Tab

Tab makes splitting restaurant bills effortlessly simple

Tab takes the pain out of group dining by turning a messy receipt into a clean, itemized breakdown in seconds. Instead of passing the check around and doing mental math, you simply snap a photo and let Tab read the items and prices automatically. The character recognition is generally accurate as long as the receipt is reasonably clear, which makes the whole process feel fast and almost magical.

Once the bill is captured, each person taps to claim the dishes they ordered. Anyone in the group can join the same bill from their own device, and Tab keeps everything synced in real time. Sharing plates is handled gracefully by allowing multiple people to select the same item, and tax and tip are then divided proportionally based on each person’s subtotal. A neat extra is the birthday feature, which lets you easily spread one person’s cost evenly across the rest of the table.

When it’s time to pay, Tab supports settling up via integrated Venmo or by manually recording cash payments, so you can walk away from the table with everything squared.

There are a few limitations. Image recognition can struggle with crumpled or low-contrast receipts, so you may occasionally need to correct an item. The service is currently focused on the United States, where receipt formats and tax rules are predictable, which means international users are left waiting. Still, for anyone who regularly eats out with friends, Tab is a streamlined, focused tool that solves a familiar headache with minimal friction and smart, well-thought-out features.