Comparison

PayBack vs owed

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

Head to head
About

PayBack

This app helps you easily track and settle shared expenses after group trips. It calculates who owes whom and minimizes the number of transactions needed for everyone to settle up, ensuring friendships remain intact.

Highlights
  • Track shared expenses
  • Calculate debts automatically
  • Minimize settlement transactions
  • Ideal for group trips
  • User-friendly interface
Read full description

You go on a snowboarding trip with your mates and everybody pays for different things during the trip. You come home with a pile of receipts and you’re trying to work out how everyone can settle up (and stay friends). What do you do? Get PAYBACK for the iPhone, the ultimate shared expense calculator. Just enter the list of expenses and who they’re shared between and PAYBACK automatically calculates how you can settle your debts. What’s more, PAYBACK’s unique algorithm automatically minimizes the number of transactions needed to settle your debts. IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS AND YOU GO ON TRIPS, AND YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR FRIENDS, THEN YOU NEED PAYBACK! Make sure to send bug reports and enhancement requests to support@ipaybackapp.com!

About

owed

Easily track money lent and borrowed among friends and family. Manage multiple debts per person, add contacts directly, and set reminders. Send email or SMS notifications to ensure you get paid back.

Highlights
  • Track multiple debts per person
  • Use contacts to add people
  • Set notifications
  • Send email/SMS reminders
  • Update contact information
  • View transaction history
Features
Read full description

Version 2 is here! What is new in this version? In a nutshell, everything! Do you borrow money? Do you lend money to your friends? Maybe your family is on your mobile family plan ( you know that mobile plan that no one actually knows what they owe the plan owner each month). If one or all of these fits you, then you're going to love owed! Here is just a sample of some key features: • FREE to use and no sign-up requirement. Seriously who doesn't like free? This also means you should limit your list of demands on what the app needs to do. Remember, it's FREE. • Keep track of multiple entries for each person. If you're like me, you have that one friend (Carl) that is constantly borrowing something. Now you can keep tabs on Carl and what he owes you. • Use your contacts to create new people. Now it's super easy to add Carl's information to the owed app. (Thanks Apple Contacts) • Set Notifications. I promise this time they work! • Send email or SMS reminders. Email not your thing? No worries. Send that person a text message directly from the owed app! • 3D touch enabled Maybe you have it, maybe you don't. But if you do, good for you, as owed is now using 3D touch! • Update person's information. You know, like if Carl tries to change his legal name to Chuck. Well bad news, Chuck. Owed makes it really easy to update a contact's name. • View the history of your statements. If Chuck tries to argue that he didn't borrow more money on top of what he already owes you for lunch, now you can show him the exact day he borrowed money for that Happy Meal. If you like what you see, please rate the app! Thanks for checking out the app, we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Screenshots

PayBack4 screens
owed4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: owed at none against PayBack's 1. owed also leads on ratings volume (52 vs 5). PayBack's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On price, ads, monetization model 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. PayBack sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. owed asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PayBack holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: owed has 52 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of PayBack's written reviews are positive against 69% of owed's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PayBack ships an update monthly, owed every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PayBack versus owed: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPayBackowed
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better4.6 (52 ratings)
Positive reviews82.9% of reviews — better68.9% of reviews
Number of ratings552 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew CunninghamJosh Gdovin

Customer experience

PayBack

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive82.9%
Neutral4.9%
Negative12.2%

owed

All ratings52 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral5.8%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive68.9%
Neutral8.9%
Negative22.2%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PayBack

One-time1
  • Remove Banner Ads$0.99
None

owed

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PayBack free?
PayBack is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is owed free?
owed is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PayBack or owed?
PayBack is rated higher. PayBack averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while owed averages 4.6 from 52 ratings.
Do PayBack or owed have ads?
Neither PayBack nor owed shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PayBack or owed?
PayBack ships an update monthly, and owed every 3 months. Most recently, PayBack was updated on September 9, 2026 and owed on September 21, 2026.

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