Free Online Tip Calculator

Calculate restaurant tips, your total bill, and how much each person owes in seconds. No sign-up, no ads getting in the way — just an accurate tip percentage calculator you can trust.

Tip Calculator

Tip Percentage
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Tip Amount

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Total Bill

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Amount Per Person

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Tip Per Person

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What Is a Tip Calculator?

A tip calculator does one job well: it works out how much to add to a bill as a gratuity, what the new total comes to, and — if you are eating with other people — what each person owes. Type in the bill, pick a percentage, and the answer appears.

It sounds trivial until you are the person holding the bill. Restaurant totals are rarely round numbers, and splitting $187.43 between five people while everyone is putting their coats on is genuinely awkward. The calculator above updates as you type, works offline once the page has loaded, and never asks you to sign up for anything.

Below it you will find the formula, a tip chart, shortcuts for doing the arithmetic in your head, and what the data actually says about what people tip — which is not the same as what the guides recommend.

How to Calculate a Tip

Calculating a tip is simple once you know the formula. Multiply your bill amount by the tip percentage, then divide by 100 to get the tip amount. Add that to your original bill to get the total, and divide by the number of people to split it evenly.

Example: If your restaurant bill is $100 and you choose a 20% tip:

  • Tip = $100 × 20% = $20
  • Total = $100 + $20 = $120
  • If 4 people are sharing the bill, each person pays $30.

The Tip Formula, Step by Step

Every tip calculation is the same three operations, whatever the currency. First, convert the percentage into a decimal by dividing it by 100 — 20% becomes 0.20, 15% becomes 0.15. Second, multiply the bill by that decimal to get the tip. Third, add the tip to the bill to get your total.

Written out: tip = bill × (percentage ÷ 100), and total = bill + tip. If you are splitting the bill, divide the total by the number of people at the end, not before — dividing first and then letting everyone round their own share up introduces errors that leave the server short.

A worked example on an $86.40 bill at 18%:

  • Convert the percentage: 18 ÷ 100 = 0.18
  • Multiply: $86.40 × 0.18 = $15.55 tip
  • Add: $86.40 + $15.55 = $101.95 total
  • Split between three people: $101.95 ÷ 3 = $33.98 each

That is all the calculator above is doing — it just does it instantly, and keeps the cents accurate instead of rounding halfway through.

How to Work Out a Tip in Your Head

You will not always have your phone out, so it is worth knowing the shortcuts. All of them start the same way: find 10% by moving the decimal point one place to the left. On a $64.00 bill, 10% is $6.40. Everything else is built from that one number.

From 10%, the common percentages are one small step away:

  • 15% — take 10%, halve it, add the two together. $6.40 + $3.20 = $9.60.
  • 20% — double the 10%. $6.40 × 2 = $12.80. This is why 20% is the easiest tip to leave.
  • 18% — work out 20% and subtract a tenth of it. $12.80 − $1.28 = $11.52.
  • 25% — divide the bill by four. $64.00 ÷ 4 = $16.00.
  • Rounding up — do any of the above, then round the total to something tidy.

A second trick works in US states with sales tax around 8 to 10%: double the tax line on your receipt and you land close to a 16 to 20% tip. It fails where tax is low or absent — in Oregon there is no tax line to double.

What People Are Told to Tip, and What They Actually Leave

Almost every tipping guide answers the first question and ignores the second. They are not the same, and the gap is large.

Guidance puts US table service at 18 to 20%, and the Emily Post Institute — the standard American etiquette reference — gives 15 to 20% of the pre-tax bill. Restaurant card data puts the measured average near 19%.

Ask Americans directly and the picture changes. A Pew Research Center survey published in November 2023 found that 57% say they leave 15% or less for an average sit-down meal, 12% say 18%, and 25% say 20% or more.

Both readings are honest. Card data covers card transactions at restaurants using that payment system — disproportionately full-service venues with suggested-tip screens starting at 18%. Surveys cover everyone, including people who tip nothing, but record what people say rather than what they did. The average tip percentage page sets all three side by side.

Should You Tip Before or After Tax?

Before tax. Sales tax is money the restaurant collects for the state; the server had nothing to do with it, so it has never conventionally formed part of the tip base.

In practice the difference is small. On a $100 subtotal with 8% tax, tipping 20% pre-tax is $20 and post-tax is $21.60. Tipping on the total is slightly more generous and perfectly acceptable.

What is worth knowing is that the card terminal has already chosen for you, and not in the direction most people assume. Terminals calculate their suggested percentages from the post-tax total, so a 20% button is really 21.6% of the subtotal at an 8% tax rate — and 21.8% in New York City. Tax and tip has the full table.

