Polarsteps
Amsterdam travel app that plans the trip, tracks the route and turns it into a book
Summary table
| Company | Polarsteps B.V. |
|---|---|
| Category | Travel Itinerary Planners |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Founded | 2015 |
| EU Presence | Yes - Netherlands (EU) |
| Data Location | Not stated on the pages we read |
| Open Source | No |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | No |
| Main Features | Travel planner with stays and activities, personalised travel tips, automatic route tracker, step-by-step updates, countries visited stats, Trip Reel video, Travel Book |
| Pricing | App is free to download; the terms mention a Plus subscription, but no price is shown on the pages we read. |
| Best For | Travellers who want to plan and then record and share the journey |
| Replaces | TripIt, Wanderlog |
Full review
Polarsteps B.V. is a Dutch company registered in the Netherlands with its address at Nieuwe Looiersstraat 29, 1017 VA Amsterdam. It says it was founded in 2015, has a team of 100+ and counts 23 million-plus travellers.
Polarsteps starts as a planner, where you add stays and activities and see the trip on a map. It then switches to a tracker that records the route while you travel, which is the part TripIt does not cover.
What does Polarsteps offer for planning a trip?
Polarsteps lets you add stays and activities to a trip overview and see the plan plotted on a map. The app also gives personalised travel tips.
Polarsteps is built around the journey, so it does not present itself as a booking-confirmation organiser the way TripIt does.
How does the Polarsteps tracker work?
Polarsteps captures your route automatically, and you add photos, videos and stories along the way. Family and friends can follow the trip step by step.
The privacy notice states that Polarsteps will not sell your personal data and that, unless you change settings, trips are only visible to people following you.
What can Polarsteps make from a finished trip?
Polarsteps creates a shareable Trip Reel video at the push of a button and can turn the trip into a hardback Travel Book.
The book is a paid product. The pages we read do not list its price or the price of the Plus subscription.
Known limits
Polarsteps is aimed at recording and sharing a journey, so it has no stated import of booking emails, flight status alerts or calendar sync on the pages we read. Prices for Plus and the Travel Book are not shown there, and data location is not stated.
Who Polarsteps fits
Choose Polarsteps if you want a travel diary with a planner attached. For booking-first organising, see KDE Itinerary; for planning by day, see Tripomatic.
Strengths and weaknesses
Pros
- Dutch B.V. with a Dutch address and Dutch law in its terms
- Planner, tracker and book in one app
- States it will not sell personal data
- Trips visible only to followers by default
- Free to download
Cons
- No booking-email import stated on the pages we read
- Plus and book prices not shown
- Data location not stated
- Focus on sharing, not on logistics
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Dutch B.V. with a Dutch address and Dutch law in its terms
- Planner, tracker and book in one app
- States it will not sell personal data
- Trips visible only to followers by default
- Free to download
Cons
- No booking-email import stated on the pages we read
- Plus and book prices not shown
- Data location not stated
- Focus on sharing, not on logistics
Alternatives to Polarsteps
Alternatives from Europe in the travel itinerary planners group:
See all European travel itinerary planners or compare them directly against TripIt on our alternatives page.
FAQ
Yes. Polarsteps B.V. is registered in the Netherlands and lists an address at Nieuwe Looiersstraat 29, 1017 VA Amsterdam. Its terms are governed by Dutch law.
Polarsteps has a travel tracker that captures your route automatically. Trips are visible only to the people following you unless you change the app settings.
For planning stays and activities and for sharing the trip, yes. For forwarded booking emails and flight alerts, the pages we read do not show the same features as TripIt.