Orbit vs Zelle: Which Payment App Actually Solves the Group Expense Problem?
Zelle has become the banking industry's answer to Venmo and Cash App. It's fast, it's built into most banking apps, and it lets you send money instantly to friends and family.
For one-on-one payments, Zelle is incredibly convenient. Need to pay your roommate back for utilities? Zelle. Sending your sibling money for a birthday gift? Zelle. Reimbursing a friend for picking up your coffee? Zelle.
But when it comes to group expenses—dinners with friends, travel costs, shared activities—Zelle runs into the same fundamental problem as every other peer-to-peer payment app: someone still has to front the money first.
So is Zelle actually a good solution for group expenses? Or is there a better way?
Let's compare Zelle and Orbit to see which one actually makes splitting costs easier.
What Zelle does well
Zelle is a peer-to-peer payment network integrated directly into most major banking apps. Here's what makes it appealing:
Instant transfers: Money moves directly between bank accounts in minutes, not days
No separate app needed: If your bank supports Zelle, it's already in your banking app
No fees: Unlike Venmo or Cash App, Zelle doesn't charge fees for standard transfers
Wide adoption: Most major US banks support Zelle
No balance to manage: Money goes straight to your bank account
For sending money to one person after they've already paid for something, Zelle is fast and convenient.
The problem? It doesn't change the fundamental dynamic of group expenses.
The Zelle workflow for group expenses
Here's what actually happens when you use Zelle to split a group bill:
One person pays the full amount (fronting $100+ for the group)
That person calculates everyone's share and sends individual payment requests
Each person receives a request and (hopefully) pays through their banking app
The person who fronted the money waits for payments to arrive
Days later, they're still waiting on people who "didn't see the notification"
Awkward follow-up texts
Maybe everyone pays. Maybe they don't.
Zelle makes Step 3 faster (instant bank transfers), but it doesn't eliminate Steps 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, or 7. Someone still fronts money. Someone still has to request payments. And there's still that uncomfortable gap between spending and settling.
How Orbit approaches it differently
Orbit doesn't ask "how can we make payment requests faster?" It asks a fundamentally different question: "what if nobody had to front money in the first place?"
Here's the Orbit workflow:
Create an Orb for your group (friends, roommates, travel crew, etc.)
When it's time to pay, use your Orbit card
The bill splits automatically in real time according to your preferences
Everyone is charged their share instantly on their own payment method
Done.
No fronting. No calculating. No requesting. No waiting. No following up.
The key differences
Who pays upfront?
Zelle: One person fronts the entire amount and waits for reimbursement.
Orbit: Everyone pays their own share simultaneously. Nobody fronts money.
Payment timing
Zelle: Pay now, get reimbursed later (if you're lucky).
Orbit: Everyone pays at the exact same moment, at the point of purchase.
Mental load
Zelle: Requires calculating shares, sending individual requests, tracking who's paid, following up with people who haven't.
Orbit: Automatic. Once your Orb is set up, splitting happens seamlessly in the background.
Group functionality
Zelle: Designed for one-to-one payments. You have to send separate requests to each person in a group.
Orbit: Built specifically for group expenses. One transaction, multiple payers, automatic splits.
The awkwardness factor
Zelle: You still have to request money, send reminders, and deal with the discomfort of chasing friends for payments.
Orbit: Eliminates the awkwardness entirely. Everyone pays automatically, so there's nothing to chase.
Best use cases
Zelle:
One-time payments between two people
Reimbursing someone for something they already purchased
Sending money to family members
Situations where immediate payment isn't critical
Orbit:
Group dinners and social outings
Travel expenses with multiple people
Recurring shared costs (roommates, partners)
Any scenario where you want to avoid fronting money for others
The limitations of peer-to-peer payment apps
Here's the uncomfortable truth about Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, and every other peer-to-peer payment app:
They're all solving the same problem—making it easier to send money after someone has already paid. They compete on speed, fees, and features, but they all accept the same broken premise: that someone has to front money for the group.
Faster payment requests are better than slow ones. But eliminating the need for payment requests altogether? That's a different solution entirely.
Which one should you use?
The answer depends on what you're trying to accomplish.
Use Zelle if:
You're sending money to one person for something they already paid for
You don't mind fronting money and waiting for reimbursement
You're okay with the mental load of requesting and tracking payments
The other people don't have Orbit (yet)
Use Orbit if:
You're tired of fronting money 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 manual calculations
Here's the thing: Zelle and Orbit aren't really direct competitors—they solve different problems. Zelle makes it easier to send money after someone has paid. Orbit eliminates the need for someone to pay first at all.
The real question
The real question isn't "which app transfers money faster?" It's "do you want to keep fronting money 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 payment requests to friends... 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 entirely.
The bottom line
Zelle is excellent for what it does: making instant bank-to-bank transfers easy and free. But it doesn't fundamentally change the dynamics of group expenses—someone still fronts money, someone still has to request payment, and someone still has to wait and hope they get paid back.
Orbit changes the game. No fronting. 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 faster—it's to make reimbursement unnecessary.
Ready to stop fronting money and start splitting in real time? Join the Orbit waitlist and experience group expenses the way they should be—instant, fair, and completely hassle-free.