EWIG › Compare › EWIG vs Polarsteps

EWIG vs Polarsteps (2026): an honest comparison

The short answer

Pick Polarsteps if you want your route recorded automatically while you travel — it tracks offline, uses little battery and has a huge community. Pick EWIG if you want your trips turned into a story written for you on a free 3D globe, group trips you plan and vote on together, and trips run by local hosts.

Photo Scan builds trips from your camera roll

One Idea Board for the group: vote and chat

Side by side

	EWIG	Polarsteps
Recording a trip	Photo Scan reads the date and place of your photos and builds the trip and its stops. Run it again during a trip to add new photos. No background route tracking.	The Travel Tracker records your route with GPS, works offline, and Polarsteps says it uses under 4% battery a day. Photos and notes go on each “step”.
Past trips	Once you allow photo access, Photo Scan goes through your camera roll and builds every trip and its stops from the photos’ dates and places.	You create the trip and its steps and upload photos yourself; with photo access allowed, it suggests photos taken near each step. It doesn’t build trips from your camera roll.
Waiting for photos	The app is ready as soon as the scan finishes on your phone; photos upload to the cloud (and the web) in the background while you use it.	In our testing, loading a large photo library took a long time, and the app asked us to come back once it had finished.
The map	A 3D globe, free. Walk-through flies stop by stop with each stop’s photos and story.	A world map of your route, free. 3D maps and route replay (“Play mode”) need Plus.
Writing the story	The AI Story Creator writes a first-person story from your photos, one part per stop; edit or regenerate any part.	You write each step yourself. We found no AI writing for journals or captions.
Planning a trip	AI Trip Planner: a day-by-day itinerary with a booking link for every stop (Booking.com, Expedia, Viator, GetYourGuide, OpenTable), walkable on the globe.	Travel Planner plus a free AI Trip Planner that builds an editable multi-stop route; lodging search via Booking.com, Airbnb and Hostelworld; flight lookup.
Planning with friends	Share one invite link. Everyone adds options to the trip’s Idea Board, votes on them and chats inside the trip; the winners become the itinerary.	“Travel Buddies” (5 per trip, 10 with Plus) can edit the plan and post steps. Polarsteps advises one editor at a time, then “Sync now”. No voting found.
Trips with locals	Marketplace: join group trips, one-day activities and free meetups run by local hosts and pros — or host your own.	No hosted trips or marketplace found.
Meeting other travelers	Solo Connect shows solo travelers heading to the same place at the same time, with messaging ($5.99/month or $49.99/year in the US).	No in-app feature found (a one-city dinner pilot ran in Boston in August 2026).
Printed books	Photo books printed by Lulu: 8.5 × 11 in, softcover, hardcover or linen, standard or premium color, one trip or several. Priced by page count, plus shipping.	Travel Book: A4 hardcover (or lay-flat), laid out automatically with route maps and stats. Priced by page range, free shipping; 20% off with yearly Plus.
Trip videos	Share Video makes a short film of any trip to post anywhere.	Trip Reels: up to 60 seconds (3:15 edited), needs 10+ photos; map flyovers on iPhone only.
Privacy	Every trip is Only me, Followers (default) or On Discover. Trips are public only when you publish a story. Optional follow approval.	Trips are Only me, Followers (default) or Everyone; follow approval on by default; options to hide live and start location.
Platforms	iPhone, Android and the web.	iPhone and Android; planning, past trips and Travel Books on the web. Tracking is app-only.
Price	Free. Optional: Solo Connect, printed books, and the host’s fee when you join a hosted trip.	Free and ad-free. Optional Polarsteps Plus: €8.99/month or €29.99/year (US App Store: $9.99/month, $34.99/year).

Polarsteps details checked 29 October 2026 from the sources below. Prices can vary by region; features change — check their site for the latest.

Where Polarsteps is the better pick

You want your route recorded automatically while you travel, even offline, without thinking about it.
You want a proven app with a very large community: 20M+ travelers, rated 4.9★ on the App Store and 4.7★ on Google Play.
You mainly want a printed travel book with route maps and stats laid out for you.

Where EWIG is the better pick

You want to start using the app right after your photos are scanned, with uploads finishing in the background.
You want the story written for you, and a 3D globe you can walk through stop by stop — free.
You plan trips with friends and want to vote on options and chat in one place.
You want to join, or host, trips run by locals, or meet other solo travelers.

A note on privacy

In September 2026 Dutch outlet Follow the Money reported that Polarsteps’ systems let outsiders collect photos and GPS points from public and followers-only trips; Polarsteps disputes calling it a breach and has since tightened its API, links and follow settings. (Polarsteps’ response.) On EWIG, trips are visible to followers by default and become public only when you publish a story to Discover; photos stay on your phone until you choose to post them.

Questions

Is EWIG a good Polarsteps alternative?

Yes. Both turn your trips and photos into a map you can share. EWIG adds an AI-written trip story, a free 3D globe walkthrough, group planning with voting and trips hosted by locals. Polarsteps is stronger at automatic offline route tracking.

Can I add trips I took years ago?

Yes, in both. In EWIG, Photo Scan (with your permission) builds the trips and stops from the dates and places of your photos. In Polarsteps you create each trip and step and upload the photos yourself, with location-based photo suggestions.

Does Polarsteps write your trip story with AI?

We found no AI writing for journals in Polarsteps; its AI is used for trip planning. EWIG's AI Story Creator writes the story from your photos, one part per stop.

Is Polarsteps free? Is EWIG free?

Both are free to use. Polarsteps Plus costs €8.99 a month or €29.99 a year (US App Store $9.99 / $34.99) and adds 3D maps and more. EWIG's paid extras are optional: Solo Connect, printed books and host fees.

See EWIG in action

Turn your photos into trips · Write your trip story with AI · Walk a trip on the globe · Plan with friends · An example traveler portfolio

Sources

Try it on your own trips

EWIG is free on iPhone, Android and the web.

Get the app Open EWIG on the web