Guide
Rent by room size, bills equally, and a short monthly check that heads off arguments. One full example for three flatmates, and a log you can copy.
By The Splitaha teamPublished Last updated 9 min readThe short answer
Try your own rent split
The calculator below runs on the app's own engine, with no sign-up. If you like it, join the waitlist for one email on release day.
Three bedrooms, and one flatmate has the master. Should everyone pay the same rent? There is no single right answer, but each method has a cost.
The simplest and needs no debate. It suits rooms of similar size. Its weakness is that whoever has the smallest room pays as much as whoever has the biggest, and that is where resentment starts.
Each room is weighted by its area in square metres, so the larger room pays more. It is fairer when rooms differ, but it needs an agreed measurement, and it misses what area cannot capture: a private bathroom, a balcony, a quieter room. If those matter to you, agree the weights out loud before doing any maths.
In Splitaha the weights go in as shares, so you type each room's area as it is: 18, 14 and 12. Percentages are the other option, covered in the example below.
Sultan has the master room (18 m²) and is the named tenant on the contract, Faisal has 14 m², and Turki has 12 m². Sultan paid the rent and the internet, Faisal paid electricity, and Turki paid water. Rent is split on 18:14:12 shares; the three bills are split equally. The figures below are computed by the app's own engine.
Rent by area shares; electricity, water and internet equally.
Rent
4,350.00 SARPaid by Sultan · Shares
Electricity
612.40 SARPaid by Faisal · Equal, everyone
Water
87.65 SARPaid by Turki · Equal, everyone
Internet
299.00 SARPaid by Sultan · Equal, everyone
Sultan
gets back2,536.42 SARFaisal
pays1,104.71 SARTurki
pays1,431.71 SARThe label beside each name: gets back is money coming to that person from the others, pays is money that person hands to the others, settled means nothing is owed.
* Some halalas did not divide evenly, so the engine placed them on these people to make the shares add up to the bill exactly.
The rent is spread over 44 shares (18+14+12). Split equally instead, each flatmate would pay 1,450.00 SAR, so the master room's extra is about 330 SAR a month.
If you prefer round figures, such as 41%, 32% and 27%, the total still matches the rent. But it adds nothing when area is the basis for the deal: shares give you the same rule without rounding. Use percentages when the agreement itself is a percentage, not an area.
When an amount does not divide exactly, the engine hands out the leftover halalas by largest remainder. There are always fewer leftovers than people, so the total always matches the bill. Shares that received an extra halala are starred in the table.
In general, each meter and each subscription sits under one account holder, and the bill comes to them. The provider will not divide it among you, so the split is something you do between yourselves. Electricity and water each have their own meter and account; internet is under whoever signed up.
Agree in advance who is the account holder for each service, and check the internet contract's minimum term before anyone moves out.
Per the reported Real Estate General Authority decision, residential rent payments go through the Ejar platform from 15 January 2024 (Arab News (external link), checked 29 October 2026). Often one flatmate is the tenant on the contract and pays, and the others pay their shares to them.
That does not stop you tracking the maths. Record the rent in Splitaha as an expense paid by the tenant and split it across everyone. The app does not pay for you or move money; it calculates and keeps the record.
On monthly payments: in a 2022 statement the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing (external link) listed annual, semi-annual, quarterly and monthly as possible payment frequencies through Ejar. We have not verified that monthly payment is available to every tenant. It depends on what you and the landlord agreed, so check your contract on the platform. We give no legal advice on subletting rooms.
Rent and internet are often the same amount every month.
One person can enter four bills on the same day on the free plan, since there is no daily limit. Plan details are on the pricing page.
Ten minutes at month end saves a month of friction.
Existing records are never hidden, even if a Pro subscription lapses. Only new additions that need Pro stop.
If you start on paper or a spreadsheet before the app, copy this log. The entries are example text only.
Opens in Excel and Google Sheets. The file is UTF-8, so Arabic displays correctly.
Change the shares to your own room sizes and watch how the halalas land.
3 shares assigned
Bill amount
4,350.00 SAR
You Paid
Who pays whom
Splitaha records balances and settlements only; the money moves outside the app. To save groups and track balances with other people you need an account inside the app.
Ready to try the calculator?
The same calculator lives on its own page, and the app is on its way to iPhone. Leave your email for one message on release day.
Links checked on 2026-10-29. Rules and tariffs change, so confirm with the official source before you decide.
About the author
The Splitaha team
We are the team building Splitaha, a Saudi app for splitting shared expenses. We write about what we know first-hand and link every claim we make about anyone else. If something here is out of date or wrong, email support@splitaha.com and we will fix it.
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