Tip’d vs. ServerLife: An Honest Comparison

Published October 26, 2026

Full disclosure: we make Tip’d. ServerLife has more App Store ratings than any other dedicated tip tracker, 9,920, so it's the natural one to compare against. We'll make our case, but every fact below comes from each app's own App Store page, privacy label, Google Play page and help center, all checked on October 26, 2026, so you can check them yourself. We didn't buy ServerLife Premium, so its paid features are as ServerLife describes them. And where ServerLife is better, we say so.

Tip’d vs. ServerLife at a glance

Where Tip’d comes out ahead

The whole shift is free

For a server or bartender, a shift is more than a tip total: cash and card tips, what you tipped out, your hourly pay, and which job and position it was. In Tip’d all of that is free, along with sales and tip percentage, earning targets for the week, month and year, savings goals, paychecks, stats by job, position and day, and a year summary for taxes.

ServerLife's free version tracks tips, hours and notes, with daily to yearly totals, a custom pay week, entry reminders and a forecast. Separate cash and credit tips, tip-outs, hourly wages, sales and tip percentage, multiple jobs and positions, and earning goals are all on its Premium list, sold mainly as monthly, six-month and yearly plans, with a one-month free trial. If you work two jobs, or your restaurant has a tip-out, that's the version you'd need.

No ads, and no account

ServerLife's App Store and Google Play pages both say it contains ads, and it sells a separate Remove Ads subscription. It also needs an account: its help center says the app “has always required an account,” and warns that if you sign up again with a different login, your existing data won't load.

Tip’d has no ads and no sign-up. You open it and log a shift. The only purchase is the optional Widget Pack, for Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets.

Your numbers stay with you

Tip’d saves your shifts on your iPhone and, if you use iCloud, in the private part of your own iCloud account. Its App Store privacy label says “Data Not Collected.”

ServerLife keeps your records on its own servers, which it says are backed up every hour. Its help center says your data is never shared with anyone, but its App Store privacy label lists identifiers that may be used to track you across other companies' apps and websites, and, not linked to your identity, a device ID used for third-party advertising and usage data for analytics.

Switching in and out is easier

Tip’d imports in the app: Excel, CSV and text files, photos, screenshots, PDFs and pasted notes, read on your phone, with one summary to check before anything is saved. It exports a spreadsheet or a year-summary PDF whenever you want one.

ServerLife has no import button. Instead, its support team imports your history for you when you email them the file, whether it's from TipSee, Just the Tips or a spreadsheet. Its export is a button in the app, but the file arrives by email.

More languages, more ways in

Tip’d is in ten languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic; ServerLife's App Store page lists English. Tip’d also works with Siri (“Log a shift in Tip’d”), has layouts made for iPhone Duo, and lists VoiceOver, Voice Control and larger text on its App Store page. ServerLife's page doesn't list any accessibility features yet.

Where ServerLife comes out ahead

• Android and iPad. ServerLife runs on both, and because your data lives on its servers, you can log on one phone and see it on another, even between iPhone and Android. Tip’d is iPhone only for now (both apps also run on Macs with Apple silicon), and it syncs between your Apple devices through your own iCloud. Android and iPad versions of Tip’d are in the works; until they're out, ServerLife is the better choice on those devices.
• Start and end times. ServerLife can work out your hours from when you started and finished, minus unpaid breaks. In Tip’d you enter the hours for now; start and end times are in the works.
• A forecast, free. ServerLife's Forecasting tab uses your last 90 days of shifts to project your month-end total, with a confidence level. Premium adds a range, what-if scenarios for an extra shift, and how many shifts you'd need to reach a target. A month-end forecast for Tip’d is in the works; for now it shows only what you've made.
• Work schedule. ServerLife Premium keeps your upcoming shifts, with reminders, and can sync them to your Apple or Google Calendar. Tip’d doesn't track schedules.
• More restaurant numbers. ServerLife Premium also tracks covers, sales per cover, tip-ins and service charges.
• Beyond restaurants. ServerLife is built for delivery drivers, stylists, casino dealers and commission sales too, with mileage, delivery fees and expenses in Premium. Tip’d is made for restaurant work.
• A long track record. ServerLife has been on the App Store since 2016, with a 4.8 average from 9,920 ratings, and says more than 750,000 workers have used it. Tip’d came out in October 2026, with a 5.0 from 8 ratings so far.

The full comparison

Which one should you use?

• You're on iPhone and want tip-outs, wages or two jobs without paying: Tip’d.
• You don't want ads, an account or tracking: Tip’d.
• You're on Android, or want your tips on an iPad too: ServerLife.
• You want a forecast, a work schedule or start and end times, or you drive for delivery apps: ServerLife, mostly with Premium.

Already have years of shifts in ServerLife? You don't have to choose blind. Use its Export All Data, which emails you a file, then open that file in Tip’d's import. Tip’d recognizes ServerLife's export and reads the dates, hours, tips, tip-outs, wages, sales, jobs and notes, asks about anything unclear, and shows you what it found before saving. Paychecks, photos, goals, your schedule and expenses stay in ServerLife, and your ServerLife account stays as it was, so you can try both side by side.

Questions people ask

Is ServerLife free?

Partly. Its free version tracks tips, hours and notes, with totals, reminders and a forecast, and shows ads. Cash and credit tips apart, tip-outs, hourly wages and multiple jobs are in Premium, which has a one-month free trial.

Does ServerLife need an account?

Yes. Its help center says it has always required one, and your data is tied to the login you first used.

Can I move my ServerLife history to Tip’d?

Your shifts, yes. ServerLife emails your data when you choose Export All Data, and Tip’d recognizes that file: it reads the dates, hours, tips, tip-outs, wages, sales, jobs and notes on your phone and shows you what it found before anything is saved. Paychecks, photos, goals, your schedule and expenses stay in ServerLife.

Is Tip’d on Android?

Not yet, but Android and iPad versions are in the works. For now Tip’d is iPhone only, and also runs on Macs with Apple silicon.

Which is better for servers, Tip’d or ServerLife?

On iPhone we'd pick Tip’d, and we make it: it covers the core of a server shift, tip-outs, wages and every job, for free, with no ads or account. On Android, or if you want a forecast or schedule, ServerLife is the better fit.

Sources

• ServerLife on the App Store (its description, in-app purchases and privacy label) and on Google Play
• ServerLife's help center: accounts, where data is kept, sharing, hourly wages, importing and exporting
• Tip’d on the App Store and Tip’d's privacy policy
• The Best Tip Tracker Apps for Servers in 2026, Ranked, our comparison of seven apps, and Tip’d vs. Just The Tips