanning that reads the receipt without paying for it, per-item tax, free recurring rent, or a settle-up rail your friends already have on their phone.
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 $3.99/month or $19.99/year on the US App Store as of July 2026, though Settle Up's own site is indexed slightly cheaper and we couldn't confirm which is current. Group Premium is a one-time buy that covers everyone in a group, from $5.99 for a week up to $149.99 lifetime.
Is Settle Up cheaper than dvup+?
On the yearly plan, yes. Settle Up Premium Yearly undercuts dvup+ Personal at $29.99/year, 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 the paywall, where dvup includes an allowance of scans on the free plan.
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, Pix, UPI or Venmo, whichever fits where you are, and never holds the money itself.
Give dvup a try
Free to split, with receipt scanning included on the free plan. On iOS and Android.