Bachelor Party Apps: For Planning, Collecting Money & Group Chat

The right apps take the three most annoying jobs of a bachelor party off your hands: agreeing on dates, collecting money and keeping the mood up in the evening. We show you which app is good for what, sorted by planning, money, party and memories.

Because as best man or close friend of the bride, you quickly end up juggling a dozen things at once: everyone wants something different, the route has to be settled, nobody should be left out of pocket on costs, and in the end everyone wants the best photos. The following apps make exactly that a lot more relaxed.

The challenges of planning a stag or hen do

Before we get to the apps, a quick look at the typical stumbling blocks, because that’s exactly where the tools come in later:

• Different wishes: With a group of people with different tastes and interests, it can be hard to find common ground. While some might prefer a quiet pub crawl, others might want an action-packed activity like paintball or a weekend trip abroad.
• Time pressure: There’s often little time between deciding to organise a bachelor party and the actual date. This time pressure makes the planning even harder, especially when reservations have to be made or activities booked.
• Money matters: Collecting money can be a tricky business. Nobody wants to pay upfront and then struggle to get the money back from the guests. At the same time, you want to avoid anyone being stuck with the costs.
• Binding bookings: Whether it’s accommodation, an activity or transport, at some point decisions have to be made and bookings placed. That calls for clear communication and commitment from everyone involved.

Where can apps help with the planning?

There are suitable apps for almost every one of these hurdles. The most important areas at a glance:

Communication:

• Invitations: Instead of sending traditional invitations, apps like “Evite” or “Doodle” can be used to create and send digital invitations. These often also let guests reply directly and give their availability.
• Chats: Apps like “WhatsApp” or “Facebook Messenger” allow simple, direct communication with all guests to sort out details or run quick polls.
• Voting: If you can’t decide on activities or places, polling apps like “Doodle” can be used to reach a democratic decision.

Collecting money: Apps like “Leetchi” or “Splitwise” make it easier to collect money together. They give a transparent overview of spending and let guests pay their share directly through the app.

Planning the route: On a city break or a tour of several venues, it can help to plan the route in advance. Apps like “Google Maps” or “NearMe” have useful features for this.

Sharing photos: The stag or hen do will certainly have plenty of photo-worthy moments. With apps like “Google Photos” or “Dropbox”, photos can be shared quickly and easily with all guests.

Other helpers:

• Safety: In an unfamiliar city or after a big night out, it can make sense to use safety apps that make getting home easier or let you call for help.
• Activities and games: There are plenty of apps with party games or challenges that add extra entertainment.
• Music and playlists: Apps like “Spotify” or “Sing! Karaoke” can provide the soundtrack for the evening.

Handy apps for planning

Now the specifics: here are the apps that prove their worth in practice, sorted by task.

Messengers & chats

The group chat is the command centre of your stag or hen do. This is where you share dates, photos and locations and make quick decisions. These messengers are well suited:

• WhatsApp: With more than two billion users worldwide, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messengers. Group chats, voice and video calls, and sharing media and locations make the app especially handy for planning.
• Facebook Messenger: As part of the Facebook ecosystem, Messenger offers similar features to WhatsApp, including group chats and video calls. You can also create events and share them directly via Messenger.
• Threema: A messenger focused on privacy and security. All messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted, and the app stores as little data as possible.
• Signal: Also known for its high privacy standards, Signal offers encrypted messages and calls. The open-source app is often praised for its security features.

How to go about it:

1. Create a group chat: As soon as the guest list is settled, set up a group chat in your chosen messenger. That makes communication and central decisions easier.
2. Name fixed contacts: Within the group, choose one or two main organisers who are available for questions and coordinate the planning.
3. Pin important info: Many messengers let you pin important messages to the top of the chat. Use this for dates, times or other essential information.
4. Get feedback: Use poll features or simple votes in the chat to quickly find out opinions or availability.
5. Share media: Photos of venues, screenshots of bookings or other relevant media can be shared directly in the chat, so all guests have access to them.

Polls and planning

Finding the one date when everyone really can make it is often the hardest part, closely followed by agreeing on activities and accommodation. These tools take the voting off your hands:

• Doodle: With Doodle you can quickly and easily create polls to find the best date for all guests. Everyone enters their availability, and the app shows the most suitable date.
• Trello: Trello is an organising tool that works brilliantly for planning events. You can create different “cards” for activities and then discuss and vote on them.
• SurveyMonkey: For more detailed votes, for example on different activities or places, SurveyMonkey can be used to create and evaluate surveys.

Accommodation

On a stag or hen do, the accommodation is more than a place to sleep: it’s a meeting point, the pre-drinks venue and sometimes even the party venue itself. Searching and booking together is easiest through these platforms:

• Airbnb: With Airbnb, groups can search for suitable places together, discuss them and finally book. The app also lets you split the total price.
• Booking.com: This platform offers a wide choice of hotels and accommodation and lets you compare options and decide together.

