FAQ

Questions, answered

How Crew Kitty splits expenses, settles balances, and keeps your trip data safe.

How does Crew Kitty split expenses?

For every expense you pick who paid and who it should be split between. The default is an even split between everyone you select, but you can also split by exact amounts — handy when one person ate less or a guest only joined for dinner. There's no forced 'per person' figure; the maths simply tracks what each of you has paid versus what you owe.

What is the kitty box?

The kitty is a shared cash pot on the boat. Crew can put money in, and expenses can be paid straight from the kitty instead of someone's card. Crew Kitty keeps a running balance of what's in the box and what's been spent from it. At settlement, anything left in the kitty flows back to whoever contributed, so everyone gets their fair share of the leftover cash.

How does settling up work?

When you close the trip, Crew Kitty adds up what each person paid and what they owe, then works out the fewest payments needed to set everyone straight — usually one transfer per person, not a web of IOUs. You get a clear settlement with balances and transfers, ready to copy straight into a WhatsApp message for the crew.

Can we settle in different currencies?

Yes. Pick your settlement currency on the Settle screen and Crew Kitty applies one exchange rate, taken from the trip's start date and shown right there — so you can check or adjust it. Expenses paid in another currency are converted at the same rate, and the WhatsApp summary shows the converted amounts with the rate noted once.

What happens when I close a trip?

Closing locks the trip so expenses and the kitty can't be changed by accident — you can reopen it any time if something needs fixing. Once it's closed, the settlement and the WhatsApp summary are ready to share. Each payment can be marked as settled so you can see who's paid up.

Do my crew need the app?

No. You can run the whole trip yourself and just send the settlement on WhatsApp. If you'd like crew to see the numbers or add their own expenses, invite them with a link — they sign in with their Google account and connect it to their crew name. They only see the trip they're invited to and can only edit their own expenses.

Is my trip data safe?

Your trips are saved in the cloud against your account. Organisers manage their trips; invited crew can view joined trips and manage their own entries. The authorised administrator can access trips for support and administration. Deleted trips aren't restored from old device copies. Read the privacy policy for storage, sharing and your data rights.

How much does Crew Kitty cost?

It's completely free — unlimited trips, expenses, kitty and settlements. If it made your trip smoother, you can optionally buy the developer a coffee from inside the app, but that's entirely up to you and never affects what you can use.

Privacy first

Your trips belong to you. Crew only ever see the trip they were invited to.

Settle on WhatsApp

One clear message with balances and the fewest transfers — no chasing IOUs.