Why I Built a Worldwide Tip Calculator (And What I Learned About Tipping Along the Way)

Posted on: May 5, 2026

By the developer — Personal blog

I’m a developer. I solve problems. And a few years ago, I found myself sitting in a diner in the States, staring at the bill, suddenly very aware that I was doing the maths wrong.

Back home in the UK, tipping is fairly straightforward — round it up, leave 10–15% if the service was good, nothing if it wasn’t. But the US operates differently. The percentages are higher, tipping is genuinely part of how staff get paid, and the social pressure to get it right is real. I fumbled through it, maybe undertipped, and came home wondering whether there was a better way to handle it.

That moment stuck with me. And eventually, it turned into an app.

The Problem With Most Tip Calculators

If you search for a tip calculator in the App Store, you’ll find plenty of them. Most do the same thing: enter the bill, pick a percentage, split by number of people. Done.

They’re built for the US market. The percentages are pre-set to 15%, 18%, 20%. There’s rarely any context about why you’re tipping that amount, or whether tipping is even expected at all.

That’s fine if you never leave America. But for the rest of us — travellers, expats, people who eat out internationally — it doesn’t really help.

Building Something That Actually Travels

When I started building my tip calculator, I wanted it to do something none of the others seemed to bother with: account for where you actually are in the world.

Tipping culture varies enormously by country. In the United States, 18–20% is standard and servers depend on it as part of their income. In Japan and South Korea, tipping can be considered rude — it can imply the person needs charity. In Australia, tipping is appreciated but not expected. In many parts of Europe, rounding up the bill or leaving a euro or two is perfectly normal. In some countries, service is already included in the bill.

Getting this wrong isn’t just embarrassing. It can be genuinely offensive in some cultures, or leave you undertipping somewhere it really matters.

I wanted an app that understood all of this.

What the App Does

The app is straightforward to use. You enter the bill amount, select the country you’re in, and it calculates an appropriate tip based on local customs — along with a split if you’re sharing the bill between multiple people.

The “worldwide” part was the bit that took the most research. I went through country by country, looking at tipping norms, service industry conventions, and cultural expectations. Some of it was surprising even to me.

Did you know that in Iceland, tipping isn’t really practised at all? Or that in Egypt, a small tip (called baksheesh) is expected in many service situations, not just restaurants? Or that in China, tipping culture is growing in tourist areas but is still unusual in local restaurants?

The research was genuinely interesting — and I think that context is what makes the app more useful than a simple percentage calculator.

Who It’s For

The app is 99p. That’s less than a tip itself in most countries.

It’s aimed at anyone who travels — whether that’s occasionally or frequently. Business travellers who find themselves in unfamiliar cities. Tourists who want to do the right thing without overthinking it. Expats navigating a new home country. People who just want to split the bill quickly without a mental arithmetic workout.

If you’ve ever hesitated over a bill in a foreign country and thought “I have no idea what I’m doing here” — this is for you.

What’s Next

I’m continuing to refine the country data as I get feedback, and I’m working on a few improvements based on what users have told me so far.

If you’ve used the app and have suggestions — especially if you’ve spotted something that doesn’t match your local experience — I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Getting this right, country by country, is an ongoing process, and local knowledge beats desk research every time.

The app is available on the App Store now. Go find it, try it, and next time you’re sitting in a restaurant somewhere unfamiliar, hopefully you’ll feel a little more confident about what to leave on the table.