TripIt organizes your travel bookings seamlessly while Polarsteps creates beautiful trip memories. Discover which travel priority matters most.
"TripIt has helped me stay organized on all of my trips!! It places all of my complex trip details in one well organized location and has served me better than a hundred travel agents!! Plus its lited in a fun way and I've loved being able to go back through a 10 year history of trips remembering each flight, lay over, cruise, car rental, hotel, & excursion with fondness!! Anyone serious about their travel adventures absolutely must have this 5 star travel app!!!!"
"I'll update my review when TripIt fixes their app! I've been using it for years and within the last month it's suddenly gotten all glitchy. The app seems to keep resetting because it won't keep my trips. I've built multiple itineraries and they keep disappearing. I have to be online and reload the app to see my information. I've uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times with no luck. I even put in a support ticket and the response I got back was, 'you can still access trip through the web.'"
One of TripIt’s standout features is its ability to automatically generate travel itineraries. Users simply forward their confirmation emails for flights, hotels, rental cars, and other bookings to plans@tripit.com, and the app organizes all the details into a structured itinerary. For even more convenience, TripIt can sync with email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo to detect and import bookings automatically.
This eliminates the need for manual data entry, saving time and reducing the chances of missing important trip details.
TripIt acts as a one-stop hub for all travel-related plans, making it easy to keep track of flights, accommodations, car rentals, restaurant reservations, and activities.
The app consolidates everything into a single, easy-to-read itinerary that updates in real time. Even better, it organizes multiple trips separately, so frequent travelers can quickly switch between upcoming itineraries. This means no more digging through emails or scrambling to find booking details while on the go.
A key advantage of TripIt is that users can access their itineraries even without an internet connection.
This is particularly useful for international travelers who may not always have reliable mobile data or Wi-Fi. Once an itinerary is created, all trip details are stored locally on the device, allowing travelers to check flight information, hotel addresses, and activity schedules anytime, anywhere.
TripIt Pro offers real-time flight alerts, notifying users about delays, gate changes, and cancellations before airlines even send out notifications.
This feature can be a game-changer for frequent flyers, as it helps them adjust plans quickly and avoid unnecessary stress at the airport. Additionally, Pro users get baggage claim details upon landing, reducing the time spent searching for luggage carousels.
If a flight is canceled or delayed, TripIt Pro provides alternative flight options, helping users find a new route to their destination.
This feature is especially useful for business travelers or those on tight schedules, as it eliminates the hassle of searching for backup flights manually. It also provides details on available seats, departure times, and airline contact information, making it easier to rebook quickly.
Navigating large airports can be overwhelming, but TripIt Pro offers interactive airport maps to help users find gates, lounges, restaurants, and other essential services.
Additionally, Pro users receive security line wait times, which can help them plan ahead and avoid unnecessary delays at TSA checkpoints. For those who frequently travel through unfamiliar airports, this feature can make layovers and transfers significantly smoother.
TripIt provides a secure space to store important travel documents, such as passport copies, travel insurance details, and visa information.
Having everything accessible in one app eliminates the need to carry physical copies, reducing the risk of losing crucial documents while traveling. This feature is especially helpful for international travelers who need quick access to paperwork for border crossings or airline check-ins.
TripIt seamlessly integrates with calendar apps like Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar.
Once linked, all upcoming trips automatically appear in the user’s schedule, ensuring they never forget flight times, hotel check-ins, or activity bookings. This feature is especially helpful for business travelers who juggle multiple meetings and trips, as it keeps everything aligned in one place.
TripIt Pro includes an expense tracking tool, allowing users to log travel-related costs such as airfare, hotel stays, and dining expenses.
This is particularly beneficial for business travelers who need to submit expense reports. Additionally, TripIt tracks carbon emissions from flights and provides recommendations for offsetting one’s environmental impact. This feature is great for eco-conscious travelers who want to reduce their carbon footprint while flying.
For those traveling with family, friends, or colleagues, TripIt makes it easy to share itineraries so everyone stays informed.
Users can grant others access to their trip details, ensuring that travel companions know the flight schedule, hotel information, and planned activities. This feature is particularly useful for corporate travel, where teams need to stay coordinated on business trips.