The line that genuinely matters is further down the bill. If a service charge or automatic gratuity is already there, that money is the tip. Adding another 20% on top means paying close to double.

Who to Tip Besides Restaurant Servers

Tipping in the United States extends across most of the service economy, and the expected amounts vary a lot by role. The figures below are customary ranges rather than rules — each has its own page with the reasoning behind it.

Who to tip besides restaurant servers
ServiceCustomary tip
Sit-down restaurant server18–20% of the pre-tax bill
Bartender$1–2 per drink, or 18–20% of the tab
Food delivery driver15–20%, minimum $3–5
Taxi or rideshare driver15–20% of the fare
Hairdresser20%, plus cash to any assistant
Barber20%, but $5 is the floor on a cheap cut
Nail technician15–20%, in cash where possible
Tattoo artist20% of the total price
Massage therapist15–20% at a spa; nothing at a clinic
Dog groomer15–20%, or 25–40% for a matted coat
Movers$20–30 per person for a half day, $40–60 for a full day
Hotel housekeeping$2–5 per night, left daily
Coffee shop counterOptional — no established convention

Counter service is the genuine grey area, and the data settles it more clearly than opinion does: only 25% of Americans say they always or often tip at a coffee shop, and 12% at a fast casual restaurant. Declining the prompt there is the majority position, not a faux pas.

Splitting the Bill Without the Awkwardness

There are two fair ways to split a restaurant bill, and the mistake is mixing them. An even split divides the total — including tip — equally between everyone. It is fast, it works when people ordered roughly comparable things, and it is what the calculator above does by default.

An itemised split means each person pays for what they ordered, then adds the same tip percentage to their own subtotal. This is fairer when one person had a steak and a bottle of wine while another had soup. The important detail: everyone applies the same percentage. If one person tips 20% on their share and another tips 10%, the server absorbs the difference.

If your group is splitting across several cards, tell the server before they run anything. Splitting a paid transaction afterwards is a genuine hassle, and most restaurants can divide a bill cleanly given notice.

Why Tipping Percentages Have Crept Upwards

If it feels like the expected tip keeps rising, it has. The standard was around 10% in the early twentieth century, 15% by the 1980s, and 18 to 20% today.

Two things drove it. The federal minimum cash wage for tipped employees has been $2.13 an hour since 1991, according to the Department of Labor. In states that allow that tip credit, tips are not a bonus on top of a wage — for many servers they largely are the wage, and customers fill the gap up to the $7.25 federal minimum.

The second is the payment terminal. When a screen offers three buttons, the middle one becomes the default and the lowest becomes the floor. Businesses set those figures, and the floor has drifted from 15% to 18% and in places to 20%. That is a change in the interface, not in what service costs to provide.

You are not obliged to accept the suggested amounts. Every terminal has a custom or no-tip option somewhere on the screen.

Tip Chart: Quick Reference Table

If you would rather not calculate anything, find your bill amount in the left column and read across. All figures are the tip itself, not the total.

Tip chart: quick reference table
Bill10%15%18%20%25%
$20.00$2.00$3.00$3.60$4.00$5.00
$30.00$3.00$4.50$5.40$6.00$7.50
$40.00$4.00$6.00$7.20$8.00$10.00
$50.00$5.00$7.50$9.00$10.00$12.50
$60.00$6.00$9.00$10.80$12.00$15.00
$80.00$8.00$12.00$14.40$16.00$20.00
$100.00$10.00$15.00$18.00$20.00$25.00
$150.00$15.00$22.50$27.00$30.00$37.50
$200.00$20.00$30.00$36.00$40.00$50.00

Amounts between the rows can be estimated by adding two lines together — a $70 bill at 20% is the $50 row plus the $20 row, so $10.00 + $4.00 = $14.00. The full chart runs from $5 to $500 and can be printed as a wallet card.

How Much to Tip by Service Quality

The tables above cover who to tip. This one covers how much, based on the experience you actually had. Treat it as a starting point rather than a scoring system — most people settle on a habitual percentage and only move off it when something stands out.

How Much to Tip by Service Quality
Service quality Suggested tip
Exceptional — attentive, knowledgeable, went out of their way22–25%
Good — friendly, prompt, nothing to complain about18–20%
Fine — the food arrived and the order was right15–18%
Disappointing — inattentive or careless10–15%
Poor — rude or genuinely negligent10%, and speak to the manager

Going below 15% in a US restaurant reads as a deliberate complaint, so if the service was bad enough to warrant it, say something to the manager as well — a low tip on its own rarely tells anyone what went wrong. Slow food and a crowded dining room are usually the kitchen's doing, not the server's.

