Cash App has become the go-to way to send money to friends. It's fast, it's easy, and pretty much everyone has it. Need to pay your roommate back for groceries? Cash App. Owe your friend for concert tickets? Cash App. Splitting last night's dinner? You guessed it—Cash App.

But here's the thing: Cash App is great at sending money after someone has already paid. It doesn't actually solve the problem of someone having to cover the entire bill in the first place.

So when it comes to splitting bills with friends, is Cash App really the best option? Or is there a better way?

Let's compare Cash App and Orbit to see which one actually makes group expenses easier.

What Cash App does well

Cash App is a peer-to-peer payment app that makes it easy to send money directly to friends. You can:

Send and receive money instantly
Request payments from multiple people
Link your bank account or debit card
Keep a balance in your Cash App account
Even invest or buy Bitcoin (if that's your thing)

It's simple, widely adopted, and gets the job done when you need to pay someone back.

The catch? Someone still has to pay first.

The Cash App workflow (and where it breaks down)

Here's what actually happens when you use Cash App to split bills:

Step 1: One person pays the full amount (covering $100+ for the group)

Step 2: That person opens Cash App and sends payment requests to everyone

Step 3: Everyone receives notifications and (hopefully) pays

Step 4: The person who paid waits for payments to come in

Step 5: Days later, they're still waiting on that one friend who "didn't see the notification"

Step 6: Awkward follow-up messages

Step 7: Maybe they get paid back. Maybe they don't.

Cash App makes Step 3 easier, but it doesn't eliminate Steps 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, or 7. Someone still covers the bill upfront. Someone still has to chase payments. And there's still that awkward gap between spending and settling.

How Orbit is different

Orbit doesn't ask "how can we make paying people back easier?" It asks a better question: "what if nobody had to pay the full bill in the first place?"

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Create an Orb for your group (dinner crew, roommates, travel buddies, etc.)

Step 2: When it's time to pay, use your Orbit card

Step 3: The bill splits automatically in real time

Step 4: Everyone is charged their share instantly on their own payment method

Step 5: Done.

No covering the full bill. No requesting. No waiting. No following up.

The key differences

Who pays first?

Cash App: One person covers the entire amount and waits to be reimbursed.

Orbit: Everyone pays their own share simultaneously. Nobody has to cover anyone else.

Payment timing

Cash App: Pay now, get reimbursed later (maybe).

Orbit: Everyone pays at the exact same time, at the moment of purchase.

Mental load

Cash App: Requires sending requests, tracking who's paid, following up with people who haven't.

Orbit: Automatic. Once your Orb is set up, splitting happens in the background.

The awkwardness factor

Cash App: You still have to ask people to pay you back, send reminders, and deal with the discomfort of chasing friends for money.

Orbit: Eliminates the awkwardness entirely. Everyone pays automatically, so there's nothing to chase.

Best use cases

Cash App:

One-time payments between two people
Paying someone back for something they already purchased
Sending money for non-shared expenses
Situations where immediate payment isn't necessary

Orbit:

Group dinners and outings
Travel expenses with friends
Recurring shared costs (roommate expenses, partner spending)
Any scenario where you want to avoid covering the full bill

Which one should you use?

The answer depends on what problem you're trying to solve.

Use Cash App if:

You're sending money to one person for something they already paid for
You don't mind covering costs upfront and waiting for reimbursement
You're okay with the mental load of tracking and requesting payments

Use Orbit if:

You're tired of paying the full bill for groups
You want to split costs in real time at the point of purchase
You want to avoid the awkwardness of requesting payments and following up
You want automatic, transparent splits without the mental load

Here's the thing: Cash App and Orbit aren't really competitors—they solve different problems. Cash App makes it easier to send money after someone has paid. Orbit eliminates the need for someone to pay the full amount at all.

The real question

The real question isn't "which app is better?" It's "do you want to keep covering group bills and chasing payments, or do you want to split costs in real time?"

If you've ever covered a group dinner and spent the next week wondering if you'll actually get paid back...

If you've ever felt awkward sending a payment request to a friend...

If you've ever absorbed the cost just to avoid the discomfort of following up...

Then maybe it's time to try a different approach.

The bottom line

Cash App is great for what it does: making it easy to send money to friends. But it doesn't change the fundamental dynamic of bill splitting—someone still pays upfront, someone still has to request payment, and someone still has to wait and hope they get paid back.

Orbit changes the game entirely. No one person covering the bill. No requesting. No waiting. Just instant, automatic splits at the moment of purchase.

Because the best way to split bills isn't to make reimbursement easier—it's to make reimbursement unnecessary.

Orbit vs Cash App: Which is Better for Splitting Bills with Friends?