Tip Calculator

How to Use This Tip Calculator

Enter Your Bill Amount

Type the subtotal from your restaurant check into the Bill Amount field. If you want to tip on the pre-tax total — which is technically the standard, since you are tipping for the service, not the government's cut — enter the pre-tax amount. If you prefer to tip on the full post-tax total, enter that instead. On a typical restaurant bill the difference is only a dollar or two, so either approach is socially acceptable.

Choose a Tip Percentage

Select one of the preset tip percentages — 10%, 15%, 18%, 20%, or 25% — or tap Custom to enter any percentage you like. In the United States, 15% was the traditional standard for good service at a sit-down restaurant, but 20% has become the modern baseline. Use 18% as a quick middle-ground. Tap Custom for service charges, employer gratuity policies, international dining, or any non-standard rate.

Set the Number of People

Use the +/− buttons to set how many people are splitting the bill evenly. The calculator instantly shows each person's share of the tip and the total. An even split works well when everyone ordered roughly the same amount. If orders varied significantly — someone had a full entrée and wine while another ordered a salad — use the proportional bill-split section instead.

Round Up for Easy Cash Payment

Toggle Round up per person to bring each person's share to the nearest whole dollar. For example, if each person's exact share is $17.43, rounding up means everyone pays $18 — eliminating the need for coins and making cash collection simple. The calculator shows the actual effective tip percentage after rounding, so you can see the slight bump it creates.

Split When People Ordered Different Amounts

Expand Split by what each person ordered to handle uneven bills fairly. Enter each person's order total and the calculator distributes the tip proportionally — the person who ordered the $40 entrée contributes more to the tip than the person who ordered the $15 salad. This approach is the fairest split when orders vary significantly and avoids the awkward "you had two glasses of wine" conversation.

Tipping Etiquette by Country

Tipping customs vary widely around the world. In the United States and Canada, tipping is expected at sit-down restaurants — US standard is 18–20%, Canada 15–20%. In the United Kingdom, a 10–12% tip is common at full-service restaurants but is not always expected. In Continental Europe, rounding up or leaving 5–10% is typical. In Japan and many parts of East Asia, tipping is not part of the culture and may even be considered rude. In Mexico, 10–15% is standard. When dining abroad, a quick search for local customs is always worth doing before you arrive.

Why 20% Has Become the New Standard

The shift from 15% to 20% as the baseline US restaurant tip happened gradually from the 1980s through the 2010s, accelerated by the pandemic era. Several forces converged: touchscreen payment terminals now anchor suggested tip amounts at 18–20–25%, tipping screens at quick-service restaurants have normalized tipping in counter-service contexts, and rising awareness of server pay structures has pushed cultural expectations upward. Knowing this history helps you decide what feels right for your situation — 20% for a full sit-down meal is now the widely expected norm.

Frequently Asked Questions