Start with Wanderlog for a shared itinerary and map, Splitwise for shared expenses, or TripIt for booking details. Polarsteps suits a small group that wants to plan and keep a travel journal together. Consider NomadCrew when you want trip chat and shared costs together, after checking that everyone can join.
The useful question is what your friends need to do without asking you. Finding the hotel address, changing a dinner plan and checking a repayment are different jobs. Choose around the one that keeps coming back to you.
This is NomadCrew’s blog. The comparison uses the linked providers’ product pages and help documents, checked on September 28, 2026. It is not a hands-on ranking of every app. The recommendations below are our judgement about which documented features fit each job.
Choose by the job
| Your group needs to… | Start with | The detail that could change your choice |
|---|---|---|
| Build a route and add places together | Wanderlog | View and edit access differ; offline access is a Pro feature |
| Keep trip chat and shared costs together | NomadCrew | iPhone and Android are publicly listed |
| Record expenses and work out repayments | Splitwise | The free tier has a daily expense-entry limit |
| Share booking details with selected people | TripIt | View-only access hides confirmation numbers and attached documents |
| Plan stops and contribute to a travel journal | Polarsteps | One owner can invite five others; planned-step edits need coordination |
Wanderlog: when the route is the work
If friends keep sending places they want to visit, Wanderlog puts those places on a map alongside the itinerary. It supports live collaboration, and its sharing settings distinguish people who can view from people who can edit.
Give a friend edit access and ask them to add a lunch stop near the afternoon activity. That tests both the tool and the handover: can they make a useful change, or are you still copying their suggestions into the plan?
Wanderlog also documents expense tracking and cost splitting. Try those before adding a separate money app. If you need the itinerary without a connection, its site lists offline access under Pro. Check that the people who need it have the required access before departure.
The Wanderlog comparison covers the choice when you also want to coordinate the group during the trip.
NomadCrew: when chat and costs keep sending you between apps
NomadCrew brings trip chat and shared expense tracking into the same app. It is worth considering when a friend has to search the group chat to understand an expense. The chat and expenses comparison looks at that specific need.
NomadCrew records shared costs and helps the group work out settlement. It does not collect or transfer money; repayments happen through your usual bank or payment app.
NomadCrew is publicly available on the App Store for iPhone and Google Play for Android. Keep the existing plan available until everyone has joined and found what they need.
Splitwise: when the plan is fine but the money needs a record
If everyone already knows where to go and when, adding another itinerary may create more work. Splitwise supports equal and unequal splits, percentages and shares, and keeps track of balances within a group.
The important test is a cost that only some people share. In an illustrative six-person trip, a taxi costs €36 and carries three friends. The entry should charge those three €12 each, with no share assigned to the other travellers. Have a friend check the entry before you start recording the trip’s real spending.
Splitwise’s free tier has a daily entry limit. If you expect to enter several meals, taxis and tickets each day, read the limit and your alternatives before committing the group.
Agree which costs to share first. The split settings can implement an agreement; they cannot decide whether someone who missed dinner should pay for it. Our Splitwise comparison covers when an expense tracker is enough for the trip.
TripIt: when the bookings are scattered
TripIt is a candidate when you need to share an itinerary containing bookings. Its private invitations offer view or edit permissions, including an option for an editor who is travelling.
TripIt says only invitees with editing permission can see confirmation numbers, total cost, frequent-traveller information and attached documents. Someone able to see a hotel in the itinerary may still be unable to retrieve its confirmation number. Test the details another traveller would need at check-in before relying on the shared trip.
A public link provides a view of the trip without those details. Use private invitations when choosing who needs fuller access, and adjust permissions deliberately. The TripIt comparison covers the broader group-trip decision.
Polarsteps: when the group wants a shared travel journal
Polarsteps Travel Together lets a trip owner invite up to five other people. They can contribute photos and videos to the trip. The group can also add, edit and remove planned stops.
That suits a group of up to six contributors who want to plan and record the same journey. A larger group cannot give everyone a contributor place within that documented limit.
For planning, Polarsteps recommends that one person changes planned stops at a time and everyone syncs before the next person edits. If your friends want to rearrange different days simultaneously, try that workflow before choosing it as the main itinerary. The Polarsteps comparison explores the distinction between recording a trip and coordinating it.
Test one handover before moving the whole trip
Invite one friend, preferably someone using a different phone platform. Use sample information rather than uploading every booking at once. Run the checks that match the job you chose.
- Find: For an itinerary or booking app, ask them to locate the accommodation address and check-in time without your help. If they need a booking document, check whether their permission lets them open it.
- Change: Ask them to move a sample activity from 2pm to 3pm. Check that you both see the new time. For an expense-only app, have them correct a sample amount instead.
- Explain: If you will track money, enter a sample cost shared by only part of the group. Ask your friend who owes what and to whom. Remove the sample afterwards.
- Keep access: Save essential arrival details somewhere you can open without a connection. Where the app offers offline access, test it in airplane mode.
If you change itinerary apps after the trial, agree where the final plan lives and stop maintaining a second editable version elsewhere. Keep the group chat for conversation if that already works for everyone. For the next step, use our shared itinerary setup to give each booking an owner and make changes visible to the group.