TripIt Pro removes all advertisements, providing a cleaner, distraction-free experience. While the free version includes some ads, upgrading to Pro ensures a seamless interface with no interruptions. This is a small but appreciated benefit for users who prefer an uncluttered experience.
Simply forward confirmation emails, and TripIt organizes everything into a neat, easy-to-access itinerary.
Flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities are stored in a single, centralized location.
Get notified about delays, cancellations, gate changes, and baggage claim updates.
Access your itinerary even without an internet connection.
Seamlessly integrates with Google, Outlook, and Apple calendars for easy scheduling.
Many of the best features (like real-time flight alerts and seat tracking) require the paid Pro version.
TripIt scans your inbox for travel confirmations, which some users might find intrusive.
Unlike some competitors, TripIt doesn’t allow you to book flights, hotels, or activities directly within the app.
While functional, the app's layout might feel overwhelming or outdated compared to more modern travel apps.
The Pro version costs $49/year, which might not be worth it for infrequent travelers.
"We have used polar steps on a couple of trips so far. We absolutely love this app! It gives us the ability to chronicle our trip and include pictures as well as what's going on on our trip. It also gives us the ability to let our friends follow us on the trip without making it public for everyone to see. It's like having your friends come with you on the trip without the expense!"
"App full of potential but the experience is spoiled because of non-stop bugs. The app has been released without being fully developed. Some fundamental features like merging trips are not available which blocks me from buying their album souvenir. Too bad."
PolarSteps automatically tracks your travel route using GPS, WiFi, and cellular signals without requiring manual input. The app works in the background, plotting your path with small white dots on a digital world map as you move between destinations. This eliminates the need to constantly check in or update your location, allowing you to keep your phone in your pocket and focus on exploring.
The Travel Tracker feature works even when you're not actively using the app, creating a comprehensive record of your movements throughout your journey.
PolarSteps creates a beautiful, personalized digital world map that grows fuller as your passport does, showing all the places you've visited with your exact routes plotted between destinations. Unlike traditional travel apps that show straight lines between locations, PolarSteps displays your actual travel path, creating a unique visual representation of your adventures.
The visual travel log provides a timeline of your trip, including paths, locations, travel statistics, and all personal notes and pictures you added, creating a polished digital story of your journey.
One of PolarSteps' most unique features is the ability to transform your digital journey into a high-quality printed travel book. Travel books start at €36 and can cost up to €150 depending on the number of pages (minimum 24 pages) and binding options, with free worldwide shipping included.
These premium photo albums are automatically generated and include your routes, travel statistics, stories, and photos without requiring hours of manual photo album creation. The books make excellent souvenirs or gifts for travel companions.
PolarSteps works offline and is designed to be battery-efficient, typically using only about 4% of battery power for full-day tracking. Users report that running the app for entire month-long trips doesn't require charging their smartphones more frequently than normal.
All trip data is stored locally on your device once created, ensuring you can access your itinerary and information even without an internet connection.
PolarSteps offers three privacy levels: trips can be viewed only by yourself, only by approved followers, or by anyone publicly. You also have full control over follow requests to ensure only desired people can see your trips.
This flexibility allows the app to function as either a completely private travel journal or as a social media-style platform for sharing adventures with friends and family.
The app provides real-time location sharing capabilities, allowing friends and family to follow your journey as it unfolds, giving them peace of mind about your safety while letting them experience your adventure virtually.
This eliminates the need to send updates to multiple group chats or individuals, as loved ones can simply access a shared link to track your progress.
PolarSteps includes destination guides created by travel editors and fellow explorers, showing the world's most enticing destinations with insider tips. The app also features an itinerary planner for building customizable dream itineraries.
The Travel Tracker feature allows you to specify how you plan to travel between destinations, showing actual routes with information about costs, distances, and travel times for different transportation options like car, bus, train, taxi, or flying.
Users can add photos and videos to their journey steps, with videos uploadable only through the mobile app. The app organizes these media elements chronologically with your route, creating a comprehensive multimedia travel diary.
To create a travel book, you need at least 5 photos added to your trip, and the system automatically incorporates your images into the printed version.
