The Splitwise app has been a staple on my phone for over four years now. It's one of those rare apps that addresses a significant problem and becomes a permanent fixture in your digital toolkit. If you're using Splitwise, chances are you're encouraging your friends to do the same to simplify expense splitting – it's got virality built right into its DNA.
However, there's a flip side to this. While Splitwise is an excellent app, it's primarily free for users like me and everyone else I know. But here's the thing: if they're not making money, they won't be able to stick around for long. Sure, they have a premium version that offers additional features like detailed reports, but it wasn't compelling enough for me to switch.
That is until they came up with a clever tactic to nudge free users towards becoming paying ones. The solution was simple: if you add an expense and then try to add another one immediately, you're hit with a 10-second delay. Plus, there's a cap of four expenses per day. While I might not have all the details exactly right, this strategy definitely got my attention.
After experiencing the frustration of waiting 10 seconds every time I needed to split an expense (and considering that I use Splitwise not just for splitting but also for tracking my spending), it made perfect sense for me to upgrade to a paid account.
This, in my opinion, is one of the most seamless ways I've seen an app successfully transition free users into paying customers – no complicated credit systems, no obligatory free trials, and definitely no annoying ads. They simply tested our patience with a time delay, and it worked like a charm.
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I have been a splitwise user for long time. But because my friends are not much into it, I leave it often, and use it only in dire circumstances.
What ends up with me is I add up expenses and all, but nobody pays it😂 because they don't usually use the app.
I'm curious to know how you use it for recording expenses? For that, I am a long time user of "money lover" app.