Polarsteps vs Travel Route
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- AI itinerary planner
- Automatic route tracking
- Photo and video capture
- Trip sharing with updates
- Trip Reels video creation
- Printable Travel Books
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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
Travel Route
Plan your travel routes and visualize your journeys in a unique 3D map. Create engaging 3D videos of your trips with various transport options and customizable styles.
- Plan routes by typing start and destination
- Drag to create intermediate points
- Select 3D transport options
- Create 3D journey videos
- Customize journey visuals
- Various transport modes
- Wide range of map styles
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Excellent TravelBoast App for Planning Route. Awesome 3D Map & visualize your journey in a unique way. Easy & fun to use. Explore now. TravelBoast is pretty simple to use. - Plan your route by typing the starting point & destination. - Drag to create new points along the way on the map. - Select the 3D transport. - Create awesome 3D videos. - Customize it on your own. Amazing features await you: - Various means of transports for your journey: car, bus, plane, bike, sailboat... - Wide range of map styles - Unique 3D art style & effect TravelBoast makes travel planning simple & much more fun. Download now. Terms of Use: http://smartwidgetlabs.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: http://smartwidgetlabs.com/privacy-policy/ You are welcome to contact us at: support@smartwidgetlabs.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Polarsteps at 4.9 against Travel Route's 4.1. Polarsteps also leads on review sentiment (90% vs 63%) and ratings volume (10K vs 322). Travel Route's advantage is iOS requirement (15 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Polarsteps sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Travel Route sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Polarsteps holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Polarsteps has 10K ratings behind it against 322, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Polarsteps's written reviews are positive against 63% of Travel Route's.
Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, Travel Route every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Polarsteps | Travel Route |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (10K ratings) — better | 4.1 (322 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 89.8% of reviews — better | 63.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10K — better | 322 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 10 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #57 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 215 MB | 167 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Polarsteps B.V. | SMART WIDGET LABS COMPANY LIMITED |
Customer experience
Polarsteps
Travel Route
User reviews
Polarsteps
From 10K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💻 Excellent app for travel blogging
- 👍 Easy to use and share with family/friends
- 🗺️ Great GPS tracking and map features
- 📷 Seamless photo/video integration
- 📚 Ability to create high-quality travel books
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🔄 Difficulty editing/rearranging photos and steps
- 🔋 Can be battery-intensive
- 🗺️ Inaccurate GPS tracking in some cases
- 🤖 Struggles with importing past trips and photos
Travel Route
From 322 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good app
- 🚀 Great to use
- 💡 Multiple via routes
- 👍 Excellent app with funny 3D effect
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes when trying to input too many locations
- 🐛 Doesn't follow roads, only goes direct
- 🐛 Can't rearrange points in route list
- 🐛 Doesn't search well for destinations
- 🐛 Can't preview video before paying
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
Travel Route
Reported bugs
5 issues- Login screen freezes
- Incompatible with older devices
- Can't get past startup screen without paying
- Can't save video
- Crashes when trying to input too many locations
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to demo output before purchase
- Optimize for iPad
- Ability to rearrange route points
- Better search functionality for destinations
In-app purchases
Polarsteps
- Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
- Plus Yearly$34.991 Year
- Plus Yearly$44.991 Year
Travel Route
- Weekly Premium 2$1.997 Days
- Weekly Premium$2.997 Days
- Weekly Trial Premium3 Days trial$2.997 Days
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- Monthly Premium$5.991 Month
- Monthly Premium 2$5.991 Month
- Premium Model 2$1.99
- Unlock Premium Model$1.99
- Lifetime Premium 2$19.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Lifetime Premium$29.99
Questions
Is Polarsteps free?
Is Travel Route free?
Which has better reviews, Polarsteps or Travel Route?
Do Polarsteps or Travel Route have ads?
Which is updated more often, Polarsteps or Travel Route?
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