How to go about it:

1. Plan early: Start the voting as early as possible, especially for finding a date, so that as many guests as possible can make it.
2. Give clear options: Provide clear options to vote on, to speed up and simplify the process.
3. Get feedback: Before final decisions are made, get feedback from the guests to make sure everyone is happy.
4. Keep an eye on the budget: When voting on accommodation or activities, always take the budget into account so that all guests can afford the suggested options.
5. Lock in confirmations: Once decisions are made, place the bookings as quickly as possible to avoid disappointment.

Money

Money is the touchiest subject on a stag or hen do: nobody wants to pay upfront and then chase their share afterwards. These apps keep spending transparent and split it fairly and automatically:

Working out shared costs & logging expenses:

• Splitwise: This app lets you record shared expenses and split them automatically between the guests. Everyone can enter their spending, and the app works out who owes whom how much.
• Tricount: Similar to Splitwise, Tricount lets you record group expenses and split the costs. It also offers different ways of splitting depending on the situation.

Sending money:

• PayPal: With PayPal, money can be sent quickly and securely between guests. It’s particularly suitable for groups with guests in different countries.
• Kwitt: An app from German banks that lets you send money to your contacts or receive it from them directly by phone.

Other:

• Leetchi: An online money pot, ideal for group presents or activities. Everyone can contribute to the pot, and at the end the money collected can be spent on its intended purpose.

How to go about it:

1. Set a budget in advance: Agree on a rough budget beforehand so all guests know what costs to expect.
2. Transparent communication: Make sure all spending is transparent and visible to everyone. That way misunderstandings and disagreements can be avoided.
3. Regular updates: Update the cost overview regularly, especially after bigger expenses, so everyone stays in the loop.
4. Set deadlines: Set deadlines for payments to make sure everyone pays their share on time.
5. Have a backup plan: It’s always good to have a small financial buffer in case unexpected costs come up. Discuss how such situations should be handled.

Party apps

For the mood in the evening, there are apps that bring laughs and pace at the right moment. By the way, our own bachelor party games run for free right in your browser, no download needed.

Fun party apps:

• Heads Up! (Play Store and App Store): A guessing game in which one person holds up a word on their phone screen without looking at it, and the others have to describe or act it out.
• Sing! Karaoke by Smule: A karaoke app that lets you sing your favourite songs and even duet with friends.
• Picolo drinking game (Play Store and App Store): A drinking game in which players have to follow instructions the app gives them. Ideal for loosening up the mood.

Cocktails & drinks planning:

• Mixology™ Drink & Cocktail Recipes: This app offers thousands of cocktail recipes, sorted by ingredient, category or type of glass. Perfect for kicking off the evening with tasty drinks.
• My Cocktail Bar: Enter the ingredients you have to hand, and the app shows you which cocktails you can mix from them.

Memories

So that the best moments don’t vanish into twelve different phones, a shared photo tool is worth it. These apps help with collecting, editing and keeping them:

Making memory videos:

• Quik: Developed by GoPro, this app quickly turns your clips and photos into impressive videos. With music, transitions and effects, your footage becomes a professional-looking video in no time.
• InShot: A versatile video editor that lets you cut clips, add music and insert text or stickers. Ideal for putting together a personal memory video.

Photo albums:

• Google Photos: Not only can you store all the photos from the evening here, you can also create shared albums that every guest can add photos to. Later you can even order a printed photo album from them.
• Chatbooks: With this app you can have photo albums created automatically from your pictures. Just pick the best photos and Chatbooks creates a professional-looking album you can order.

How to go about it:

1. Use cloud storage: To make sure no photos get lost, you can upload them straight to cloud storage such as Google Photos or Dropbox.
2. Shared album: Create a shared album that all guests can access and add photos to. That way you end up with a collection from different perspectives.
3. Editing: Use apps to edit and improve photos. Consistent filters or effects can give the album or video a professional touch.
4. Physical keepsakes: Think about whether you want to turn the photos into a printed album or photo book. Lots of providers let you do this online and deliver the finished product straight to your door.

Everything else

Finally, two practical helpers for getting home safely, worth their weight in gold late at night in an unfamiliar city:

Safety:

• bSafe: This safety app offers features such as live GPS tracking, an SOS button and automatic video recording to get help quickly in an emergency.
• Find my friends: With this feature you can share your locations in real time, so you always know where the other members of the group are. You can also simply share your location in the messenger apps.

Ordering a taxi:

• mytaxi (now Free Now): With this app you can quickly and easily order a taxi in many European cities. You can track the driver in real time and even pay in advance.
• Uber: A popular ride service available in many cities worldwide. Just open the app, enter the pick-up point and the destination, and a driver is on the way to you.

More tips for planning and preparation

You’ll find more inspiration for the planning in these articles:

• Planning checklist: Want to make sure you’ve thought of everything? Our comprehensive checklist takes you step by step through the planning, from choosing the date to booking activities and accommodation.
• Outfits: The right outfit can make all the difference! Classic, funny or themed: we have a range of outfit ideas and tips to make sure you all look coordinated and stylish.
• Cities: Choosing the right place can set the tone for the whole stag or hen do. For a wild party night in Berlin, a relaxed weekend in Munich or a cultural tour of Hamburg, we have the best tips and recommendations for stag- and hen-friendly cities in Germany and beyond.