Introducing RoomGrub — Open Source Expense Splitter for Roommates & Shared Living

[sambhusankar]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Product Feedback

Body

Hey everyone! 👋

I'm S Sankar Swain, the creator of RoomGrub. I wanted to officially introduce this project here and share why I built it.

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The Problem

Shared living comes with a hidden tax — the mental overhead of tracking shared expenses. Who bought the groceries? Who paid the electricity? Who's owed what by the end of the month?

Spreadsheets get messy. WhatsApp reminders get ignored. And splitting bills manually is a guaranteed source of tension in any shared flat.

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What is RoomGrub?

RoomGrub is a free, open-source web app built for roommates, PG residents, and friend groups who share daily expenses.

• Create a Room, invite your roommates via a link
• Log expenses in seconds — item name, amount, done
• RoomGrub automatically splits costs and tracks who owes what
• Settle up and mark payments as done
• Get push notifications when someone adds an expense or settles a payment
• Installable as a PWA — works like a native app on mobile
• Works offline with cached room data
• Full activity history so nothing is ever lost

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Tech Stack

Built with Next.js 15, TypeScript, Supabase (PostgreSQL), MUI Joy, Tailwind CSS, and Web Push API for notifications.

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Why Open Source?

Because this problem is universal and the solution shouldn't cost money. RoomGrub is free to use and fully open source. Fork it, self-host it, contribute to it — all welcome.

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How You Can Help

• 🐛 Open an issue if you find a bug
• 💡 Start a discussion if you have a feature idea
• 🔀 Submit a PR — contributions of all sizes are welcome

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Links

• 🌐 Live App: Try the app
• 📖 README: github.com/sambhusankar/RoomGrub

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Thanks for checking it out. Happy to answer any questions here — about the project, the tech stack, or how to contribute. Let's build this together! 🚀

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[queenofcorgis]

Hi @sambhusankar , we’re glad you’re here 😀

Thanks for sharing your project with the community. Unfortunately, we currently do not allow self-promotion or advertising on the Community Discussions, please update your post to remove your request for stars. We want to make sure there is space for users to ask questions without overwhelming them with other conversations. Thank you for helping us maintain a productive and tidy community for all our members.

[jovbcorreia]

Hi @sambhusankar! RoomGrub looks like a genuinely useful project — the problem you're solving is real and the tech stack (Next.js 15, Supabase, Web Push) is solid for this use case.

A few thoughts from a technical perspective that could make it even stronger:

PWA + Web Push is the right call for this type of app — expense notifications need to feel native. Make sure your service worker handles background sync for the offline expense logging, so entries made offline get pushed to Supabase when connectivity returns.

Supabase Row Level Security — if you haven't already, make sure RLS policies are tight on the rooms/expenses tables so users can only read/write to rooms they're members of. This is the most common security gap in Supabase apps.

Settlement logic — consider implementing a debt simplification algorithm (like Splitwise does) that reduces the number of transactions needed to settle up. Instead of A→B + B→C + C→A, simplify to A→C. It's a nice touch that makes settling much less painful.

Contributing experience — adding a CONTRIBUTING.md with setup instructions (env vars, Supabase schema, how to run locally) will make it much easier for first-time contributors to jump in.

Great project — the offline-first approach with PWA is exactly what this kind of tool needs. Good luck with it! 🚀

[sambhusankar]

Thanks buddy, I am always on improving it. If you have time please fork it and make a PR.

Happy to see your profile at RoomGrub's contributions list.

[tanvishinde017]

Hey, this is a really solid idea — you’ve clearly built something that solves a real problem 👍

The shared expense space is crowded (apps like Splitwise), but your approach stands out because of:

✅ Open-source flexibility
📱 PWA + offline support (huge advantage)
🔔 Real-time notifications
🧠 Clean focus on simplicity

💡 Suggestions to Improve Further
1️⃣ Add Smart Settlement Optimization

Instead of showing all debts, minimize transactions:

A owes B ₹500
B owes C ₹500

👉 Convert to:

A pays C ₹500

This reduces friction a lot.

2️⃣ Recurring Expenses Feature

Support things like:

Rent
WiFi
Subscriptions

👉 Auto-add monthly expenses.

3️⃣ Expense Categories + Analytics
Food 🍔
Rent 🏠
Utilities ⚡

👉 Add charts/insights (users love this).

4️⃣ Export & Backup
Export to CSV / PDF
Helps in transparency + trust

5️⃣ Auth & Security Layer

Since you're using Supabase:

Add role-based access (admin/member)
Prevent accidental edits/deletes
⚙️ Tech Feedback

Your stack is strong:

Next.js 15 + TypeScript ✅
Supabase (great choice for scaling) ✅
PWA support = 🔥

👉 You might also consider:

Edge caching for faster load
Rate limiting for abuse protection

🚀 Growth Tips

To get users + contributors:

Add screenshots/GIFs in README
Create good first issues for beginners
Share on:
Reddit (r/webdev, r/startups)
Twitter/X dev community
Add demo video (huge impact)

This has real potential to become a strong alternative to existing apps — especially because it’s open source.

Keep going, and definitely push for:
👉 polish + UX + onboarding