Why families and small teams pick BalanceTab
Polymorphic ledger
The same group can track money for groceries, hours for billable work, days for rotating chores and points for kids — without three different apps. Each transaction picks its unit.
Kids-points done right
Kids earn points from games, learning and real-world good deeds. You configure the reward menu. Kids submit redemption requests. You approve, counter or deny. Prices locked 30 days. Never devalue.
Triple-archive notifications
Every invitation, palier and redemption lands in your in-app inbox and email and WhatsApp deep-link. Source of truth always in DB. Never miss a parent action.
A 4-step setup
Create your group
Family, trip, freelance team — pick a type. 30 seconds.
Pick a unit
Money / Hours / Days / Points. You can mix later.
Add members
Add names now (proxies for kids without accounts). Invite via email/WhatsApp later.
Track & settle
Add transactions, see balances by unit, settle via Venmo / Revolut / Wise / IBAN deep-link.
BalanceTab vs the incumbents
As of April 2026. Splitwise/Greenlight/BusyKid pricing per their published plans.
| Feature | BalanceTab | Splitwise | Greenlight | BusyKid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free with no daily cap | ✓ Always | 3-5 tx/day cap | $5.99/mo | $4/mo family |
| Money + Hours + Days + Points ledger | ✓ Polymorphic | Money only | Money only | Money only |
| Kids-points with parent approval | ✓ Built-in | — | Partial | ✓ Weekly batch |
| Sibling gifting (peer recognition) | ✓ Audit-logged | — | — | — |
| Triple-archive notifications | ✓ DB+email+WA | Email+push | Email+push | Email+push |
| Sadaqa-as-redemption (Islamic mode) | ✓ First-class | — | — | — |
| Never-devalue 30-day price lock | ✓ Enforced | — | — | — |
| No ads, no analytics SDKs | ✓ | Ads + telemetry | — | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is BalanceTab really free?
Yes. The core (groups, transactions, kids-points, triple archive) is free with no daily limit, no per-kid pricing and no ads. Optional premium may come later but no current free feature will be paywalled.
How does kids-points work?
Each kid has a single "points" balance per group. Points are earned from games, Memoriz reviews, streaks, manual parent grants, sibling gifts, or chores. The parent reviews each redemption request with a provenance breakdown — they see where the points came from and decide accordingly. Spiritual-acts points (Quran, dhikr) never auto-convert to cash by design.
What does "triple archive" mean?
Every notification we send for invitations, palier crossings, redemption requests and sibling gifts is written to three places: your in-app Inbox (DB record, queryable), your email, and a WhatsApp deep-link or auto-WA send. The DB record is the source of truth — even if email or WA fails, you can find it in /me/inbox.
Do you support COPPA / kids under 13?
Yes — kids under 13 (US) or 16 (EU) can only join with explicit parental consent. The group OWNER must accept the kids-points disclosure (terms, privacy, adult attestation, parent/guardian attestation) before any kids-points feature works. Per-kid Stripe-void verification is on the roadmap for the public launch.
What about Islamic-family use cases?
BalanceTab supports an Islamic mode where deeds points (good deeds, family help marked as sadaqa) can be redeemed for sadaqa donations to a vetted charity list. Quran and prayer streaks never auto-convert to cash. See our Sadaqa-as-rewards article.