Drive Stories vs BenchMarked
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Location-based audio stories
- Seamless in-car use
- Apple CarPlay integration
- Over 40 languages
- 15 story categories
- Choice of 10 voices
- Global location selection
Read full descriptionHide 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.
BenchMarked
Discover and share unique seating locations. Find nearby benches and add your own favorite spots to a community map. Because sometimes the best part of a place is the bench.
- Explore shared benches
- Discover nearby spots
- Add favorite benches
- Community map
- Find hidden gems
Read full descriptionHide full description
Explore benches shared by others, discover hidden spots nearby, and add your own favorite places to the map. Because sometimes the best part of a place… is the bench.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BenchMarked at 5.0 against Drive Stories's 3.3. BenchMarked also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). Drive Stories's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Drive Stories sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. BenchMarked asks for nothing beyond the download.
BenchMarked holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.
Drive Stories ships an update every 3 weeks, BenchMarked daily. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drive Stories | BenchMarked |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Moeller | Arnaud Gillard |
Customer experience
Drive Stories
BenchMarked
In-app purchases
Drive Stories
- Monthly$2.991 Month
- Annual$34.991 Year
BenchMarked
No in-app purchases









