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Split a party budget: who pays what

List the people, list what was spent and who paid for it, and get the shortest set of payments that squares everyone up. Copy a link and the whole split goes with it — nothing is stored on a server.

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Who pays whom

Nothing here is sent to us. The link carries the whole split inside it, so anyone you send it to sees exactly this — and only the people you send it to.

How to split party costs fairly

  1. Name everyone who’s chipping inOne per line. Anyone who paid for something needs to be on the list so the money flows back to them.
  2. Add each expense and who paid itCake, venue deposit, the decorations someone grabbed on the way. Cents are fine.
  3. Send the settle-upThe tool works out who pays whom so nobody makes more than one or two transfers. Copy the link or the summary into the group chat and settle by Venmo or Zelle.

Why “everyone pays the person who fronted it” goes wrong

If three people each paid for something, a naive split has every guest sending three separate small amounts. This tool nets it out first — what each person paid minus their share — and then matches the biggest debtor to the biggest creditor, so a ten-person party usually settles in six or seven payments instead of twenty.

Two ways to split

Evenly: everyone, including the people who paid, owes an equal share, and the payers get reimbursed the difference. That is the fair default for a shared party or a group gift.

Payers are covered: whoever paid for something owes no share on top — useful when the hosts have said “we’ve got the venue, split the rest.”

Collecting the money

Mela does not move money; it never touches your bank. For a group gift or a shared party, the app keeps the record of who has paid the organizer and sends one reminder to the people who haven’t — the settle-up is yours to send.

The next one’s on you.

Free for organizers, members and guests. The iPhone app runs the community; every guest replies from a link.

Not sure yet? Try creating an event — nothing is sent or published.

Questions

How do you split party costs among friends?

Add up everything spent, divide by the number of people for each share, then net each person’s share against what they already paid. The tool does that and reduces the result to the fewest transfers.

Does the host pay a share?

Your choice. Pick “everyone pays a share” for a shared party or gift, or “whoever paid is covered” when the host is contributing the thing they bought.

Where is my data stored?

Nowhere but in the link. The split is encoded into the address after the # sign, which browsers never send to a server. Only people you give the link to can see it.

Can I use it for a trip or a group gift?

Yes — it is just people, expenses and who paid. A group gift with one buyer is the simplest case: one expense, everyone pays the buyer.

Also worth reading

Make a group card to go with the gift →How much food for the party →Track team dues instead →Fees, confirmation and reminders in the app →