Comparison

Varde vs Troupe

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

Head to head
About

Varde

Streamline group travel planning by centralizing itineraries, budgets, and bookings. Facilitate decision-making with polls and leverage AI for suggestions. Share photos and create trip recaps.

Highlights
  • Shared day-by-day itinerary with maps
  • Group polling for decisions
  • Integrated budget tracking and settlement
  • Centralized booking information
  • AI-powered travel suggestions
  • Shared photo album
  • Trip recap generation
Features
Read full description

Plan the trip you'll talk about for years. Someone floats the idea in the group chat. Three weeks later, half the crew hasn't booked a flight, the villa link is buried under 400 messages, and one person is quietly doing all the work. Varde gives the whole trip one home. Everyone sees the same plan, live, and nobody has to ask what time the flight is again. THE WHOLE TRIP, IN ONE PLACE Day-by-day itinerary Stops, meals, drives, flights, and lodging on one clean schedule, with a map for each day. Polls that end the debate Tacos or ramen? Beach or hike? Add a note and a link to each option, let everyone vote, and move on. A budget that keeps friends friends Log what you paid and Varde works out who owes who. See your balance at a glance and settle up with Venmo. Bookings when you need them Confirmation codes, addresses, and check-in times in one spot. Your trip stays on your phone, so it still works when you lose signal. A feed worth reading What needs you comes first: money you owe, polls you haven't answered, then new plans and photos. Post the things that aren't a plan yet in Thoughts. Varde AI Ask where to eat, what to do with a free afternoon, or what's good nearby right now. Suggestions fit your trip and your group, and one tap adds them to the plan. One shared album Everyone's photos, sorted by day, in one place. No more "send me that one." A recap worth keeping When you get home, Varde turns the trip into a story you can share: the route, the days, and the best photos. It's the thing that gets everyone planning the next one. On your Home Screen A live countdown widget for your next trip, and what's up next once you're traveling. On iPhone and iPad. BRING THE WHOLE CREW Invite everyone with a link. Share a read-only itinerary with anyone, no account needed. FREE TO START The free plan covers one trip of up to 5 days, with polls, budgets, and everything your group needs to plan together. VARDE+ One member upgrades the whole trip. Unlimited trips, days, and stops 20 AI suggestions per day, per trip 1,000 photos per trip Forward booking emails and they file themselves onto the trip Whiteboard: drag your whole trip around one board Vibe Check: survey the group and get an AI summary Trip PDF: a printable keepsake with day maps and photos Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini to plan by chatting (beta) 7-day free trial, then $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings. Terms: https://withvarde.com/terms Privacy: https://withvarde.com/privacy Questions, or a great trip to tell us about? hello@withvarde.com

About

Troupe

This app consolidates trip planning, expense splitting, and group chat into a single, shared space. It allows users to create itineraries, track shared costs, and manage packing lists collaboratively. Invitees can join via a link without needing an account, with all data syncing through iCloud.

Highlights
  • Shared itinerary with live updates
  • Automatic expense splitting and balance tracking
  • Group chat integrated with trip details
  • Offline access to plans and bookings
  • Shared packing list
  • Invite via link, no account needed
Features
Read full description

Plan the trip together. Split the costs automatically. No WhatsApp chaos. Every group trip runs across three apps: one for the itinerary, one for the money, and a group chat for the mess in between. Troupe is all of it in one shared space. ONE SHARED TRIP Invite your group straight from Messages or WhatsApp — they tap the link and see everything. No accounts, no signups: it works through iCloud, which everyone already has. The itinerary, the costs, the packing list — everyone sees every update, live. THE MONEY SORTS ITSELF • Whoever fronts the Airbnb adds it once — split across the group in two taps • Balances update instantly: who's ahead, who owes • "Who pays whom" works out the fewest possible transfers to settle up • Expenses attach to plans, so the dinner on Tuesday knows Jess paid the deposit • No daily expense limits. Ever. THE PLAN EVERYONE CAN SEE • Day-by-day itinerary: flights, stays, dinners, activities — with times, places, and confirmation refs • Shared packing list with check-off • Booking confirmations and tickets stored as photos, offline • Works with no signal — everything lives on your phone BUILT FOR THE ORGANIZER Planning a hen weekend, a stag do, a family holiday with eight opinions? You're the one holding it together. Troupe Pro is priced for exactly you: the organizer subscribes, and everyone you invite collaborates completely free — always. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Troupe has no servers. Your trips sync through your own iCloud and are shared with exactly the people you invite — Apple's infrastructure end to end. No analytics, no tracking, no ads. PRICING THAT MAKES SENSE Free: one active trip with up to 4 people — a full group trip, genuinely free. Troupe Pro: unlimited trips and any group size — $3.99/month, cancel anytime, or $29.99 once, yours forever. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://yuzool.com/apps/troupe/privacy.html

Screenshots

Varde4 screens
Troupe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Varde at 8 against Troupe's 1. Troupe's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Varde sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Troupe sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Varde against 5.0 for Troupe. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Varde has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Varde ships an update every 3 weeks, Troupe every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Varde versus Troupe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVardeTroupe
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB3 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperAzure Supply LLCMichael Frankland

Customer experience

Varde

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Troupe

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Varde

Subscriptions2
  • Varde+ Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Varde+ Yearly$49.991 Year
2 purchases

Troupe

Subscriptions1
  • Troupe Pro$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Troupe Pro Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Varde free?
Varde is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Troupe free?
Troupe is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Varde or Troupe?
Varde and Troupe are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 8 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Varde or Troupe have ads?
Neither Varde nor Troupe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Varde or Troupe?
Varde ships an update every 3 weeks, and Troupe every 9 days. Most recently, Varde was updated on November 5, 2026 and Troupe on November 6, 2026.

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