Polarsteps vs TrekPins
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
TrekPins
Map your past adventures and plan future trips with this travel companion. Log visited places, add notes and photos, and visualize your journeys on an interactive map. Organize destinations, create itineraries, and gain insights into your travel history.
- Map visited and dream destinations
- Add notes and photos to places
- Create custom routes and itineraries
- Visualize travel footprint on interactive map
- Track travel statistics and insights
- Sync data across devices with iCloud
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Dreaming of your next big adventure? Or want to keep a meticulous record of every place you've explored? TrekPins empowers you to do both, transforming your device into the ultimate travel planning and memory-keeping tool. It's like the old-school corkboards you hang on your wall, reimagined for your digital life. Effortlessly track your globetrotting adventures, relive cherished memories with notes and photos, and visualize your travel footprint with a beautiful, interactive map interface. Plan future escapades, discover insights about your journeys, and carry your travel story in your pocket. We believe that every journey is a story waiting to be told. TrekPins provides the canvas for you to illustrate your unique travel narrative. It's more than just an app; it's a companion for the curious, a journal for the adventurous, and a celebration of exploration. FEATURES: Your World, Mapped - Map Your Travels: Mark visited, dream, & home cities. - Fullscreen Map: Immerse yourself in your journey. - Quick Filters: Sort places by status instantly. - Pin Anything: Drop custom pins anywhere. - Personalized Map: Set home city & radius. Log Every Moment - Cherish Memories: Add visit dates, notes, & photos. - Organized Places: Browse by country & region. - Travel Timeline: Relive your journey's history. - Capture POIs: Pin sights & cafes with notes/photos. - Track World Wonders: Log global wonders you've seen. Plan Like a Pro - Craft Epic Trips: Group destinations & map routes. - Daily Itineraries: Link POIs to specific trip days. Smart & Seamless - Travel Stats: Unlock insights on your adventures. - Auto City Detection: Get reminders for new cities. - Your Data, Your Control - iCloud Sync: Keep data safe & synced. - Photo Format Choice: Pick HEIC or JPEG. - Smart Storage: Manage local image cache. - Optimized Data: Auto background cleanup. - Dark Modes: View comfortably. Subscription or one-time purchase required. TrekPins is a premium app. All features require an active subscription or one-time purchase after your free trial ends. Terms of Service: https://trekpins.com/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Polarsteps at 10K against TrekPins's 6. Polarsteps also leads on chart position (#63 vs unranked). TrekPins's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 90%). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Polarsteps sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and TrekPins sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Polarsteps against 5.0 for TrekPins. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Polarsteps has 10K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Polarsteps's written reviews are positive against 100% of TrekPins's.
Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, TrekPins every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Polarsteps | TrekPins |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (10K ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 89.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #63 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 215 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Polarsteps B.V. | Eric Randall |
Customer experience
Polarsteps
TrekPins
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
TrekPins
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Polarsteps
- Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
- Plus Yearly$34.991 Year
- Plus Yearly$44.991 Year
TrekPins
- Trek Pins Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Trek Pins Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Trek Pins One-Time$39.99








