Pilot vs. Polarsteps: feature comparison, ratings, and FAQ
A data comparison maintained by Pilot (pilotplans.com). Full comparison: https://www.pilotplans.com/compare/polarsteps-alternative.
Summary
Pilot is a free trip booking and planning app: plan a whole trip in one place with a flexible itinerary, a map of your stops, notes, real-time collaboration, and AI itinerary generation, and book hotels in the app at private rates across 3,000,000+ stays, with real human support. Pilot is rated 4.7 by 50,000+ travelers.
Polarsteps: Auto-GPS travel journal + printed travel books. DMG Media-owned.
Polarsteps plans and journals your trip, then sends you elsewhere to book. Pilot keeps it together: plan the trip, then book your stays at private hotel rates in the same app.
Key facts
- Pricing
- Pilot: completely free to plan and book. Polarsteps: Free to use.
- Overall rating
- Pilot: 4.7 from 50,000+ travelers. Polarsteps: Trustpilot 4.8, App Store 4.5, Google Play 4.7.
- Founded
- Pilot: 2022. Polarsteps: 2014.
- Books hotels in the app
- Pilot: yes, at private rates across 3,000,000+ stays. Polarsteps: no.
- Full comparison
- https://www.pilotplans.com/compare/polarsteps-alternative
Feature comparison
Each row shows whether Pilot and Polarsteps offer the feature: Yes, No, or Partial. A [n] marker cites the source in References.
| Feature | Pilot | Polarsteps |
|---|---|---|
| Travel history | ||
| World map of visited places | No | Yes |
| Countries visited counter | No | Yes |
| Personalized recommendations from past trips | No | No |
| Inspire-me destination explorer | No | Yes |
| Sustainable hotel filter | No | No |
| Maps | ||
| Map view of itinerary | Yes | Yes |
| Add items from map | Yes | No |
| Routes tool | Yes | No |
| Reorder route stops | Yes | No |
| Dynamic map search | Yes | No |
| Planning | ||
| Itinerary builder | YesMap out every idea and reshape the plan however you want, then book your stay without leaving it | Yes |
| Drag and drop reordering | YesDrag anything anywhere as plans change, then book the stay right in the plan | Yes |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesPin every place on a map and shape the route yourself, then book the stays along it in the app | No |
| Add activities, transportation, or stays from anywhere | Yes | Yes |
| Attach info to any item | Yes | Yes |
| Notes and checklists | YesKeep notes, lists, and links right alongside the plan, before and during the trip | No |
| Note and list format toggle | Yes | No |
| Rich text formatting in notes | Yes | No |
| Undo and redo | Yes | No |
| Duplicate trips | Yes | No |
| Manual file import | Yes | No |
| Email-forwarding file import | Yes | Yes |
| AI parsing of imported confirmations | Yes | Yes |
| Export to PDF | Yes | No |
| iOS and Android mobile apps | Yes | Yes |
| Offline access on mobile | Yes | Yes |
| Shortlist items | Yes | No |
| Wishlist / wanderlist | Yes | No |
| Wishlist images | Yes | No |
| Fun sound effects | Yes | No |
| Structured itinerary sections | Yes | Yes |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Yes | No |
| Multiple transportation types | Yes | Yes |
| Flight code auto-fill | Yes | No |
| Multi-leg flight support | Yes | No |
| Consistent IATA codes on mobile | Yes | No |
| Community | ||
| Group polls and voting | Partial | No |
| Pay later / BNPL | No | No |
| Public trip profiles and follower community | No | Yes |
| Traveler Q&A forum and community | No | No |
| Photo book printing | No | Yes |
| GPS auto-tracking of travel route | No | Yes |
Ratings
| Source | Pilot | Polarsteps |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot rating | 4.4 | 4.8 |
| App Store rating | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| Google Play rating | 4.2 | 4.7 |
Pricing
| Pilot | Polarsteps | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | Free to plan and book | Free to use |
Frequently asked questions
What is Polarsteps?
Polarsteps is a trip planner and travel journal app. People use it to plan a route, then automatically track the trip by GPS and turn it into a journal or photo book. It plans and records the trip, but you book your stays on other sites.
What is Pilot?
Pilot is a trip booking and planning app. You plan the whole trip in one place, a flexible itinerary, a map of your stops, notes, and your group, and you book your hotel in the app at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents. Where Polarsteps plans and journals a trip but sends you elsewhere to book, Pilot lets you plan and book the stay in one place.
Is Polarsteps legit?
Yes, Polarsteps is a legitimate travel app, founded in 2014, best known for automatically tracking your route by GPS and turning a trip into a journal you can share, and optionally a printed photo book. It is free to use and ad-free, and it holds a 4.8 on Trustpilot. It also plans ahead now, with an itinerary builder, stops, and a map. The one thing it does not do is book: there is no in-app hotel or stay booking, so you arrange those elsewhere. That is the gap Pilot fills. Pilot covers a flexible itinerary, a map of everywhere you are going, notes and checklists, and real-time group editing, and it lets you book your stay in the app at private rates straight from hotels, across more than 3,000,000 stays.
Is Polarsteps free?
Polarsteps is free to use for planning, tracking, and journaling your trips, and it is ad-free. Its printed photo travel books cost extra and are ordered separately. Pilot is also completely free, including the AI itinerary planner, the shared map, and group collaboration, and it adds something Polarsteps does not have at any price: booking your hotel in the app at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents. Pilot is free because it earns from hotels when you book through the app, not from charging you to plan.
How does Polarsteps work?
Polarsteps lets you plan a trip ahead, with an itinerary, stops, and a map, then runs in the background on your phone and uses GPS to automatically log the route you travel, with light battery impact. You add photos and text to build a journal of where you went, keep a personal world map of countries visited, and can share it or order it as a printed book. What it doesn't do is book: you arrange every stay on another site. Pilot covers that part, you plan the trip and then book your stay right in the app, so the plan and the booking live together before, during, and after the trip.
Can you book hotels in Polarsteps?
No. Polarsteps plans and journals trips, but it has no hotel booking and no in-app booking of any kind, so you arrange and book every stay somewhere else. Pilot lets you book over 3,000,000 hotels right in the app, with private deals straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, no sponsored results. So with Pilot the place you plan the trip is also the place you book the stay, instead of planning in one app and booking in another.
How does Polarsteps make money?
Polarsteps is free and ad-free, and earns mainly from selling its printed photo travel books and related merchandise rather than from subscriptions, ads, or booking commissions. Pilot is free in a different way: it earns from hotels when you book your stay through the app, not from charging you to plan and not from sponsored placement, which is why the whole planner, including the AI itinerary builder, the shared map, and group collaboration, stays free, and why its search results are ranked for you rather than for whoever pays the most.
Is Polarsteps worth it?
If you want to plan a trip, then automatically record where you traveled and turn it into a journal or a printed book, Polarsteps does that for free. The one thing to know is that it cannot book a hotel or any stay, so the booking always happens somewhere else. If you want the booking in the same place as the plan, choosing where to stay and booking it as you plan the days with friends, Pilot covers that and is also free. Many people plan and book the trip in Pilot, since it keeps the plan and the booking in one place at private hotel rates.
Pilot vs Polarsteps: which should I use?
Use Pilot if you want to plan the trip and book it in one place: a flexible itinerary your whole group can build together, a shared map, notes and checklists, and in-app hotel booking at private rates straight from hotels, all free. Use Polarsteps if what you specifically want is its automatic GPS route tracking and a printed photo book to remember the trip, and you're happy to book your stays on other sites. Many travelers plan and book in Pilot and add Polarsteps only for the journaling and the printed-book keepsake.