Comparison

Hidden Beaches vs Van Stops

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Hidden Beaches

Discover Britain's most beautiful secret beaches for swimming, walking, and exploring. This practical guide features inspirational photos, engaging writing, and detailed mapping for over 400 hidden coastal gems.

Highlights
  • Explore 400 secret beaches
  • Inspirational photos and writing
  • Detailed 1:25,000 mapping
  • Directions and travel information
  • Find nearby pubs and campsites
  • Interactive map search
  • Save favorite locations
Features
Read full description

Wild Swimming Hidden Beaches: Explore Britain's Secret Coast In this spectacular and practical guide Daniel Start, author of Wild Swimming, charts Britain’s 400 most beautiful secret beaches, describing the best places to swim, walk and explore, containing all the content from the best-selling book ‘Hidden Beaches’ (Wild Things Publishing, 2014, £16.99). Britain has some of the most amazing coastline in the world, and it is more accessible than ever before, yet many of its beaches remain hidden. These little slices of peace and paradise welcome the intrepid adventurer and those in the know. So why not set out to discover our shell-white sands and blue lagoons, hidden smugglers’ coves and sea grottoes sparkling with coralline. Find a campsite on the beach and cook up supper on the sands, or seek out the best local seafood at welcoming inns. This app combines inspirational photos, engaging writing and practical information to make a truly original travel guide. NOTE: due to the large number of images and places the app is slow to load first time and may not work well (or crash) if many other apps are open in parallel. Please close other apps. You will find preloaded maps, photos, directions and travel writing to inspire and inform. Most locations comes with stunning photography and include detailed 1:25,000 mapping. There is contact information for nearby pubs, campsites and attractions. If you need inspiration you can browse the app by slideshow, list, photo gallery and on an interactive map. Ask the app to find places close to you, or search using postcode, address, star rating, walk-in time, keywords or other features. You can share places on email and Facebook and save favourites too.

About

Van Stops

Discover campervan stopover locations, points of interest, and dining options throughout the UK. This app helps you plan your adventures and find places to rest.

Highlights
  • Find campervan stopovers
  • Discover places to explore
  • Locate places to eat
  • Find places to sleep
  • UK-wide coverage
Features
Read full description

Find campervan stopover, places to explore, eat & sleep across the UK

Screenshots

Hidden Beaches4 screens
Van Stops4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Van Stops at 100% against Hidden Beaches's 0%. Van Stops also leads on price (Free vs $3.99) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 7 months). Hidden Beaches's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Van Stops is free to download; Hidden Beaches costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hidden Beaches ships an update every 7 months, Van Stops fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 3 level
Hidden Beaches versus Van Stops: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHidden BeachesVan Stops
Price$3.99Free — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB2 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperWild Things Publishing LtdAmvale Ltd

Customer experience

Hidden Beaches

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Van Stops

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Hidden Beaches

No in-app purchases

None

Van Stops

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hidden Beaches free?
Hidden Beaches costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Van Stops free?
Van Stops is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Hidden Beaches or Van Stops have ads?
Neither Hidden Beaches nor Van Stops shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hidden Beaches or Van Stops?
Hidden Beaches ships an update every 7 months, and Van Stops fortnightly. Most recently, Hidden Beaches was updated on October 26, 2026 and Van Stops on October 28, 2026.

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