Difference between mean and tight

UK/US usage

It would appear from dictionaries that both these expressions are regarded as (mainly) British (which may explain the lack of response to the question, assuming most list members are from the US — I am British and was unaware of this). The evidence for this is entries in The Oxford Dictionary for tight and mean, the Cambridge Dictionary for mean, Collins for tight and mean, and the absence of this meaning in the (US) Merriam-Webster Dictionary for tight, although there is an entry for this sense of the adjective mean.

A more specific alternative to tight is tight-fisted, which is listed in Merriam-Webster and not indicated as British in the others. However, there is no point comparing usage of this to that of mean in a US context.

British usage of mean and tight (or tight-fisted)

Reference to the dictionaries cited above shows that tight and tight-fisted are informal or slang usage, whereas mean is not. This would have only a slight influence on the choice of spoken language, whereas it would affect the choice in written language.

Subjective opinion on use with friends

There are very few circumstances in which, as an adult, I would call a friend either mean, tight or tight-fisted, as this would be likely to cause great offence. (Children use the word frequently, however, but they have a heightened sense of what seems to them ‘fair’.) If I was really sure of my relationship with someone and felt it necessary or wished to needle them I would probably prefer a slang expression like tight-fisted to soften things, or make a play on their being Scottish (as I live in Glasgow). But tone of voice and eye-contact is all in such circumstances.

If you are not a native speaker, don’t even consider it.