Comparison

Tripcast vs Backroads

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

Head to head
About

Tripcast

Share your travel experiences privately with friends and family. Create trip albums, receive live photo updates, and collect everyone's photos in one place. Browse photos by location and stay connected through comments and likes.

Highlights
  • Live photo updates
  • Private trip albums
  • Collect photos from multiple users
  • Map-based photo browsing
  • Location-based photo tagging
  • Real-time comments and likes
  • Private sharing away from social media
Features
Read full description

* Featured as “New and Noteworthy” by Apple * Tripcast lets you share your travel photos with the people who want to see everything, not just the highlights. Start a trip, invite your friends and family to the album, and give them live photo updates from the road! The best way to share your trip: • Make updates instantly: Update your family and friends in real time • Stay in touch: Ask questions, leave comments, and like posts Build an album with everybody: • Vacationers assemble!: Collect everyone's trip photos in one place • Easy backup: Download them all when you get home Map it out: • Effortless tagging: Photos are automatically added to the trip map • Browse by location: View photos by where they happened, not when Everyone is using Tripcast to share their travels: • Keep it private: Share only with the people who care the most, away from social media • Apps for everyone: Access Tripcast through gorgeous apps for iPhone and the web • Bring everyone along: Notifications keep friends and family updated whenever there's activity How it works: 1. Create: Make an album for your trip 2. Invite: Pick friends and family to follow along 3. Update: Post photos and videos as you travel Built by the team that created Cluster, featured as a Best New App in the App Store! Tripcast Club is a monthly or annual subscription to give admins more control over their groups. Check it out by visiting the Settings → Subscription Settings section of the app. By purchasing a subscription you agree to Tripcast's Terms of Use: https://tripcast.co/terms/ and Privacy Policy: https://tripcast.co/privacy/

About

Backroads

This app provides detailed information and daily route options for active travel adventures like biking and hiking. It offers helpful tips and regional information to enhance your journey. Your trip leaders are also available through the app for guidance.

Highlights
  • Daily route options
  • Trip schedules
  • Helpful tips
  • Regional information
  • Trip leader access
Read full description

Backroads is the leader in active travel, offering Biking, Hiking and Multi-Adventure Trips in 55+ countries worldwide. This Trip Companion app, and a unique log-in code, will be available to you just before your trip starts. You’ll find daily route options, schedules, helpful tips and other regional information. Of course, your incredible Trip Leaders are available every day of your trip to guide you through some of the most beautiful places in the world. We look forward to seeing you out there!

Screenshots

Tripcast4 screens
Backroads4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Tripcast at 4.8 against Backroads's 3.3. Tripcast also leads on ratings volume (7.1K vs 62). Backroads's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Tripcast sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Backroads asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tripcast holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tripcast has 7.1K ratings behind it against 62, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Tripcast's written reviews are positive against 52% of Backroads's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tripcast ships an update every 2 months, Backroads every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and August 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Tripcast versus Backroads: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTripcastBackroads
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (7.1K ratings) — better3.3 (62 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews52.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.1K — better62
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB173 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperCluster Labs, Inc.Backroads

Customer experience

Tripcast

All ratings7,134 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews116 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral12.1%
Negative37.9%

Backroads

All ratings58 ratings
Positive51.7%
Neutral8.6%
Negative39.7%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive52.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative44.0%

Bugs and requests

Tripcast

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Invites not being sent to users
  • Uploaded photos not displaying properly
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Account login and access issues
  • Inconsistent app behavior across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow editing of posts and comments
  • Improve photo upload and organization
  • Add support for multiple photos per post
  • Implement password reset functionality
  • Enhance map integration and location tracking

Backroads

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Tripcast

Subscriptions4
  • Tripcast Friend$4.991 Month
  • Tripcast Pro$9.991 Month
  • Tripcast Friend$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Tripcast Pro$99.991 Year
None

Backroads

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tripcast free?
Tripcast is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Backroads free?
Backroads is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tripcast or Backroads?
Tripcast is rated higher. Tripcast averages 4.8 out of 5 from 7.1K ratings, while Backroads averages 3.3 from 62 ratings.
Do Tripcast or Backroads have ads?
Neither Tripcast nor Backroads shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tripcast or Backroads?
Tripcast ships an update every 2 months, and Backroads every 4 months. Most recently, Tripcast was updated on September 23, 2026 and Backroads on August 31, 2026.

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