Budget every trip in the currency you spend it in
A trip budget works when you record what you spend in the currency you spend it in, see the total and the cost a day in your own, and keep the trip apart from your everyday budgets. Tavala does that with trips: give one a name and dates, and every expense dated inside them joins it, in yen, pesos or euros, each at its day's rate. Trips are free on every plan, work offline and show a summary when you get home.
- A trip inside your everyday budget app, freeTavala
- A dedicated travel spending app with a daily budgetTravelSpend
- Splitting costs with friends and settling upTricount or Splitwise
- Planning the route and the bookingsStippl
What a trip is in Tavala
A trip is a name and dates that spending joins. Every expense dated inside a trip's dates, both ends included, joins it on its own, including entries you add later; an entry you attach by hand stays, and one you mark Everyday stays out. Income, transfers between your wallets and bills from recurring rules never join by date. A trip runs up to 60 days; without an end date, or for longer, it is a project, such as a wedding or a move, which takes only what you attach.
Trip spending is set apart from everyday spending: your monthly and category budgets and the spending insights do not count it, and each budget names what it leaves out (Kyoto ¥45,000 outside budgets). It still leaves your wallets, so balances, What's Left and Money out include it. The month's Spending report shows Everyday and each trip side by side.
Why trips are free: the people who make Tavala decided early that free users are complete users. Apps that charge for containers, such as a second trip or a third envelope, charge at the moment people resent most, and a trip abroad is that moment. Paying in yen from a dollar card never uses a currency slot either.
Before, during and after
Before: set an optional Set aside amount, in your main currency. It is shown as a fact on the trip's page ("$1,900.00 of $2,500.00 set aside") and never becomes a limit, a warning or an over. Choose a Spend from wallet, such as a cash wallet in the local currency, and the capture bar starts on it while the trip is on. A trip that has not started is listed as starting in so many days and already takes expenses dated inside it, such as a hotel paid ahead.
During: type what you pay in one line (ramen 1200 JPY) with or without a signal. The trip's page shows the total so far, the average a day, and a breakdown by category and by wallet.
After: a finished trip's page becomes its summary, with what was spent before the first day (flights booked ahead) and during it, each wallet's share in its own currency, and a banner on Home for 14 days. Add what you forgot opens the capture bar with the trip chosen and the entry marked as a rough amount, and Count your cash asks how much cash is left and offers to save the difference as spending you did not log.
Two weeks in Japan, mostly in cash
A traveller from the US with a trip called Japan from 3 to 16 April, $2,500 set aside, flights booked in February and a cash wallet in yen filled from an ATM on arrival.
$2,144.22Trip total in USD, before the first day and during
| Entry | Typed as, with the rate kept on the entry | Counts in USD as |
|---|---|---|
| Flights12 Feb, credit card (USD), attached to the trip | -$1,180.00Same currency | -$1,180.00 |
| Cash from an ATM3 Apr, checking to Cash JPY | $550.001 USD = 148.60 JPY (your own rate) | A transfer: ¥81,730 arrives |
| Ryokan, two nights8 Apr, credit card (USD) | -¥38,0001 JPY = 0.00671 USD (example) | -$254.98 |
| Rail pass3 Apr, credit card (USD) | -¥50,0001 JPY = 0.00671 USD (example) | -$335.50 |
| FoodThrough the trip, Cash JPY | -¥41,3001 JPY = 0.00671 USD (example) | -$277.12 |
| Transit card top-upsCash JPY | -¥8,0001 JPY = 0.00671 USD (example) | -$53.68 |
| Temples and museumsCash JPY | -¥6,4001 JPY = 0.00671 USD (example) | -$42.94 |
| Trip totalBefore the first day and during | - | -$2,144.22 |
The trip's page reads $2,144.22 over 14 days, with $1,180.00 before the first day for the flights, against $2,500.00 set aside, shown as a fact and never as a limit. The yen paid by card counts at each day's rate; the cash wallet's yen were bought at the ATM's rate, typed on the transfer, so the wallet shows exactly the cash you carry.
On the last day, Count your cash asks how many yen are left. If you hold less than the app expects, it offers to save the difference as one rough expense on the trip's last day, so the trip total ends up right even when a few coins went unrecorded. Dollars and yen are two wallet currencies, inside the free plan.
Two more scenarios: a family road trip in two cars, and a work trip you get paid back forTwo more scenarios
A family road trip in two cars
A week in the Rockies, two households in two cars, sharing one space opened with a Group pass so all four adults can add what they pay. Main currency: the Canadian dollar.
CA$2,871.30Trip total in CAD
| Entry | Typed as, with the rate kept on the entry | Counts in CAD as |
|---|---|---|
| FuelBoth cars, through the week (CAD) | -CA$284.60Same currency | -CA$284.60 |
| Cabins, six nightsPaid ahead (CAD) | -CA$1,626.00Same currency | -CA$1,626.00 |
| Park entryDay 1 (CAD) | -CA$152.40Same currency | -CA$152.40 |
| GroceriesThrough the week (CAD) | -CA$418.35Same currency | -CA$418.35 |
| Gondola ticketsDay 4 (CAD) | -CA$389.95Same currency | -CA$389.95 |
| Trip total | - | -CA$2,871.30 |
In a shared space, a trip with dates takes in matching expenses from everyone in it, so the trip's page shows CA$2,871.30 for the week from all four people's entries. The Group pass, $4.99 once in the app, opens one space to six people for 60 days; the people who join pay nothing.
