Trekit or Polarsteps
Polarsteps is built around the trip: switch on the tracker, the route draws itself, and you print a book at the end. Trekit is built around the map: everything you’ve ever done, from the years before you had an app, as one page that is also your profile.
From Polarsteps’ own pages, as of October 2026. Sources.
Polarsteps does the live trip better than anyone. The tracker costs about 4% of battery a day, works without a connection and syncs later; steps hold photos, videos and stories; followers get updates; and the Travel Book is the thing people buy. Trips default to followers only, new accounts approve each follower, and you can download a copy of your data from the website.
Trekit fills from your Google Maps Timeline, your photos’ locations and dates, Google Maps Saved places or a pasted list, read in your browser. Polarsteps adds past trips by hand and has no GPX or location-file import.
Trekit has no background tracking at all. Polarsteps’ tracker is opt-in per trip and not live, but it is the point of the app.
A Polarsteps embed shows one trip. A Trekit embed or profile shows everywhere you’ve been, and your next trip sits on the same map.
Invite friends by name, @name, email or a link; everyone edits the same trip; afterwards, tick what you made it to and it lands on your map as been.
Nothing to install, no account to start. Polarsteps is free with an optional subscription.
| Feature | Trekit | Polarsteps |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | In the browser, on your phone and computer. Nothing to install; add it to your home screen if you like. | An app (App Store) and a website. |
| Bringing in trips you’ve already taken | From your Google Maps Timeline, Google Maps Saved places, your photos’ locations and dates, or a pasted list. All read in your browser; photos are never uploaded for this. | Add past trips and their steps by hand on the website. No GPX or other location-file import. |
| Tracking you as you travel | No background tracking. “Trekit here” pins where you are once, when you ask. | Automatic route tracking, switched on per trip: about 4% of battery a day, works offline, not live. |
| What each place holds | Been, want to go or planning; a note, the month, up to 3 photos, and a drawing as its pin if you want one. | Steps with photos, videos and stories; spots and activities; how you got there. |
| Your map as a page to share | trekit.app/@you, with your places and notes. You choose: anyone with the link (the default), public, or only me. | Per trip: only me, followers (the default) or everyone. New accounts approve each follower. |
| Planning the next trip | Stops, dates, places and things to do, on the same map as everywhere you’ve been. Friends edit the same trip; afterwards, tick what you made it to. | An AI itinerary, planned steps, stays and transport; forward booking emails to the plan. |
| Following other travellers | Follow friends and travellers; see where they’ve been lately and add their places, with their note, to your map. No likes, no ads, no algorithm. | Follow other explorers and see where they went; followers get your trip updates. |
| On your own blog | A picture or a live map of your whole map, one line of code; it updates as you travel. | An embed link for a basic map of one trip, from the website. A WordPress plugin exists, by a third party, not officially supported. |
| Getting your data out | “Export my map” gives you everything as a file, any time, in the app. | Download a copy of your data from the website; the link comes by email. No PDF export. |
| Printed | — | Travel Books and posters, printed and shipped. |
| Days in each country, for visas and tax | Comingdays per country from the places and dates already on your map, for the Schengen 90/180 rule and residency. | — |
| Offline | The map page keeps working offline after your first visit. | Tracks, and lets you edit steps, without a connection; syncs later. |
| What it costs | Free. Everything in the app is open to everyone. | Free, with an optional subscription for 3D maps, map styles, elevation and step statistics. |
Not yet. Polarsteps lets you download a copy of your data; Trekit doesn’t read that file today. Your Google Maps Timeline and photos cover the same trips.
No. Polarsteps does, and does it well.
No. You pin places, or bring them in from your Timeline and photos. Nothing runs in the background.
Yes: people who follow you see the places you add. The trip itself is shared with the people planning it with you; your map’s visibility is anyone with the link, public, or only me.
In September 2026, DutchNews reported a Follow the Money investigation: for months, a Polarsteps data feed could be read without logging in, exposing 230 million photos and a billion GPS points from about two million trips, including follower-only ones; home addresses could be worked out from photo metadata. Polarsteps said no passwords or accounts were compromised, disputed that it was a breach, and then required approval for new followers, limited bulk collection and invalidated existing secret links. The reports are linked below.
Everything above about another app comes from its own store listing, website or help pages, read in October 2026. Apps change; if a line is out of date, email jacob@trekit.app and we’ll fix it. The names are used only to say which app is which.