Comparison

ExploreHere vs Drive Stories

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

Head to head
About

ExploreHere

This app transforms your drives into engaging audio journeys. It automatically plays stories about historic landmarks and hidden places as you travel, allowing for a hands-free and immersive discovery experience.

Highlights
  • Hands-free audio stories
  • Automatic landmark discovery
  • Walking and driving tours
  • Offline access (Pro)
  • Nearby history alerts
  • Save favorite stops (Pro)
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Turn every drive into a story. ExploreHere is a hands-free road trip guide that plays stories automatically as you travel. Discover historic landmarks, hidden places, and unforgettable moments, without ever touching your phone. Whether you're cruising cross-country, exploring a small town, or wandering a new city, ExploreHere reveals the stories that shaped the places around you. Made for the Road - 240,000+ Historic Landmarks across the U.S. - Auto-Play Audio as you pass places worth knowing - Hands-Free Travel Mode for safe driving - Walking & Driving Tours through cities, parks, and scenic highways - Nearby History Alerts so you never miss a story Pro Features - Offline access for no-service road trips - High-Quality Immersive Audio - View public lands, national parks & forests and native lands - Smart proximity alerts - Save and organize favorite stops Perfect For Road trippers • RV travelers • National park explorers • History lovers • Families on vacation • Curious travelers ExploreHere transforms highways into story-filled journeys and ordinary stops into unforgettable discoveries. See the history around you. Start exploring today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: http://explorehere.app/privacy

About

Drive Stories

Experience your travels with location-based audio stories that bring places to life. Discover history, landmarks, and fascinating facts as you drive, with seamless in-car integration. Transform every journey into an immersive narrative.

Highlights
  • Location-based audio stories
  • Seamless in-car use
  • Apple CarPlay integration
  • Over 40 languages
  • 15 story categories
  • Choice of 10 voices
  • Global location selection
Features
Read full description

Drive Stories : Location-Based Audio Stories *** 2025 Fast Company Innovation Award *** 2025 Online Design Award
*** 2026 Webby Award Nominee Discover a new way to experience your drives with Drive Stories, an innovative audio travel app that brings locations to life. As you travel, Drive Stories delivers captivating, location-based factual stories about the places you pass through—whether it’s the history of a small town, the lore of a landmark, or fascinating facts about your surroundings. Perfect for road trips, commutes, or spontaneous adventures, the app transforms every journey into an immersive narrative experience. Designed for seamless in-car use, Drive Stories is fully compatible on Apple iOS devices and Apple CarPlay, ensuring safe and easy access to stories while keeping your focus on the road. Simply launch the app, choose a location and category, and enjoy audio stories tailored to your route. Your first 5 stories are free - no strings attached - then choose a monthly or annual plan. Drive Stories is an invitation to discover — a hands-free experience that delights, informs, & entertains by fostering a deeper connection with the people, places, & histories of the places you are traveling through. Awarded by some of the top industry experts, including a 2025 Fast Company Innovation Award. Download the app today and experience one of the smartest and most robust travel apps on the market. FEATURES: - Integrated into Apple CarPlay for seamless use while driving - Available in over 40 languages - Choose from 15 categories from any location you select - Choose from 10 different voices to find the one you like to listen to the most - Choose ANY location in the world, wherever you are - Focus on what matters - audio stories keep your eyes off your phone and on your surroundings ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, DRIVE STORIES WORKS The app will automatically find your GPS coordinates and based on your geolocation, will identify 10 of the nearest cities, towns and villages near you. Simply tap a location and category and hit play. SELECT FROM 15 CATEGORIES * Introduction (of Location) * Important People * Wildlife & Nature * Economy & Industry * Food * Architecture * Sport * Political & Social * For Kids * Points of Interest * Art, Literature & Music * Science & Innovation * Entertainment * Local Language * Weird & Wonderful ABOUT DRIVE STORIES Drive Stories is a passionate return to the open road and the driving experience, helping unlock location stories from all around the world - allowing us to create enjoyable moments of open-road freedom and a leading example of how technology can help unlock knowledge and information in an exciting new way. Drive Stories wants to make every drive a memorable one, no matter where the road takes you.

Screenshots

ExploreHere4 screens
Drive Stories4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ExploreHere at 4.7 against Drive Stories's 3.3. ExploreHere also leads on ratings volume (809 vs 4) and chart position (#63 vs unranked). Drive Stories's advantage is review sentiment (80% vs 67%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. ExploreHere sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $2.00 per month and Drive Stories sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ExploreHere holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ExploreHere has 809 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of ExploreHere's written reviews are positive against 80% of Drive Stories's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ExploreHere ships an update every 10 days, Drive Stories every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
ExploreHere versus Drive Stories: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExploreHereDrive Stories
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (809 ratings) — better3.3 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings809 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#63 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size160 MB53 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperWesley VanceThomas Moeller

Customer experience

ExploreHere

All ratings797 ratings
Positive91.8%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral7.0%
Negative26.3%

Drive Stories

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Bugs and requests

ExploreHere

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • App crashes when viewing multiple items
  • Crashes on app launch/opening
  • Continuous tracking feature not working on iPhone
  • CarPlay compatibility issues
  • Audio descriptions cut off mid-sentence
Show 3 more
  • Double charging incidents
  • App freezing and becoming unresponsive
  • Incomplete marker database coverage

Requested features

8 requests
  • Automatic audio reading when passing markers for drivers
  • City-based browsing instead of marker name search
  • Improved voice quality and complete audio descriptions
  • Better map visibility with lighter road colors
  • Automatic location detection on app launch
Show 3 more
  • Free filtering options without upgrade requirement
  • Continuous tracking feature improvement
  • Offline marker access capability

Drive Stories

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

18 purchases

ExploreHere

Subscriptions15
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$2.001 Month
  • Pro - Monthly$3.001 Month
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$4.001 Month
Show 12 more
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$5.001 Month
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$6.001 Month
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$10.001 Month
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$10.001 Year
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$16.001 Year
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$20.001 Year
  • Pro - Yearly$25.001 Year
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$35.991 Year
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$50.001 Year
One-time3
  • Pro - Lifetime$24.99
  • Pro - Lifetime$60.00
  • Pro - Lifetime$90.00
2 purchases

Drive Stories

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Annual$34.991 Year

Questions

Is ExploreHere free?
ExploreHere is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drive Stories free?
Drive Stories is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ExploreHere or Drive Stories?
ExploreHere is rated higher. ExploreHere averages 4.7 out of 5 from 809 ratings, while Drive Stories averages 3.3 from 4 ratings.
Do ExploreHere or Drive Stories have ads?
Neither ExploreHere nor Drive Stories shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ExploreHere or Drive Stories?
ExploreHere ships an update every 10 days, and Drive Stories every 3 weeks. Most recently, ExploreHere was updated on October 29, 2026 and Drive Stories on October 20, 2026.

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