Comparison

Dubai First vs ZenSplit

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Dubai First

Manage your credit card with ease through a seamless digital experience. Track spending, view rewards, access statements, and perform card services like payments and balance transfers. Enjoy in-app security features like biometric login and card freezing.

Highlights
  • Seamless digital onboarding
  • Transaction tracking and spending review
  • Rewards cashback and redemption
  • Card bill payment and balance transfer
  • Supplementary card application
  • In-app card activation and PIN management
  • Card freeze/unfreeze functionality
Features
Read full description

SEAMLESS DIGITAL ONBOARDING JOURNEY Dubai First offers a mobile-first experience, now with a seamless digital onboarding journey. No in-person meetings. No paperwork. Just your mobile and Emirates ID. Download the app and apply in less than two minutes. Apply today through the app and get exciting welcome offers. For the latest offers, visit dubaifirst.com. MOBILE BANKING FOR SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE Track spending, view rewards, access monthly statements, and enjoy many other features available only in the App. Digital Onboarding Journey Dubai First offers a mobile-first experience, now with a seamless digital onboarding journey. No in-person meetings. No paperwork. Just your mobile and Emirates ID. Download the app and apply in less than two minutes. Card Management • Instant updates on your transactions. • View your digital card • Review of purchases by category. • Easy check of available spending limit. • Monthly statements in the App. Rewards At A Glance • Real-time update of Cashback earnings • Up-to-date information on your rewards. • Instant redemption of Cashback. Card Services • Card bill payment directly from the App. • Application for supplementary card • Instant conversion of transactions into installments. • Instant booking of Balance Transfer and Quick Cash. • Payment plans progress overview In-App Control & Security • In-app card activation • instant PIN setup/ change • Freeze and unfreeze card function • Login with biometrics for extra security. To enjoy Dubai First Mobile App, you must be an existing Dubai First customer. Apply for your Dubai First Card today WARNING If you make only the minimum repayment/payment each period, you will pay more in interest/profit/fees and it will take you longer to pay off your outstanding balance.

About

ZenSplit

Easily track shared expenses for trips, rent, or group activities. This app ensures fair splitting and transparent record-keeping, even without an internet connection. It provides detailed activity logs and secure editing to prevent disputes.

Highlights
  • Split by equal, exact amount, or percentage
  • Recurring expense management
  • Built-in calculator with saved expressions
  • Detailed activity feed
  • CSV export
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

ZenSplit — Split Expenses, Keep the Peace Going on a trip with friends? Sharing rent with flatmates? Covering a team lunch? ZenSplit tracks every shared expense and shows exactly who owes what — so no one has to chase anyone for money afterward. Create a group, add your expenses, and let ZenSplit handle the rest. WHO IS THIS FOR Friend groups on trips who want to settle everything before the journey home — without a single awkward follow-up message. Flatmates splitting rent, groceries, and utilities every month — without spreadsheets or uncomfortable reminders. Families managing shared purchases and group travel, where knowing where the money went matters as much as splitting it fairly. Office teams handling lunch runs and reimbursements, where the person who paid should not have to wait weeks to be made whole. NO SUBSCRIPTION. NO LIMITS. Every feature is available to every user from day one. No paywalls, no expense caps, no premium tiers. YOUR GROUP'S RECORDS STAY HONEST Most expense apps let any member silently edit or delete any record — including ones they did not create. ZenSplit is built differently. Every expense shows who added it and who paid for it. Only the creator, the payer, or the group admin can edit or delete a record. Group settings can only be changed by the admin. When a question comes up about a number, the answer is already in the app. WORKS WITHOUT INTERNET Add, edit, or remove expenses on a flight, a hike, or anywhere without a signal. ZenSplit saves every change locally and syncs automatically when you reconnect. Each expense shows its sync status — pending, confirmed, or failed. If a sync fails, you are told clearly with the option to retry. No silent data loss, ever. ALWAYS KNOW WHAT CHANGED Each group card shows a live badge — how many expenses were added or removed since you last opened it — and a timestamp of the last activity. Open the group and the badge clears. Your home screen shows your total balance across all groups, loaded instantly. When a group reaches zero, it is automatically labelled Settled. FEATURES Split equally, by exact amount, or by percentage. Recurring expenses for rent, utilities, and subscriptions — set the schedule once and ZenSplit adds them automatically. Built-in calculator in the amount field. Type 1200+450+80 and ZenSplit computes the total. The expression is saved on the expense so anyone in the group can verify how the number was reached. Full activity feed — every expense addition, edit, removal, and member change is logged with context. CSV export with per-member split columns. Useful for move-out reconciliations, reimbursement submissions, and personal finance tracking. Sign in with Google or email. WHAT MAKES ZENSPLIT DIFFERENT Most expense splitters solve the arithmetic. ZenSplit goes further — it shows who entered every record, protects those records from unauthorised changes, keeps working offline, and surfaces group activity without requiring you to check manually. The result is an app that works for a weekend trip and a year-long flatshare equally well, and one where the group's shared financial record stays trustworthy over time. IDEAL FOR Trips and travel, flatmates and roommates, family shared expenses, team lunches, and any group where shared money needs to be tracked fairly and transparently.

Screenshots

Dubai First4 screens
ZenSplit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: ZenSplit at none against Dubai First's shown. ZenSplit also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Dubai First's advantage is ratings volume (413 vs 1). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ZenSplit holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dubai First has 413 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dubai First ships an update every 3 weeks, ZenSplit every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Dubai First versus ZenSplit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDubai FirstZenSplit
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (413 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings413 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size344 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFirst Abu Dhabi BankShilpa Kapa

Customer experience

Dubai First

All ratings411 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive21.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative68.4%

ZenSplit

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Dubai First

Reported bugs

31 issues
  • Push notifications not working
  • App freezing or very slow
  • App freezing when trying to open
  • App asks to scan EID and card every time
  • App asks for credentials repeatedly
Show 26 more
  • App unrecognisable as new device requiring verification
  • App needs updating every time it's used
  • Buggy update causing new device detection
  • Constant login bugs and failures
  • App timeout too short
  • App has many bugs
  • Cannot pay credit card bill through debit card from another bank
  • Rewards not available most of the time
  • App is basic compared to other banks
  • Terms changed from free for life to annual paid
  • Incorrect balance shown
  • Hidden amounts not visible until statement
  • Cannot pay with foreign debit cards
  • App not working after update
  • Horrible, amateur, and lousy app
  • Login is a pain, messages have errors
  • Cannot access statements
  • Impossible to use service properly
  • App not signing in
  • Cannot see statement on web
  • Zero access to credit card statement
  • Very poorly designed and tested
  • Online website no longer exists
  • Many options log the user out
  • Password creation and login character mismatch
  • No option to view older statements

Requested features

7 requests
  • Spread update releases
  • Test app properly before releasing updates
  • Fix constant login bugs and failures
  • Increase app timeout duration
  • Allow payment of utility bills
Show 2 more
  • Allow payment with foreign debit cards
  • Bring back the online website

ZenSplit

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Dubai First

No in-app purchases

None

ZenSplit

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dubai First free?
Dubai First is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ZenSplit free?
ZenSplit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dubai First or ZenSplit?
ZenSplit is rated higher. Dubai First averages 4.6 out of 5 from 413 ratings, while ZenSplit averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Dubai First or ZenSplit have ads?
Dubai First shows ads; ZenSplit does not.
Which is updated more often, Dubai First or ZenSplit?
Dubai First ships an update every 3 weeks, and ZenSplit every 10 days. Most recently, Dubai First was updated on November 3, 2026 and ZenSplit on October 31, 2026.

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