What Tavala does not do here: entries do not show who added them, and Tavala does not work out who owes whom. If the two households need to settle up at the end, Splitwise or Tricount does that job, and Tavala keeps the trip in each family's own picture of the month.
A work trip you get paid back for
A conference in London for someone based in Amsterdam, paid on a personal euro card and reimbursed afterwards. Main currency: the euro.
€700.00Trip total in EUR
| Entry | Typed as, with the rate kept on the entry | Counts in EUR as |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel, three nightsEuro card | -£420.001 GBP = 1.1690 EUR (example) | -€490.98 |
| TrainEuro card | -£86.501 GBP = 1.1690 EUR (example) | -€101.12 |
| DinnersEuro card | -£64.301 GBP = 1.1690 EUR (example) | -€75.17 |
| TaxiEuro card | -£28.001 GBP = 1.1690 EUR (example) | -€32.73 |
| ReimbursementTwo weeks later, attached to the trip | +€640.00Same currency | +€640.00 |
| Trip total | - | -€700.00 |
| Paid backShown beside the total, not taken off it | - | +€640.00 |
The trip's page shows €700.00 spent and €640.00 paid back beside it (the employer's allowance did not cover the dinners). The reimbursement is income attached to the trip by hand (income never joins by date), and it is shown next to the total rather than subtracted, so the total stays what the trip cost. Because trip spending is outside everyday budgets, the conference never makes October's food budget look overspent.
The CSV export has a Trip or project column, which is what an expense claim needs.
Trip budget apps compared
Apps people use for a trip's money, on what each one does and what it costs.
| App | Price | Currencies | Works offline | Sharing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tavala | Free; Plus $39.99 a yearor $6.99 a month on the web | Every currency in one space155 currencies and 96 cryptocurrencies; 2 per space on the free plan | Every screenChanges sync when you are back online | Up to 6 people per spacePart of Plus; people you invite never pay |
| TravelSpend | Free; Premium from $4.99US App Store; lifetime $59.99 | Any currencyConverted to a home currency per trip | Yes"works offline" | Shared trips, any sizeWho owes whom, on Premium |
| Tricount | Free"No ads. No limits." | Multiple currenciesConverted to the group's main currency | Yes"Add expenses without signal" | A group per tricountSettles who owes whom |
| Splitwise | Free; Pro paidPro prices are not on its site | 100+ currenciesKept apart; converting is Pro | Add expenses offlinePer its App Store listing | Groups of any sizeSettles who owes whom |
| Stippl | Free; Pro €29.99 a yearOr €4.99 a month, on its own site | 120+ currenciesAbout 20 on the web | View onlyAdding expenses needs a connection | Unlimited co-plannersSplit and settle expenses |
These apps do different jobs. Tricount and Splitwise settle who owes whom inside a group, which Tavala does not do. Stippl plans the route and the bookings. TravelSpend is a travel spending log with a daily budget. Tavala keeps a trip inside your everyday money, so the trip, the rent and the savings are in one ledger, and the trip stays out of your monthly budgets.
Where Tavala falls short for trips
- No splitting between travellers and no settling up; use Splitwise or Tricount beside it.
- Entries in a shared space do not show who added them.
- No itinerary, bookings or maps: Tavala is the money, not the plan.
- Set aside is a fact, never a limit: there is no daily budget that warns you. Use a budget if you want a limit.
- No receipt scanner, and a Group pass cannot be bought in a browser; buy it in the phone app.
What it costs
Trips and projects are free on every plan, including as a guest with no account, and so is spending in any currency from an existing wallet.
A space shared with a partner is part of Tavala Plus, $39.99 a year or $6.99 a month on the web. For one trip with friends, a Group pass, $4.99 once in the apps, opens one space to six people for 60 days.
See pricing. There is no free trial; the free plan is the trial.
How this page was made
We compared only what each app's own pages say about price, currencies, offline use, bank connections and sharing, on 24 October 2026, and we check the prices again every quarter. The scenarios are illustrations with example rates. Tavala publishes this page; where another app fits better, it says so. Corrections to support@tavala.io.
Questions about trip budgets
- How do I make a travel budget?
- Decide what you can set aside in your own currency, take off what is paid ahead, divide the rest by the days for a figure a day, then record what you spend in the local currency as you go and compare. The trip budget calculator on this site does the first part; a trip in Tavala does the rest.
- Does trip spending count against my monthly budget?
- No. Trip spending is set apart from everyday budgets and insights, and each budget names what it left out. It still leaves your wallets, so balances and Money out include it.
- Can I track a trip offline?
- Yes. Every screen works offline, and the device keeps recent rates for every currency, so an entry in yen or pesos is converted and saved with no signal.
- Can my travel partner add expenses too?
- Yes, in a shared space: a trip with dates takes in matching expenses from everyone in the space. Sharing is part of Plus, or a Group pass for 60 days; the people who join pay nothing.
- Does Tavala split costs between friends?
- No. Tavala adds up what the trip cost; it does not work out who owes whom. Splitwise or Tricount does that.
Go further
- Trips and projectsEvery trip inside your everyday ledger, free.
- Trip budget calculatorA daily budget in the local currency.
- Multi-currencyEach entry in the currency you paid, at its day's rate.
- Which exchange rate belongs in your budgetCard, Wise, ECB or mid-market.
- How to track expenses by handThe habit, without giving up in week two.
- Why a money app should work offlineThe founder on the network-off design.
Start with what you spent today.
There is no account to create and no card to enter. Pick your currency, add what you paid, and Home shows what is left.