Roadside America vs Boondocking
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Roadside America
Discover quirky and unusual attractions across the U.S. and Canada with expert-curated stories, photos, and tips. Plan your next road trip or find hidden gems just off the highway.
- Discover oddity-rich U.S./Canada regions
- Expert stories, photos, and tipster reports
- Search attractions by name, address, or city
- Explore 70+ themes
- Map nearby oddities
- Save and track visited attractions
- Submit tips and photos
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App includes 1 region you choose from 7 oddity-rich U.S./Canada regions. Purchase more individually or remaining regions (All Access). The roadside attraction gurus at Roadside America spent decades exploring weird, amusing wonders on America’s highways. The app puts their expertise at your fingertips for your own adventures. Roadside America's stories, unique photos, and tipster reports guide you to less traveled places just off the next exit. App includes your choice of 1 permanent U.S./Canada region (see region states list below*). In-app purchases require sign-up for a Roadside America account to unlock more or all regions ("All Access"). •Car & Driver: "All the Rt 66–type classics, from neon signs to 25-foot-tall muffler men." •People Jul '24/Shay Spence: "Put in your route and it populates the kitschiest, coolest spots along the way." •Popular Science: “Holy Grail of road-trip apps.” •Thrillist: "Absolute must for fans of animatronic roadside dinosaurs and kitschy rest stops." ____________________________ DISCOVER UNUSUAL AND FUNNY PLACES - "World’s Largest and Smallest sights - Museums, graves, statues, Muffler Men - Bizarre architecture, obscure history - Route 66 sights, tourist traps, odd theme parks - Mystery spots, gravity hills, caves ____________________________ SEE WHAT'S UP THE ROAD - Check map for nearby oddities, drop a pin revealing what's ahead. - Add Start/End city to reveal possibilities along the route. - Search by attraction, address, or browse by city. - Explore 70+ themes: Atomic, Music, Celebrities, Tech, Crime, more! ____________________________ PLAN A TRIP - OR JUST LAUGH - Read amusing stories by Roadside America's authors, and useful eyewitness tips by travelers. - View photos, maps and directions, addresses, hours. Call attractions. - Help investigate "research" attraction targets we believe have potential! - Filter Editors' Ratings to focus on must-sees in your vicinity. ____________________________ USE ROAD TRIP TOOLS - Send attraction location to Maps or other popular routing apps - Mark Saves and Been Theres to view on a list/map. Or filter-hide to only see the unexplored! - iCloud sync or Export/Import your Saves and Been Theres to the app on your Apple Account devices - Submit Tips and your photos on oddball and unique discoveries to our editors for possible inclusion. ____________________________ SUPPORT FAQs (inc. how to Restore regions for new/reset device): https://www.roadsideamerica.com/mobile/roadside/ios/faq For region activation issues, please contact us via app: More, Feedback or the website https://www.roadsideamerica.com/mobile/ ____________________________ * REGIONS: HOW TO COMPLETE YOUR IN-APP PURCHASE(S) When first launching app, select your one permanent region (see included states, below). You can later make in-app purchases to unlock more regions. All Access unlocks all remaining regions. Register a Roadside America user account for purchased region access recovery (Restore) on new/reset/2nd devices. - NORTHEAST: Delaware, DC, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia - SOUTHEAST: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee - MIDWEST: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin - SOUTHWEST: Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah - NORTHWEST: Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming - CALIFORNIA: California, Alaska, Hawaii - CANADA: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, PEI, Québec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Family Share works for basic app only; additional region access requires separate accounts and in-app purchases by each user.
Boondocking
Discover over 2,100 free camping locations, primarily in the US, with detailed information available even offline. This crowdsourced app helps you find remote spots, check driving distances, view local weather, and filter options like water and toilet availability.
- 2,100+ free boondocking locations
- Offline access to location data
- Driving distance and time calculation
- Multiple map types (e.g., Open Street Map)
- Local weather information
- Filter locations by amenities
- Mark favorite locations
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Boondocking usually refers to free camping in remote areas. This app shows over 2,100 free boondocking locations (and growing), most within the US. The boondocking locations are obtained from crowdsourcing and are therefore subjective in nature. What one person describes as beautiful another may describe as worthless. - No Internet needed as the boondocking locations are contained with the app. - Shows driving distance and time from your current location to the boondocking location. - View multiple map types such as Open Street Map. - Get info about each boondocking location, even when offline. - Mark locations as Favorite locations. - Get the local weather for the location. - Find nearby hiking and biking locations. - View Flickr photos for the location (when available). - Filter the locations (water, toilets, big rig friendly, etc) so you only view the locations you what to see. - Send location data directly to our Road Trip Planner app. - No login or subscription necessary. Just start the app and use it! Happy Camping!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Boondocking at none against Roadside America's 9. Boondocking also leads on price ($0.99 vs $3.99) and ratings volume (9.5K vs 2.5K). Roadside America's advantage is review sentiment (62% vs 51%). On rating, update cadence, ads and chart position 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
Roadside America costs $3.99 and Boondocking $0.99 up front. Roadside America sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Boondocking asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Roadside America against 4.6 for Boondocking. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.5K and 9.5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of Roadside America's written reviews are positive against 51% of Boondocking's.
Roadside America ships an update monthly, Boondocking every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | Roadside America | Boondocking |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (2.5K ratings) — better | 4.6 (9.5K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 61.8% of reviews — better | 51.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.5K | 9.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #11 — better | #12 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | This Exit LLC | William Modesitt |
Customer experience
Roadside America
Boondocking
User reviews
Roadside America
From 2.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fun and interesting app
- 🚀 Helps find unique roadside attractions
- 🚀 Useful for planning road trips
- 👍 Detailed information and ratings on attractions
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Difficulty accessing full content
- 💰 Expensive to unlock all regions
- 🔍 Hard to navigate and find desired content
Boondocking
From 9.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best kept secret
- 👍 Excellent app
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Accurate, updated, helpful
- 👍 Great travel tool
Room to improve
- 🐛 Needs anyone's ability to comment on sites
- 🐛 Nice concept but can't see the filters even when it says they are applied
- 🐛 User I/F needs great deal of work to make it more user friendly
- 🐛 Interrupts me to beg for a review
- 🐛 Not much here unless I'm missing something
Bugs and requests
Roadside America
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login/account issues
- Regions not syncing between devices
- Blank screens and inability to access content
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to restore previous purchases
- Improved map functionality and navigation
- Option to search for specific types of attractions
- Better accessibility for users with disabilities
Boondocking
Reported bugs
5 issues- Filters not working properly
- Outdated location information
- Inability to add new locations
- Incompatibility with older devices
- Crashes and freezes
Requested features
6 requests- Ability to save locations
- Ability to make and see comments and/or reviews of the spots from other people who have stayed
- More user entries for boondocks locations
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
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- Good guide to public libraries
In-app purchases
Roadside America
- US - California$2.99
- US - Northwest$2.99
- US - Southwest$2.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- US - Midwest$2.99
- US - Northeast$2.99
- US - Southeast$2.99
- Canada$2.99
- US Access (v1.0-1.3)$5.99
- All Access$7.99
Boondocking
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Roadside America free?
Is Boondocking free?
Which has better reviews, Roadside America or Boondocking?
Do Roadside America or Boondocking have ads?
Which is updated more often, Roadside America or Boondocking?
Which is more popular, Roadside America or Boondocking?
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