Comparison

Polarsteps vs Tropi Guide Madeira

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

Head to head
About

Polarsteps

This travel app helps you plan, track, and share your journeys. Create custom itineraries, automatically record your routes, and turn your adventures into beautiful photo books. Keep friends and family updated on your travels in real-time.

Highlights
  • AI itinerary planner
  • Automatic route tracking
  • Photo and video capture
  • Trip sharing with friends and family
  • Printable travel books
  • Destination snapshots
  • Travel statistics
Features
Currently charting
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

Tropi Guide Madeira

Explore Madeira with self-guided audio tours that automatically play as you reach points of interest. Discover the island's history and culture through stories from locals, with offline functionality and free samples before purchase.

Highlights
  • GPS-triggered audio guides
  • Offline tour playback
  • Local storyteller narration
  • Free tour samples
  • Detailed drive and walk tours
  • Real-time trail status
  • Weather and webcam information
Features
Read full description

Madeira, told by the people who live here, in your ear while you drive or walk. Tropi Guide is self-guided audio tours of Madeira. Download a tour before you set off, put the phone away, and each story starts by itself as you reach the place it is about. Nothing to press at the wheel, no group, no meeting time, and no signal needed. Not just what a building is called, but why it is there. Every tour has three free samples, so you can hear it before you buy. THE DRIVES The Eastern Edge (half day): from Funchal to the end of the road, where Madeira runs out of green and turns to bare red rock with the Atlantic on both sides. The West Coast (full day): from Câmara de Lobos to Paul do Mar. The glass floor at Cabo Girão, terraces cut by hand over five hundred years, a steam mill still crushing sugarcane, and two villages that had no road until this century. The Far West (half day): from the lighthouse at Ponta do Pargo onto the north coast, with a waterfall falling into the sea and the steepest cable car in Europe dropping to a vineyard. The Wild North Coast (full day, either direction): from São Vicente to the pass at Portela. A saint that came in a box, the thatched houses of Santana, and a sugar mill still running on steam. Porto Moniz, Seixal and more (half day, either direction): a chapel cut into a rock, the only black-sand beach on the north coast, a waterfall you drive under, and at the end a swim in pools the lava made. THE WALKS IN FUNCHAL Doors of Funchal (2 hours): the oldest streets of the city, a Jesuit college with cannon towers, a cathedral of volcanic stone, and the painted doors of Rua de Santa Maria. The Fisherman's Quarter (2 hours 30): how the sea built Funchal, from the fish market to the yellow fort and the pebble beach the boats launched from. HOW IT WORKS Buy a tour once and it is yours: it never expires, there is no subscription, and it works on your other devices with the same account. Downloaded, it runs with no signal at all, which matters on a road where the phone loses service for twenty minutes at a time. Stop for lunch and the tour picks up where you left it. AND, FOR FREE All 43 official trails on Madeira and Porto Santo with today's status, the free slots and SIMplifica licence booking, and a timer for the walk. The weather for every part of the island and live webcams. Guides to the beaches, waterfalls and viewpoints, and Madeira Basics, written by people who live here.

Screenshots

Polarsteps4 screens
Tropi Guide Madeira4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Polarsteps at #57 against Tropi Guide Madeira's unranked. Polarsteps also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 9 days). Tropi Guide Madeira's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Polarsteps sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Tropi Guide Madeira sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, Tropi Guide Madeira every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Polarsteps versus Tropi Guide Madeira: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPolarstepsTropi Guide Madeira
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#57 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size218 MB30 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperPolarsteps B.V.Helvio Nobrega

Customer experience

Polarsteps

All ratings10,148 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews2,359 reviews
Positive89.9%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.2%

Tropi Guide Madeira

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

Tropi Guide Madeira

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Polarsteps

Subscriptions3
  • Plus Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Plus Yearly$34.991 Year
  • Plus Yearly$44.991 Year
8 purchases

Tropi Guide Madeira

One-time8
  • Doors of Funchal Tour$9.99
  • The Fisherman's Quarter Tour$9.99
  • The Far West Coast$12.99
Show 5 more
  • The Eastern Edge Tour$19.99
  • The West Coast$19.99
  • Porto Moniz, Seixal and more$19.99
  • The Wild North Coast$19.99
  • Round the Island$69.99

Questions

Is Polarsteps free?
Polarsteps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tropi Guide Madeira free?
Tropi Guide Madeira is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Polarsteps or Tropi Guide Madeira have ads?
Neither Polarsteps nor Tropi Guide Madeira shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Polarsteps or Tropi Guide Madeira?
Polarsteps ships an update every 4 days, and Tropi Guide Madeira every 9 days. Most recently, Polarsteps was updated on November 9, 2026 and Tropi Guide Madeira on October 31, 2026.

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