Comparison
Plot a Trip vs Roadtrippers
Both are map-centric trip planners, but they're built for different kinds of travel. Plot a Trip plans any trip worldwide with multi-modal transport and budget tracking. Roadtrippers is purpose-built for North American road trips with POI discovery. Here's how they compare.
TL;DR
Choose Plot a Trip if you travel internationally, need budget tracking with multi-currency support, plan multi-modal trips combining flights, trains, and driving, want real-time collaboration with voting, want a generous free tier with unlimited stops, or want a more affordable Pro plan. Choose Roadtrippers if you're planning a North American road trip, need RV-specific routing with vehicle dimensions, want to discover roadside attractions and hidden gems along your route, or need campground and RV park integration.
See the Difference
Plot a Trip: Full-screen interactive map
Color-coded routes, transport icons, snap-to-road routing worldwide
Plot a Trip: Budget tracking
Multi-currency support, cost splitting, daily burn rate — features Roadtrippers doesn't offer
Different Types of Trip Planners
Roadtrippers is built specifically for road trips. It excels at one thing: plotting a driving route and discovering interesting stops along the way. Its database of roadside attractions, quirky landmarks, scenic views, campgrounds, and local restaurants is unmatched. Plot a Trip is built for any kind of travel. Whether you're backpacking through Southeast Asia, island-hopping in Greece, taking trains across Europe, or driving down the Pacific Coast, Plot a Trip handles multi-modal itineraries with flights, trains, buses, ferries, and driving all in one trip. If your travel is exclusively North American road trips, Roadtrippers is purpose-built for you. If you travel more broadly, Plot a Trip is the more versatile tool.
Map & Route Experience
Both apps put the map front and center, but they approach it differently. Roadtrippers shows your driving route as a line on the map with points of interest clustered along the corridor — great for discovering what's near your route. Plot a Trip shows your full itinerary with color-coded routes between destinations, transport type icons, snap-to-road routing along actual roads, and great-circle arcs for flights. Roadtrippers is optimized for "what should I stop at between A and B." Plot a Trip is optimized for "how does my entire multi-stop trip connect together visually." Both approaches have merit; it depends on how you travel.
Budget Tracking
This is a clear differentiator. Roadtrippers has no budget tracking features whatsoever — no expense logging, no spending categories, no multi-currency support. Plot a Trip includes comprehensive budget tools: per-stop breakdowns, daily burn rate charts, spending by category, multi-currency auto-conversion with live exchange rates, cost splitting among group members, and settlement summaries. If managing trip finances is important to you — especially for international trips where you're dealing with multiple currencies — Plot a Trip is the only option here.
International Travel
Roadtrippers only works in four countries: the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. If you want to plan a trip to Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, or anywhere else, Roadtrippers simply won't work. Plot a Trip works worldwide with full routing support across all countries and continents. This is perhaps the most fundamental difference — if you travel internationally at all, Roadtrippers can't be your primary trip planner.
Where Roadtrippers Wins
Let's be honest about Roadtrippers' strengths. Its POI discovery for North American road trips is genuinely excellent — the database of roadside attractions, hidden gems, campgrounds, and scenic viewpoints is built from millions of past trips and user contributions. RV-specific routing with vehicle dimension awareness is a feature no general-purpose trip planner matches. Campground and RV park integration with amenity details and availability is valuable for that audience. And the AI Autopilot feature can generate entire road trip routes with curated stops. If you're an RV traveler or frequent North American road-tripper, Roadtrippers is purpose-built for your needs.
Pricing
Plot a Trip Pro is $29.99/year. Roadtrippers Plus is $59.99/year — exactly double the price. The free tier gap is even more striking: Plot a Trip allows unlimited stops per trip (up to 3 active trips), while Roadtrippers limits free users to just 7 stops per trip, which barely covers a weekend getaway. Plot a Trip also offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, while Roadtrippers doesn't offer a free trial at all. You're paying twice as much for Roadtrippers and getting a much more restrictive free tier.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | Plot a Trip | Roadtrippers |
|---|---|---|
| Core Approach | ||
| Primary focus | Multi-modal trip planning worldwide | Road trip routing in North America |
| Map interface | Full-screen, color-coded routes | Route-focused with POI discovery |
| International coverage | US, CA, AU, NZ only | |
| Multi-modal transport | Flights, trains, buses, ferries, driving | Driving only |
| RV-specific routing | — | |
| Trip Planning | ||
| Itinerary builder | Route waypoints | |
| Accommodation tracking | Campground discovery | |
| Activity scheduling | — | |
| Drag-and-drop reorder | ||
| Timeline view | — | |
| Roadside attraction discovery | — | |
| AI trip suggestions | — | AI Autopilot |
| Budget & Expenses | ||
| Budget tracking | — | |
| Multi-currency support | — | |
| Cost splitting | Pro | — |
| Per-stop breakdown | — | |
| Collaboration | ||
| Real-time co-editing | Pro | Pro |
| Live presence indicators | Pro | — |
| Activity voting | Pro | — |
| Comments on stops | Pro | — |
| Trip sharing | ||
| Platform & Pricing | ||
| Web app | ||
| Mobile app | Coming soon | iOS + Android |
| Free tier stops | Unlimited stops, 3 trips | 7 stops per trip |
| Pro price (annual) | $29.99/yr | $59.99/yr |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | None |
Choose Plot a Trip if you...
- Travel internationally beyond North America
- Need budget tracking with multi-currency support
- Plan trips combining flights, trains, and driving
- Want real-time collaboration with voting and comments
- Want a generous free tier with unlimited stops
- Want a more affordable Pro plan ($29.99 vs $59.99/yr)
Choose Roadtrippers if you...
- Are planning a North American road trip
- Need RV-specific routing with vehicle dimensions
- Want to discover roadside attractions and hidden gems
- Need campground and RV park integration
- Prefer a native mobile app today
- Want AI-powered route suggestions from millions of past trips
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Plot a Trip a good alternative to Roadtrippers?
Does Plot a Trip have RV routing?
Is Plot a Trip cheaper than Roadtrippers?
Can I plan international trips on Roadtrippers?
Which is better for road trips?
Plan Any Trip, Anywhere
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