Comparison

Polarsteps vs Spike Island

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

Head to head
About

Polarsteps

Plan, track, and relive your adventures with this app. It helps you create personalized itineraries, automatically logs your routes, and allows you to share your journey with friends and family. Capture memories with photos and videos, and even create shareable video reels or printed travel books.

Highlights
  • AI itinerary planner
  • Automatic route tracking
  • Photo and video capture
  • Trip sharing with updates
  • Trip Reels video creation
  • Printable Travel Books
Features
Read full description

Join 23M+ travelers using Polarsteps as their all-in-one travel app. Build unique itineraries with the travel planner, let the travel tracker record your route, share the journey with friends and family, and turn it into a photo book to relive later. Whether it's a six-month trip or a weekend canoeing close to home, Polarsteps is here to capture and share your journey as it unfolds. Awards ■ Top 26 Apps — Apple App Store (2026) ■ Top 3 Travel Apps — Apple App Store (2026) ■ App of the Day — Apple App Store (2025) PLAN ■ AI itinerary planner: Create a personalized adventure based on past trips or current goals. ■ Destination snapshots: Get a quick overview of each place, why it fits your travel style, and which friends have already been there. ■ Trip details: Add notes, accommodation details, and must-see spots and activities. ■ Transport planner: Choose how you'll get from A to B for every leg of the trip. ■ Inspiration: Follow other explorers, see where they went, and get ideas for your own trips. TRACK ■ Automatic route tracking: Accurately track the route you took on a beautiful digital world map. ■ Travel Buddies: Invite friends to track trips together. ■ Capture the adventure: Add photos, videos, and stories to each step to bring your journey to life. ■ Travel stats: See how much of the world you’ve traveled, with your total of countries visited, distances covered, and more. ■ Top spots: Add your favorite places and activities so they’re part of your story. ■ Transport mode: Select how you got from place to place, whether by plane, train, or even tuk tuk. SHARE ■ Trip updates: Share your journey so friends and family can follow along from anywhere, seeing where you are and what you’ve been up to. ■ Traveler tips: Leave suggestions for other travelers on what to see and do. ■ Privacy controls: Decide who sees your adventures: everyone, followers only, or you only. RELIVE ■ Digital memories: Scroll through the places, photos, stories, and stats you’ve captured across all your trips. ■ Trip Reels: With the press of a button, transform your trip into a memorable video (also perfect to share on socials). ■ Travel Books: Turn your trip into a beautifully printed Travel Book that showcases your route and memories. WHAT OUR USERS SAY: “Love this app! It tracks me on my vacation and provides real-time notifications to friends and family of my trip. At the end, I ordered a Travel Book of my photos which is very high quality.” “The Polarsteps app is great. I am totally addicted. It is so nice to keep up with all your travels. And friends and family can follow you wherever you go. The Travel Book, which you can order afterwards, is of very good quality.” “I’ve been using this app for years now. It’s always been good and it keeps getting better.” WHAT THE PRESS ARE SAYING ABOUT POLARSTEPS “The Polarsteps app replaces your travel journal, making it easier and more beautiful.” - National Geographic “Polarsteps helps you track and share your journeys in an easy and visually appealing way” - The Next Web “Polarsteps’ resulting travel log is impressive, and is the source of a severe case of itchy feet in your correspondent.” - TechCrunch

About

Spike Island

Explore the rich history of Spike Island, a unique visitor experience in Cork Harbour. Discover the island's past as a monastery, fortress, and prison through an engaging guided tour.

Highlights
  • Historical island tour
  • Monastery, fortress, and prison history
  • Visitor experience guide
  • Cork Harbour location information
  • Island's past inhabitants
Features
Read full description

Cork County Council welcomes you to a unique visitor experience on Spike Island. Spike Island occupies a key location in lower Cork Harbour, which is the second largest natural harbour in the world. The multi-cultural island has hosted a monastery, a fortress and a prison within its 104 acres, all of which have left their mark. The Spike Island App gives visitors a tour of the history of the island, from the people who lived there to those incarcerated through the ages.

Screenshots

Polarsteps4 screens
Spike Island4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Spike Island at none against Polarsteps's 2. Spike Island also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). Polarsteps's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (10K vs 1). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Polarsteps sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Spike Island asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Polarsteps against 5.0 for Spike Island. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Polarsteps has 10K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, Spike Island every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Polarsteps versus Spike Island: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPolarstepsSpike Island
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (10K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings10K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#41 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size228 MB43 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperPolarsteps B.V.Cork County Council

Customer experience

Polarsteps

All ratings9,920 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews2,325 reviews
Positive89.8%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.3%

Spike Island

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

Bugs and requests

Polarsteps

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Trouble uploading videos
  • Incorrect time zone and location tracking
  • Steps and photos randomly disappearing
  • Crashes and freezes during usage

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to collaborate on trips with others
  • Option to customize page layouts for travel books
  • Improved video support and integration
  • More flexible map and route editing tools
  • Synchronization across multiple devices

Spike Island

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Polarsteps

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$34.991 Year
None

Spike Island

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Polarsteps free?
Polarsteps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Spike Island free?
Spike Island is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Polarsteps or Spike Island?
Spike Island is rated higher. Polarsteps averages 4.9 out of 5 from 10K ratings, while Spike Island averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Polarsteps or Spike Island have ads?
Neither Polarsteps nor Spike Island shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Polarsteps or Spike Island?
Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, and Spike Island every 3 months. Most recently, Polarsteps was updated on October 26, 2026 and Spike Island on October 9, 2026.

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