TripIt vs Wanderlog - Which Travel Planner is Best for You?

TripIt vs Wanderlog - Which Travel Planner is Best for You?

Now you don't need to spend days planning your next trip. With travel apps, you can easily book flights, find hotels, manage costs, and organize everything in one place.

TripIt and Wanderlog are two of the most popular travel planning apps today. Many people often get confused between TripIt vs Wanderlog.

If you’re also one trying to figure out which one is better for your next trip, this guide is for you.

Wanderlog vs TripIt - Comparison Table

TripIt is best for frequent travellers with automation features, while Wanderlog is best for groups who love their trip planning with features like virtual plans, budget tracking, and shared maps.

Category TripIt Wanderlog
Launch Year 2012 2019
Primary Focus Automated itinerary management Visual, map-based trip planning
Ideal For Business travelers and frequent flyers Group travelers and casual explorers
Itinerary Creation Automatic via email forwarding Manual and interactive
Budgeting & Expense Tracking Not available Built-in budgeting, expense tracking, and cost splitting
Offline Access Available for itineraries (limited) Available in Pro plan (maps, routes, notes offline)
Customization Limited Highly Customizable
Route Optimization Not available Available in pro plan
Real-time Alerts Yes (flight changes, gate updates, cancellations) No (focuses on planning, not tracking)
Team/Group Planning Limited sharing only Full collaboration, voting, and commenting
Pro Price $49.99/year (30-day free trial) $39.99–$59.99/year (7-day free trial)
Best For Frequent flyers, business travelers Leisure travelers, families, group trips

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History of TripIt and Wanderlog

TripIt is one of the oldest travel apps, launched in 2012 when most travel tools didn’t even exist. Over the years, it has become a trusted and reliable choice for travelers.

Wanderlog, on the other hand, is a newer app launched in 2019. It’s designed for modern travelers who prefer a more visual, map-based, and collaborative way to plan trips.

Feature Comparison

TripIt offers key features such as flight booking confirmation and creating a master itinerary. Similarly, Wanderlog provides features like building trips by dragging pins on maps, adding notes, and collaborating with friends in real time.

1. Itinerary Creation and Management

TripIt’s main strength is its automation. You simply forward your flight or hotel confirmations to plans@tripit.com , and it organizes everything automatically.

Wanderlog takes a more interactive approach. It allows you to start your trip even before you have booked anything. You can name your trip, add destinations, explore the maps and pin your favourite attractions. In short, it is best for the early planner who loves to explore ideas before booking any plans.

2. Collaboration and Sharing

If you’re planning with a group, Wanderlog is the better choice. It allows you to plan the same itinerary with multiple people's collaboration, same like google docs. You share links or invitations and give “view only” or “edit” access, letting everyone contribute ideas, create checklists, edit plans, vote on places, share notes, and more.

TripIt also allows sharing, but it’s limited. Others can view your itineraries, but they cannot make any changes in real time.

3. Budgeting and Expenses

TripIt doesn’t include any budgeting tools. You can track flights and hotels, but you cannot manage expenses or split costs.

But Wanderlog is ahead here, they have inbuilt budget tracking, expenses categorization and even group cost splitting features, similar to Splitwise. You can track how much you spent on food, flight, activities and more, in short you can track all your travel expenses.

4. Unique and Advanced Features

TripIt’s advanced features include real-time flight alerts, gate updates, cancellation notices, baggage claim details, seat tracking, airport maps, and fare refund alerts. These are too good, like even faster than many airlines. Plus, TripIt also tracks your carbon footprint and shows neighborhood safety scores, which is great for travelers who care about safety and sustainability.

On the other hand, Wanderlog focuses more on creative and flexible trip planning. It uses AI to help you plan routes, optimize itineraries, and build trips directly on an interactive map. One of its core features is the live map view, where AI suggests top attractions and destinations, making it easy to plan visually.

5. Offline Access

Offline access can be a dealbreaker, especially in mountainous and rural areas where connections are often weak.

Well, TripIt offers offline access to view itineraries, but most of its real-time features like updating plans, flight alerts and more need the internet.

Similarly, Wanderlog also provides offline access, but only for Pro users. You can use the maps, routes, and take notes without having an internet connection.

Wanderlog vs TripIt Pricing

Both TripIt and Wanderlog have both free and premium plans.

TripIt Premium costs around $49.99 per year, where you get access to pro features like ad removal, faster flight updates, real-time flight alerts, alternate flight suggestions, seat tracking, fare monitoring, and carbon tracking. It also comes with a 30-day free trial.

Wanderlog Pro costs between $39.99 and $59.99 per year, depending on plans and promotions. It has features like offline maps, route optimisation, Gmail import, AI trip suggestion, and Google Maps export, along with a 7-day free trial period.

Pros and Cons

Like everything else, both TripIt and Wanderlog have their pros and cons.

TripIt Pros:

  • Automatic email import and itinerary creation.
  • Fast and reliable flight alerts.
  • Great for frequent flyers and business travelers.
  • Integrates with calendars, ride services, and booking platforms.
  • Highly accurate email scanning.

TripIt Cons

  • Dated interface and less visual design.
  • No budgeting or collaborative planning.
  • Lacks route optimization and city exploration tools.

Wanderlog Pros:

  • Map-based, colorful, and easy to use.
  • Built-in budgeting and expense tracking.
  • Real-time collaboration and commenting.
  • AI planning, explore tab, and route optimization.
  • Offline access in Pro.

Wanderlog Cons:

  • Occasional lag due to heavy visuals.
  • Some data entries are still manual.
  • Pro plan slightly pricier than TripIt.

TripIt vs Wanderlog - Which App Is Best for Whom?

If you are a frequent traveller for business, then TripIt can be best for you. It is quick and automated, best for people who have no time. You forward your emails, and the apps do the rest.

But if you travel just for fun and mainly in groups, like with family and friends, then Wanderlog is best for you. It lets you plan flexible trips, brainstorm destinations, track budgets, and collaborate with your group in real time.

In short, TripIt is ideal for those who want minimal setup and maximum automation, while Wanderlog is best for travelers who enjoy planning and exploring together.

Final Verdict

Both TripIt and Wanderlog are best depending on your needs. Go through their features and find which is better for you.

I prefer Wanderlog as they have many premium features, and what I love most is their group planning option. Plus, its AI is the cherry on top, as it allows you to discover the best destinations easily. Also, I enjoy trips more than depending too much on automation, and this is the reason why I like Wanderlog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What apps can I integrate with TripIt and Wanderlog?

You can integrate calendar apps like Google Calendar, Apple, Outlook and booking services with TripIt. Similarly, Wanderlog integrates with Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, and booking sites like Google Hotels and TripAdvisor.

Q2. Is a Wanderlog subscription worth it?

Yes, a Wanderlog subscription is definitely worth it, especially if you often travel in groups. The Pro plan includes useful features like offline access, route optimization, and AI-powered trip planning.

Q3. Which app is better than Wanderlog?

Well, TripIt can be better than Wanderlog for something, especially for automation. But still, for flexibility, visual planning, Wanderlog is best.

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