PolarSteps automatically calculates and displays travel statistics including total distance covered, number of countries visited, and average travel speed. These metrics provide interesting insights into your travel patterns and accomplishments.
The app creates detailed timelines showing exactly where you were at different times throughout your journey.
Users can leave tips for the traveling community about where to go and what to see, follow other travelers to share in their adventures, and contribute to the global community of explorers.
With over 15 million users (some sources cite 10+ million), PolarSteps has built a substantial community of travelers sharing their experiences.
PolarSteps is completely free to download and use for all core features including route tracking, photo uploads, trip sharing, and digital map creation. The only costs are optional physical travel books.
The app offers volume discounts on travel books: 10% off for two copies of the same book and 15% off for three or more copies.
Keep your phone in your pocket—PolarSteps tracks your entire route in the background using minimal battery power.
Watch your personalized travel map grow with every journey, showing your actual routes instead of boring straight lines.
Track unlimited trips, add photos, share with friends, and create digital memories without spending a penny.
Transform your digital journey into a stunning physical photo album with routes, stats, and memories included.
Let family and friends follow your travels in real-time, giving them peace of mind while keeping everyone connected.
You can't store flight details, hotel bookings, or reservations—it's purely for tracking and documenting, not organizing.
Unlike other apps, PolarSteps won't suggest attractions, restaurants, or activities at your destinations.
Only one person can add content to a trip—travel companions can't collaborate or contribute photos to the same itinerary.
Some users report location inaccuracies, missed tracking, or the app showing you've been places you haven't visited.
While the app is free, those beautiful printed memories cost €36-€150 depending on size and quality.
The choice between TripIt and Polarsteps ultimately comes down to whether you prioritize travel organization or travel documentation. Polarsteps offers the more experiential approach with automatic GPS tracking, visual travel logs, and social sharing features that make it particularly appealing for leisure travelers and those who want to document and relive their journeys. Its free platform genuinely consolidates trip documentation, photo organization, and memory sharing in ways that TripIt doesn't match.
However, Polarsteps' documentation focus comes at the cost of practical travel organization. It lacks flight tracking, real-time alerts, itinerary management, and the business travel features that frequent travelers rely on. For travelers who need reliable trip organization and logistics management, Polarsteps' recreational approach doesn't address core organizational needs.
TripIt prioritizes proven travel organization and logistics management over experiential features. Its industry-leading email parsing automatically organizes booking confirmations, offers superior flight tracking with real-time alerts, and provides the structured itinerary management that business travel requires. While it lacks Polarsteps' GPS tracking and social documentation features, it delivers dependable trip organization that keeps travelers informed and prepared.
The verdict: Choose Polarsteps if you're a leisure traveler who values documenting and sharing your journey experiences and can rely on other tools for trip organization. Choose TripIt if you're a business traveler or frequent flyer who needs reliable itinerary organization, flight tracking, and logistics management over travel documentation and social features.
TripIt is a travel organization tool that consolidates your booking confirmations into organized itineraries. You forward confirmation emails and it creates structured trip plans focused on logistics.
Polarsteps is a travel documentation app that automatically tracks your GPS location and lets you create visual travel logs with photos and notes to share your journey experiences.
TripIt excels for business travel with features like flight alerts, gate changes, loyalty program tracking, and structured itinerary management that business travelers need.
Polarsteps is designed for leisure travel with social sharing, automatic journey tracking, photo documentation, and features that help you capture and share travel memories with friends and family.
TripIt offers basic organization for free, with TripIt Pro at $49/year for advanced features like real-time flight alerts and seat tracking.
Polarsteps is completely free to use. The only cost is optional printed travel books ($36-$150) that turn your digital journey into a physical photo book souvenir.
TripIt works offline for viewing your itineraries, but real-time updates and alerts require an internet connection.
Polarsteps works excellent offline - it continues tracking your GPS location and storing photos/notes even without internet, then syncs everything when you're back online.
TripIt offers basic trip sharing but is primarily designed for personal organization rather than social features.
Polarsteps excels at sharing with robust social features - friends and family can follow your journey in real-time, comment on your photos, and see your route on a visual map. It's designed for keeping loved ones updated and creating shareable travel stories.
