How to Split a Restaurant Bill Fairly in 2026

The 'let's just split equally' move at the end of dinner is the single most efficient way to make the salad-eater subsidize the steak-and-cocktails crowd. It feels easy. It is not fair.

Modern apps make item-level fairness as fast as the old 'split equally' shortcut. Here is the 60-second flow.

Step 1 — Scan the receipt. Open Partly, point your camera at the receipt. AI extracts every dish, every drink, every tax line and the total. Even handwritten receipts and any language work.

Step 2 — Add the people. Pick from contacts or reuse a recent group. No need to ask anyone to install anything: payment recipients can pay via a link in any browser.

Step 3 — Assign items. Tap each item to assign it to one or more people. Shared appetizers split among everyone who ate them. Tips and taxes are distributed proportionally to each person's share.

Step 4 — Get paid. One tap sends a payment request to each person. They pay via IBAN, PayPal, Revolut, Bizum, Wise, Lydia or card — whatever works for them. The money lands in your account, the balance closes in real time.

This flow takes about as long as the old 'okay everyone owe me €20' move, with one big difference: nobody is silently paying for someone else's wine. Long-term, that's the kind of fairness that keeps friendships intact.