PaperPlane vs Contrails
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PaperPlane
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Your travels deserve more than a folder of booking confirmations. PaperPlane is the travel journal that builds itself. Forward a flight or hotel confirmation to your personal import address and we parse it, geocode it, and drop it on your globe as a draft trip, ready for you to review and publish in seconds. See your journeys on a stunning interactive 3D globe. Spin it, zoom in, tap any pin to revisit that trip. Every destination you have ever visited, plotted exactly where it belongs. Travel with others? Invite your group and share trips so everyone sees the same memories. See whose miles stretch furthest, whose passport is filling fastest, and which destinations you keep returning to together. Your stats update automatically as you add trips, total countries, distances, days abroad, and more, so the longer you use PaperPlane, the more it rewards you. Key features: - Interactive 3D globe with every trip pinned and connected by arcs - Email import: forward booking confirmations and trips log themselves - Travel groups: share trips with friends, couples, or family - Personal and group stats: countries, distances, days, and more - Lifetime access: one purchase, no subscription, no surprises - Private and secure: your journal is yours alone PaperPlane is free to get started. Unlock the globe, groups, and unlimited trips with a single lifetime purchase.
Contrails
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Contrails keeps a trace of every route you fly. Add a flight in seconds — by hand, from a Wallet boarding pass, or straight from your ticket e-mail — and watch your airports, countries and kilometres turn into a personal world. YOUR WORLD, ON A GLOBE Every flight is drawn as a great-circle arc. Spin the 3D globe or switch to the flat map, then tap any route to open the flights that took it. ADD FLIGHTS WITHOUT TYPING • Share a ticket PDF or booking e-mail from Mail to Contrails — flight numbers, airports and dates are detected for you to confirm. • Drop in an Apple Wallet boarding pass (.pkpass) or a PDF boarding pass. • Or add it manually with airport and airline autocomplete. UPCOMING TRIPS Plan future flights with a countdown. When the day comes, the flight moves into your collection on its own. PHOTO MEMORIES Attach up to five photos to each flight and relive them from the flight's detail page. FRIENDS & FEED • Add friends by username, by scanning their QR code, or invite them from your contacts. • See their new flights in the feed, react with emoji and leave comments. • Discover who was on the same flight as you. • Add your X, Instagram and YouTube handles to your profile. NOTIFICATIONS Friend requests, comments, reactions and shared flights arrive as push notifications and in a built-in notification center. MAYOR BOARDS Become the top flyer of any airport and defend your title against friends. BADGES & WRAPPED Cross the equator, reach the Moon's distance, complete all seven continents — every milestone unlocks a badge. At year's end, your Wrapped tells the story of your flying year, ready to share. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Use it as a guest with no account, or sign in with Apple, Google or e-mail to back up and sync. Choose who sees your profile, block or report anyone, export all your data, or delete your account from the app at any time. Leave your trace.
Screenshots
Verdict
PaperPlane and Contrails are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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.
| Parameter | PaperPlane | Contrails |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | — | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jake Houghton | GIZEM KIRAZ KAYA |
In-app purchases
PaperPlane
No in-app purchases
Contrails
No in-app purchases





