Setl is a mobile app that helps you split a restaurant bill with the people you're eating with. You take a photo of a receipt, Setl reads it, you assign items to the people who ordered them, and Setl calculates who owes what. Setl does not process, hold, transfer, or verify payments of any kind — it helps you coordinate who owes whom, and points people to payment apps you already use.
You can use Setl's core bill-splitting features without creating an account. If you choose to sign in with Apple or Google, we create a Setl account so your data can sync across your devices.
When you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive a unique identifier and, if you choose to share it, your name and email address. We use this only to create and secure your Setl account — never for marketing, and never shared with advertisers.
When you scan a receipt, the photo is sent securely to Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI models, so it can be read and turned into structured data (items, prices, tax, tip, total). Setl does not store the photo itself — only the extracted text-based information becomes part of your bill. Under Anthropic's standard API retention practices, API inputs and outputs are generally deleted from its backend within 30 days, subject to Anthropic's published exceptions and policies. Anthropic states that commercial API inputs and outputs are not used to train its models by default.
Saved Guests are stored on your device. When you're signed in, new Saved Guests may sync to your Setl account so they're available across your devices. Existing device-only guests created before account sync are added to your account only if you choose to import them.
The bills you create — receipt details, who's splitting what, and who's paid — are stored on your device, and synced to your account if you're signed in.
If you choose to add a Venmo username, Zelle phone/email, or Apple Cash phone number so people can pay you, that information is stored with your account. We never collect a card number, bank account number, or any payment credential — only the contact information those services already require to receive a payment.
When you share a Setl, we create an unguessable sharing link containing the bill's details, participant names, totals, and only the payment methods you've chosen to include. Anyone who has that link can view it — it is not searchable or discoverable, but anyone possessing the URL can access what it shows, so treat it like any link you'd share: only send it to people you intend to see it. Deleting your Setl account also removes any shared links tied to your account.
Setl may open Venmo with a pre-filled amount and note, or open Messages with a pre-filled message referencing your Apple Cash number. Setl does not send any data to Venmo, Apple, or any payment provider on your behalf — these are links and messages that open on the recipient's own device, which they choose whether to complete.
When you scan a receipt, we briefly record the IP address your request came from solely to detect and limit abusive or excessive use of receipt scanning. This IP address is not linked to your Setl account, is not used for tracking or advertising, and is used only for security and abuse prevention. It is cleared after it is no longer needed for this purpose. This processing happens on our database infrastructure, provided by Supabase (see Service providers below).
We use Supabase to host our database and authentication, and Anthropic to read receipt photos. These providers process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy practices.
We use technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect your information, including encrypted network connections and access controls. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure.
We keep your account data for as long as your account exists. If you delete your Setl account, we permanently delete your account, your synced guests and bills, your payment contact information, and any shared bill links associated with your account.
You can permanently delete your Setl account at any time from Account > Delete Account. This removes your account, synced data, and shared links, and (if you signed in with Apple) revokes Setl's Sign in with Apple authorization. Data you never synced to an account — because you were signed out when you created it — stays only on your device and isn't affected by account deletion; you can remove it by deleting the app.
Setl is a general-audience bill-splitting utility and is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
We may update this policy as Setl changes. We'll update the effective date above when we do, and for material changes, we'll make a reasonable effort to notify you in the app.
Questions about this policy or your data: support@setlit.org