No app, no account, no math
Tip, split, done.
Real bills aren't round numbers. Enter yours, pick a percent, split it however many ways — the answer's below, not three scrolls down.
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Everyone ordered differently. Enter what each person owes before tax, and their fair share of tax and tip gets split proportionally to what they actually spent.
| Guest | Their subtotal | + Tax share | + Tip share | Owes | Remove |
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How to calculate a tip
The arithmetic is simple — multiply the bill by the tip percentage — but two decisions change the answer, and most people never think about either one.
Tip on the subtotal or on the total?
Sales tax is money the restaurant collects for the government. It isn't revenue for the business, and your server never sees it. Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is the more common convention for exactly that reason, and it's what this calculator does by default.
That said, tipping on the post-tax total is a deliberate choice plenty of people make, and in a high-tax area the difference is real. On a $60 subtotal with 9% tax, a 20% tip comes to $12.00 on the subtotal versus $13.08 on the total — about a dollar. Over a year of eating out, that adds up in one direction or the other, which is why the toggle exists rather than the decision being made for you.
What percentage is standard?
In the United States, 15–20% is the usual range for sit-down restaurant service, with 18% a common default and 20% widely treated as the standard for good service. Tipping norms vary enormously by country, though — in much of Europe a small round-up is normal, in Japan tipping can be actively unwelcome, and service-charge-inclusive billing is standard in many places. If you're traveling, check local convention rather than exporting the American default.
Percentages also differ by service type. Counter service, delivery, bartending, and full table service all carry different expectations, and a large party may have gratuity added automatically — always check the bill before adding a tip on top of one that's already there. Our full tipping guide breaks down what's customary for each situation.
Splitting the bill fairly
An even split is fine when everyone ordered roughly the same thing. It stops being fine when one person had a salad and someone else had the steak and three drinks.
The Group Split tool handles that case by splitting tax and tip proportionally rather than evenly. Enter what each person's food and drinks came to before tax, and each person's share of the tax and tip is scaled to what they actually ordered. Someone who spent 10% of the party subtotal pays 10% of the tax and 10% of the tip — not an equal quarter share of a bill they didn't run up.
This is almost always the fairer method, and it's the one that avoids the awkward end-of-meal conversation. The even split is still the right call when the difference is small and nobody wants to do bookkeeping over dessert.
Working with an exact bill
Printed tip tables and mental-math shortcuts assume round numbers. Real checks don't cooperate — they come to $47.83 or $112.16. The "move the decimal and double it" trick gets you close to 20% quickly, but it drifts on odd amounts and falls apart entirely once you're splitting between five people or working in a currency where the smallest unit isn't a cent.
Everything here runs on the exact figure you enter, in whichever of the supported currencies you pick, including ones like the Japanese yen that don't use decimal subunits.
Common questions
Should I tip on the pre-tax or post-tax amount?
Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is the more common convention, since sales tax goes to the government rather than the restaurant or the server. Tipping on the post-tax total is a personal choice that leaves a slightly larger tip. This calculator defaults to the subtotal and lets you switch.
Is 15% still an acceptable tip?
In the US, 15% has traditionally marked the low end of the standard sit-down range, with 18–20% now widely treated as the norm for satisfactory to good service. Expectations vary by region, service type, and country, so there's no single universal figure.
How do I split a bill when everyone ordered different things?
Use the Group Split tab. Enter each person's pre-tax subtotal and the tax and tip are divided proportionally to what each person spent, rather than split evenly. That way nobody subsidizes someone else's more expensive order.
What if gratuity is already included?
Many restaurants add an automatic gratuity for large parties, and some include a service charge as standard. Check the itemized bill before adding anything — if a gratuity is already there, you don't need to tip again on top of it unless you specifically want to add more.
Does this work outside the United States?
The math works in any of the supported currencies, including euro, pound sterling, yen, Canadian and Australian dollars, Mexican peso, Indian rupee, and Swiss franc. Tipping customs are a different matter and vary widely by country — the calculator handles the arithmetic, not the local etiquette.
Is anything I enter saved or sent anywhere?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is transmitted to a server, stored, or associated with you, and there's no account to create.