TripCount vs Settle Up — free AI OCR, multi-currency, E2EE
Last updated: 2026-06-03TripCount vs Settle Up: free AI receipt OCR, end-to-end encryption, EU-hosted, multi-currency with per-expense FX, one-tap Bizum/Revolut/PayPal settle-up.
| Feature | TripCount | Settle Up |
|---|---|---|
| AI receipt OCR | Free (with per-user quota) | Not available |
| Multi-currency with live FX | Yes — captured per expense | Manual rate per expense |
| End-to-end encryption | Yes — encrypted client-side (AES-GCM) | Not advertised |
| Bizum one-tap settle-up | Yes | No |
| Revolut deep-link settle-up | Yes | No |
| PayPal settle-up | Yes | No (manual) |
| Regional EU languages (Catalan, Basque, Galician, Breton, Welsh…) | Yes — 50 languages incl. regional | No |
| Trip memories (photos + Spotify) | Yes | No |
| EU hosting | Yes — Hetzner | EU (Czech) |
| Pricing model | Free; €3 one-time per group to raise AI Scans + Media limits | Free + Premium one-time |
What it does
Free AI receipt OCR with a per-user quota, automatic debt simplification (algorithm reduces N people to at most N−1 transfers — same as Splitwise/Tricount), multi-currency with live FX captured per expense from open.er-api.com, end-to-end encryption.
Privacy by default
Expenses encrypted client-side with per-trip AES-GCM envelope keys, stored at rest as opaque ciphertext. EU hosting (Hetzner). The integration test suite asserts on every CI run that no plaintext media bytes appear in any stored artifact. Zero-knowledge — where no escrowed key sits on the server — is on the roadmap.
Payouts and currencies
One-tap settle-up via Bizum, Revolut and PayPal — each owed transfer renders as a deep link pre-filled with amount and recipient. Multi-currency trips capture each expense's FX rate at the moment of entry, so the final settlement reflects actual rates, not an averaged guess.
50 languages including regional EU
50 languages shipped today, including 11 regional/minority European languages (Catalan, Basque, Galician, Asturian, Occitan, Breton, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Frisian, Faroese, Romansh) — first-class, not Google-Translate; the Valencian and Balearic variants are derived from Catalan and being refined. The locale matrix and translations live in the open-source repo at frontend/src/locales.
Frequently asked questions
- How is TripCount different from Settle Up?
- Settle Up is a free Czech-built ledger with a small paid tier for unlimited groups; it has no AI receipt OCR, no end-to-end encryption, manual FX rates and no one-tap payout links. TripCount adds free AI OCR, AES-GCM end-to-end encryption, live FX captured per expense, and one-tap Bizum/Revolut/PayPal deep links — same free-tier model but with a 2026 feature set.
- Does Settle Up have receipt scanning?
- No. Settle Up has no AI receipt OCR feature in either the free or Premium tier. Every expense is entered manually. TripCount's OCR is included free with a per-group quota (5 scans) and reads line items, vendor and currency from a photo of the receipt — typically faster than typing.
- Can Settle Up settle up with Bizum, Revolut or PayPal one-tap?
- No. Settle Up shows the balance owed but settling happens outside the app — copy the IBAN, send the Bizum manually, paste the amount into Revolut by hand. TripCount renders every owed transfer as a deep link pre-filled with amount and recipient: one tap opens Bizum, Revolut or PayPal with the right amount.
- How does multi-currency compare?
- Settle Up supports multiple currencies but requires you to set the exchange rate manually for each expense. TripCount captures the mid-market FX rate from open.er-api.com at the moment each expense is added, so the final settlement reflects what the group actually paid — not an averaged guess at the end of the trip.
- Is Settle Up encrypted end-to-end?
- Settle Up does not advertise end-to-end encryption. Trip data is stored on their cloud and is readable by their staff if needed. TripCount encrypts expense data on your device with per-trip AES-GCM envelope keys before any data leaves the browser — the server stores opaque ciphertext only.
- Is TripCount more expensive than Settle Up?
- No. Both are free for the core. Settle Up charges a one-time Premium upgrade for unlimited groups and exports. TripCount is free for unlimited trips, members and exports forever; the only paid item is a €3 one-time per group to raise the AI scan and media upload caps from 5 to 500.
- Does Settle Up support Catalan or other regional EU languages?
- Settle Up ships about 30 mainstream languages. Catalan, Basque, Galician, Occitan, Breton, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Frisian, Faroese, Romansh and Asturian are not covered as first-class translations. TripCount ships all 11 as native translations plus 39 other languages — 50 total.
- Can I move a trip from Settle Up to TripCount?
- Settle Up exports as CSV. TripCount accepts manual entry with the same data model (members, expenses, payer, consumers), so a CSV paste workflow is straightforward for equal splits. For complex migrations write to [email protected] and we'll help.
