2 Polarsteps Alternatives Compared in 2026

Updated 26 October 2026. Disclosure: I built NomadSwipe, which is Android only.

Polarsteps is a travel journal: it records your route automatically and can turn a trip into a printed Travel Book. Polarsteps Plus costs €8.99 a month or €29.99 a year. NomadSwipe does a different job, a swipe-through shortlist of real places in one city. Wanderlog builds itineraries on a map.

Most people who look at Polarsteps want one of three things: a record of a trip as it happens, a printed book afterwards, or help choosing where to go and what to see. This page covers the other options for the second and third jobs. It names only the two alternatives whose sites we read on this date, and it says where Polarsteps is the better choice.

At a glance

NomadSwipe

Best for: choosing places in a city by swiping

NomadSwipe is an Android trip planner for finding places. You pick a city and it shows real places one card at a time. Tap Save or swipe right to keep a place, and tap Skip or swipe left to pass. Saved places are pinned on a map for that trip.

• Strength: a quick way to build a shortlist of places before you have a plan.

• Limit: it does not record your route or make a Travel Book. The Google Play listing describes swiping, saving and a map, and does not describe route planning.
• Limit: it is Android only.

The base plan includes 3 trips, 2 destination searches and 2 custom pins a month, with limited swipes. Premium (Monthly or Lifetime, bought in the app) removes those limits. Up to 20 recent trips are kept on your phone.

Get NomadSwipe on Google Play

Polarsteps

Best for: recording a trip and printing it as a book

Polarsteps captures your route automatically while you travel, lets you add steps with photos and videos, and can turn the trip into a hardback Travel Book. Its homepage says the app has no ads and shows a 4.7 rating from 370K ratings.

The help center says the core app stays as it is for people who do not subscribe. That includes trip tracking, unlimited photos and videos, sharing, planning with an itinerary builder, forwarding booking confirmations, and collaborative planning with Travel Buddies. Plus adds 3D maps, Play mode, more map styles, step stats and elevation, up to 10 Travel Buddies (5 without Plus), and a 20% discount on Travel Books. That discount needs the yearly plan.

• Strength: automatic route tracking and a printed Travel Book, which NomadSwipe does not offer.

• Limit: the extra features and the Travel Book discount sit behind Plus, and the discount needs the yearly plan.

Wanderlog

Best for: building an itinerary with a map

Wanderlog's homepage describes one app for all travel planning: detailed itineraries, your itinerary and map in one view, and booking management. Reviews on the same page praise its AI feature and route optimization. We did not read its price this run, so check its site before you decide.

• Strength: the itinerary and the map sit in one view, and its homepage reviews praise route optimization.

• Limit: the homepage does not describe automatic route tracking or printed books, which are Polarsteps' main strengths.

Which to choose

• You want a log of the trip and a printed book: Polarsteps.
• You want to shortlist real places in one city on Android: NomadSwipe.
• You want a day-by-day itinerary with a map: Wanderlog, after you check its current price.

Questions people ask

See also: Roadtrippers alternatives · Wanderlog alternatives · TripIt alternatives · NomadSwipe home · All comparisons