Smart Traveler vs Trip Plans
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Smart Traveler
Access official country information, travel advisories, and U.S. embassy locations for international travel. Enroll in a free program to receive emergency assistance and allow loved ones to reach you if needed.
- Official country information
- Travel advisories
- U.S. embassy locations
- Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)
- Emergency assistance
- Consular Affairs social media access
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Smart Traveler, the official State Department app for U.S. travelers, invites you to see the world with easy access to frequently updated official country information, travel advisories, U.S. embassy locations, and more. Smart Traveler also provides access to the State Department's free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). STEP enrollment enables the State Department to better assist you in emergencies such as natural disasters, unrest in foreign countries, or lost/stolen passports overseas. During your travels, STEP can help your family and friends reach you in an emergency. Smart Traveler also provides quick access to the Department's Consular Affairs Facebook and Twitter pages.
Trip Plans
Access your detailed travel itinerary offline, presented beautifully and clearly. View daily event summaries, get quick access to contact and navigation info for locations, and chat directly with your travel advisor without needing an internet connection.
- Offline itinerary access
- Daily event summaries
- Location contact and navigation
- Direct chat with travel advisor
- Beautiful and easy-to-understand format
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The Trip Plans app lets you view your detailed itinerary from your travel advisor on your iPhone. No data or internet connection? No problem! All your trip details will still be there presented in a beautiful and easy to understand format. - See a summary of your trip with how many events you have on each day. - On each day, view detailed information for each event. - Quickly pull up phone numbers and navigation for the places on your trip. - Chat with your travel advisor directly in the app. No more messy email chains! Your travel advisor will send you an email with a link to open your specific trip. Bon Voyage!
Screenshots
Verdict
Smart Traveler and Trip Plans both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 75% of Trip Plans's written reviews are positive against 18% of Smart Traveler's. Trip Plans also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 10 months). Smart Traveler's advantage is ratings volume (14K vs 1.3K). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Smart Traveler against 4.7 for Trip Plans. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smart Traveler has 14K ratings behind it against 1.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 18% of Smart Traveler's written reviews are positive against 75% of Trip Plans's.
Smart Traveler ships an update every 10 months, Trip Plans monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Smart Traveler | Trip Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (14K ratings) | 4.7 (1.3K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.4% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14K — better | 1.3K |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | US Department of State | Travefy, Inc. |
Customer experience
Smart Traveler
Trip Plans
User reviews
Smart Traveler
From 14K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Comprehensive information
- 🔒 Provides a sense of security
- 👍 User-friendly
- 🚀 Informative and helpful
Room to improve
- 🐛 Incorrect country information
- 🐛 Broken functionality
- 🐛 Outdated information
- 🐛 Difficult to navigate
- 🐛 Login issues
Trip Plans
From 1.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📚 Comprehensive trip information
- 🗓️ Organized daily itinerary
- 💬 Convenient communication with travel agent
- 🌐 Offline access to trip details
- 🗺️ Helpful maps and navigation
Room to improve
- 🔗 Issues with links and navigation
- 📝 Limited ability to add/edit trip details
- 🤖 Inconsistent data updates from travel providers
- 🗣️ Chat feature needs improvements (timestamps, scrolling)
- 🔄 Difficulty continuing trips with new travel agents
Bugs and requests
Smart Traveler
Reported bugs
5 issues- Clicking on Israel takes user to Iceland information
- Clicking on Austria takes user to Australia information
- Clicking on Liechtenstein takes user to Lesotho information
- STEP program not working
- Unable to view countries on app
Requested features
5 requests- Sync account information across devices
- Hyperlink contact information
- Add domestic travel information
- Improve country search functionality
- Provide more frequent updates
Trip Plans
Reported bugs
3 issues- Itinerary not always accurately reflecting trip details
- Occasional app crashes or login issues
- Unreliable offline access to trip information
Requested features
5 requests- Calendar integration for trip events
- Ability for travelers to add their own bookings
- Customizable notification settings
- Improved print/download options for itineraries
- Enhanced data synchronization across providers
In-app purchases
Smart Traveler
No in-app purchases
Trip Plans
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Smart Traveler free?
Is Trip Plans free?
Which has better reviews, Smart Traveler or Trip Plans?
Do Smart Traveler or Trip Plans have ads?
Which is updated more often, Smart Traveler or Trip Plans?
Other comparisons
