the tricount alternative without the bank account
tricount earned its place: simple, free, the default for a european trip. but since bunq took it over, signing up creates a bunq bank account along the way, the app promotes bunq products, and version 8 quietly dropped things people relied on - csv and pdf export, categories, custom splits. features that used to be premium didn't move to a new tier; they left.
if your sticking point is the account or the exports, teresa is the short way out: an expense tracker that lives in the whatsapp group your trip already has. no account - not a bunq one, not even a teresa one.
side by side
| tricount | teresa | |
|---|---|---|
| account at signup | a bunq account comes with it | none - message it and you're in |
| csv / pdf export | removed in v8 | csv, xlsx and pdf, included |
| categories | removed in v8 | automatic on every expense |
| custom splits | removed in v8 | in words: "just milo and me" |
| where it lives | its own app, everyone installs | the group chat, nobody installs |
| budget with alerts | — | per tab, at 80% and 100% |
| receipt photos | — | in the chat, 📎 |
| price | free | personal free; groups: free trial, then $5/month |
why you might stay
fairness cuts both ways: tricount works offline, has a polished app, and doesn't need the group to be on whatsapp. if none of the v8 removals touched you and the bunq account doesn't bother you, it's still a fine tool.
moving a group over
add teresa to the group, answer its one question (split, or plain ledger?), and text the next expense. the walkthrough is at how to track group expenses in whatsapp; coming from splitwise instead, read that comparison. quick answers: faq.
somebody has to keep the tab
she never forgets a cent, and she's already in your whatsapp.
text teresa on whatsappfirst message says hi · the 💸 does the rest