I Tested the Top Trip Planner Apps — Here’s the One I’d Use

Planning a trip should feel exciting. But if you’ve ever tried organizing one with friends, you know the reality is usually anything but. Juggling group chats, links, spreadsheets, and scattered ideas? It's chaotic.

As part of building a trip planner, I went deep into research, testing every tool I could find, digging through forums, and comparing features. I wasn’t just looking for what existed; I wanted to understand what was missing.

What I found was surprising: despite how many travel apps claim to help with planning, almost none of them are built for real travelers—especially not for those planning trips with friends.

That gap is what led me to build Pilot. But before I got to that, I wanted to share the research I uncovered along the way.

Here’s what I found.

What Makes a Great Trip Planner App?

The best trip planners should do more than just store booking info, despite what Expedia or TripAdvisor tries to push off as "trip planners".

They should help you organize ideas, build real itineraries, and collaborate with friends without everything falling apart. Ideally, they make planning trips with friends feel as fun as the trip itself.

That means:

• Shared access for everyone involved
• A flexible itinerary builder with maps, links, and custom items
• Tools to import, export, or sync travel details easily
• Built-in discovery features or integrations

What about AI trip planners? Lately, there’s been a wave of ChatGPT-style tools that auto-generate trips based on what’s popular. They’re fine for quick inspo—but the truth is, they aren’t planning a trip for you.

They're just pulling in trends based on everyone else’s preferences. When you’re trying to organize something personal or plan with friends, they tend to fall short. That’s why I didn’t include them in this list.

So without further delay, let's get into the best trip planner apps on the market!

6 Top Trip Planner Apps — Tested & Reviewed

1. Pilot - Collaborative Trip Planner

Best for planning group trips with friends (and yes, I’m building it).

I’ll be upfront: I’m building Pilot.

But that’s precisely why I wanted to write this. None of the existing tools felt like they were actually made for travelers—especially not for groups trying to plan together. Most are either too rigid, too corporate, or trying to upsell you instead of helping you plan.

Pilot is designed to be flexible, collaborative, and actually fun to use. Whether you’re planning solo or with friends, you can build custom itineraries, share and vote on ideas, drop in notes or checklists, and sync bookings automatically.

It even has a built-in chat, map view, and colorful icons so you can keep things organized your way.

Pilot also leverages AI as a tool to help enhance your trip, giving you ideas and suggestions based on your itinerary.

Highlights:

• Real-time group collaboration, chat, and voting
• Import bookings via email, export full trips, or access them offline
• Map view, custom icons, and visual planning tools
• Find and book hotels and things to do directly
• Available on iOS, Android, and web
• 100% free to use

Limitations:

• Limited budgeting & routes functionality
• Still growing—new features are added every month!
• If you prefer a fully done-for-you trip with zero planning, it might not be your thing.
• Limited exploration features (for now).

2. Notion & Google Docs/Sheets

Best for DIY travelers who want full control.

Let’s be honest—this is the default choice. Not because it’s designed for travel, but because nothing better has existed (until recently). People just default to what they know.

Notion is solid if you like building systems. You can create clean, flexible layouts with templates, toggles, tables, and embeds. It gives you full control over how your plans look. It even has AI built in—but it's generic, not travel-focused.

Google Docs/Sheets are even more common, especially for group trips. Docs are good for brainstorming, while Sheets are often used as basic itinerary builders. It works—but it’s easy to get lost in tabs, formatting, and misaligned dates.

Highlights:

• Familiar, free, and shareable
• Fully customizable layout
• Works for solo planning or basic group sharing

Limitations:

• No built-in travel features (maps, bookings, date logic, etc.)
• No automation or integrations
• Manual effort required for everything

3. Google Travel

Best for auto-organizing your bookings post-purchase.

Google Travel quietly does a decent job at organizing trip details once you’ve already booked everything. It scrapes your inbox and pulls in flights, hotel confirmations, and car rentals.

But that’s about where it ends. You can’t actually build or edit itineraries. There’s no collaboration, and no real inspiration or personalization. Over the years, it has put less and less emphasis by shutting down itinerary features and focusing more on travel bookings.

Highlights:

• Automatically gathers bookings from Gmail
• Clean layout with timeline view
• Google Maps integration

Limitations:

• Not built for planning
• No customization or editing tools
• Can’t share or collaborate easily

4. Wanderlog

Most popular, well-rounded "free" trip planner

Wanderlog tries to do a bit of everything—and mostly succeeds. You can build itineraries, see a map view, track expenses, and share plans with others. It even has an AI assistant to help you brainstorm.

That said, the collaboration tools are pretty minimal, and most of the basic features are paywalled. For a tool that charges $40+ per year, it’s a tough sell if you’re not someone who travels every single month.

Besides, why would you pay for import features that Google offers (albeit more manually) for free? That's my biggest gripe with Wanderlog: charging travelers for basic features.

Highlights:

• Budget tracking, checklists, and an itinerary builder
• Map view and public trip guides
• Some AI suggestions

Limitations:

• Limited collaboration tools
• Discovery and booking tools are basic
• Free version lacks  key features

5. TripIt

Best for business travelers or frequent flyers.

TripIt shines when it comes to organizing the logistics after you’ve booked. It scans your email for flights, hotels, and car rentals, and builds a neat timeline so you don’t have to.

But it’s not a planning tool. You can’t use it to brainstorm ideas, build flexible itineraries, or collaborate with a group. The interface also feels exceptionally dated (2008 vibes).

Ever since SAP acquired TripIt, there has been next to no innovation done on the trip planner side.

Highlights:

• Auto-imports travel confirmation emails
• Sends reminders and alerts for travel plans
• Basic timeline and mobile app

Limitations:

• Minimal customization
• Outdated UI
• No planning tools or discovery features
• Not built for group collaboration

6. Roadtrippers

Best for—you guessed it—road trips.

If you’re planning a drive and want to explore hidden gems along the way, Roadtrippers is solid. It helps you plot a route and add stops like scenic viewpoints, diners, and roadside attractions.

But beyond that, it's fairly limited. The free version caps how many stops you can add, and collaboration is almost nonexistent.

Highlights:

• Route-based planning for road trips
• Discover unique roadside stops
• Great for RVs and long-distance drivers

Limitations:

• Not ideal unless you're driving
• Collaboration and itinerary tools are basic
• Free version is very limited

So... What’s the Best Trip Planner App?

Most trip tools fall into one of two categories: either they’re built to store bookings after you’ve made them, or they’re open-ended tools you have to shape yourself. None of them are truly made for collaborative planning from start to finish.

And that’s kind of the point. If you’ve ever tried stitching together group chats, calendar invites, and spreadsheets just to plan one long weekend—you already know how painful it can be.

Planning a trip should be exciting, not exhausting. You deserve a tool that makes it feel that way.

(P.S. If you’re curious what we’re building to solve that, you know where to find us.)