Polarsteps vs 88mates
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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Plan, track and relive your adventures with Polarsteps. Keep your friends and family up to date. Whether it’s a six-month trip or a weekend canoeing close to home, Polarsteps is here to capture and share your journeys as they unfold. 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
88mates
This app assists with your Working Holiday Visa in Australia by tracking regional work days, displaying eligible work zones on a map, and providing exclusive job offers. It also includes budgeting tools, a checklist, community features, and event information.
- Track 88/179 regional work days
- Interactive map of eligible work zones
- Exclusive job offers
- Budgeting and WHV checklist
- Backpacker community
- Australian events and road trip guide
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88mates supports you throughout your Working Holiday visa in Australia. • Track your 88 days of regional work and 179 days • 200+ eligible work zones on an interactive map • Exclusive job offers posted by Australian employers • Directory of thousands of employers across Australia • Road Mode: thousands of free campsites, wildlife spotting locations and roadtrip tools • Budget, PVT checklist and practical tools (TFN, tax, good deals) • Community of backpackers near you • 150+ Australian events, seasonal map by region and road trip guide Available in French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean. No password required — sign in with email only.
Screenshots
Verdict
Polarsteps and 88mates both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 90% of Polarsteps's written reviews are positive against 50% of 88mates's. Polarsteps also leads on ratings volume (9.5K vs 1) and chart position (#49 vs unranked). 88mates's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and device support (3 vs 1). 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 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. 88mates asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Polarsteps against 5.0 for 88mates. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Polarsteps has 9.5K ratings behind it against 1, 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 50% of 88mates's.
Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, 88mates every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Polarsteps | 88mates |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (9.5K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 89.6% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 9.5K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #49 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 218 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Polarsteps B.V. | Simon Marion |
Customer experience
Polarsteps
88mates
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
88mates
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Polarsteps
- Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
- Plus Yearly$34.991 Year
88mates
No in-app purchases