Tipping Around the World

Tipping is a local custom, not a universal one, and American norms travel badly. In much of Europe the service charge is already included by law and rounding up is plenty; in Japan, leaving money on the table can cause genuine confusion. A quick guide before you travel:

Tipping around the world
CountryTip
United States18–20% expected; tips are most of a server's income
Canada15–20%, essentially the same as the US
United Kingdom10–15%, or nothing if a service charge is on the bill
GermanyRound up, or 5–10% for good service
FranceService is included by law; round up or leave 5–10%
ItalyCoperto is often charged already; 5–10% is generous
SpainNot obligatory; round up or leave 5–10%
Mexico10–15% expected in restaurants
India5–10%; check whether a service charge was added
JapanDo not tip — it can be seen as impolite
ChinaNot customary outside international hotels
AustraliaNot expected; round up for very good service

This site has pages in the local language and currency for several of these countries — the language switcher in the header covers German, Spanish, Mexican Spanish, French, Italian and Hindi.

Common Tipping Mistakes

  • Tipping on top of an automatic gratuity — Parties of six or more often have 18–20% added automatically. Read the bottom of the bill before the tip line.
  • Assuming a service charge reaches your server — A service charge is business revenue and the business decides where it goes. A tip belongs to the employee.
  • Splitting first, then tipping — Dividing the bill and having each person round their own share up usually leaves the server short. Tip on the full total, then divide.
  • Treating the terminal's suggestion as the bill's percentage — Terminals calculate from the post-tax total, so a 20% button is nearer 21.6% of the subtotal at 8% tax.
  • Punishing the server for kitchen problems — Slow food and a wrong order are usually the kitchen's doing. Raise it with the manager rather than taking it out of the tip.
  • Tipping US percentages abroad — In much of the world, 20% is not generous — it is conspicuous. Check local custom first.

Sources

Percentages on this page reflect customary practice rather than any legal requirement, and are current as of August 2026. Survey figures are from the Pew Research Center; wage figures from the Department of Labor. Card-transaction averages cover card payments at participating restaurants rather than all meals. Tipping norms outside the United States differ substantially — see the country pages linked from the language switcher.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate a tip?

Multiply the bill by the tip percentage and divide by 100. A $100 bill at 20% gives a $20 tip and a $120 total. The calculator on this page does it instantly and splits the result between any number of people.

What is a good tip percentage?

In US sit-down restaurants, 18 to 20% is the current standard and 15% is the acceptable floor. Below 15% reads as a deliberate complaint rather than a small tip.

What do most Americans actually tip?

A majority — 57% — say they leave 15% or less for an average sit-down meal, according to a Pew Research Center survey published in November 2023. Twenty-five percent say they leave 20% or more.

Do I tip on the total before or after tax?

Before tax is the convention. The difference is usually a dollar or two, and tipping on the post-tax total is perfectly acceptable — card terminals calculate their suggestions that way anyway.

How do I work out a tip without a calculator?

Find 10% by moving the decimal point one place left, then build from it: double it for 20%, add half of it for 15%, or divide the bill by four for 25%.

What is the difference between a tip and a service charge?

A tip is voluntary and you decide the amount. A service charge is added by the business and belongs to the business, which decides how much reaches staff. If a service charge is already on the bill, an additional tip is optional.

Can I split the bill between multiple people?

Yes. Enter the number of people and the calculator shows the total per person and the tip per person. Always apply the tip to the full bill before dividing, not after.

Do I have to tip at a coffee shop?

No. Counter service has no established convention — only 25% of Americans say they always or often tip at a coffee shop, and 12% at a fast casual restaurant. Declining the prompt is the majority position.

Why do card machines suggest such high tips?

The percentages are configured by the business, not the card network, and the default starting point has drifted upwards to 18–25%. Every terminal has a custom or no-tip option.

Why has the expected tip gone up over time?

The federal tipped minimum cash wage has been $2.13 an hour since 1991, so tips function as wages rather than a bonus. Payment terminals have also raised their default suggestions.

Is it rude not to tip?

In a full-service US restaurant, yes — servers are paid a reduced minimum wage on the assumption that tips make up the difference. In much of Europe and Asia, not tipping is entirely normal.

How does this tip calculator work?

Enter the bill amount, choose or type a tip percentage, and set the number of people sharing. The tip, the total, the amount per person and the tip per person all update as you type — nothing is sent anywhere and no data is stored.