Guide · 7 min read
The best group trip planning apps in 2026
Most "travel planning" apps are built for solo travelers or couples. Group trips have different needs: proposals with votes, fair expense splitting with exclusions, and a shared source of truth that isn't the group chat. Here's how the main options stack up.
CrewTrip
Best for full group trip planning
Pros
- + Proposals with +1 votes — the crew shapes the itinerary together
- + Expense splitting with exclusions and simplified settle-up
- + Shared photos, packing, and lightweight games built in
- + One trip, one URL, one source of truth
Cons
- – Newer, so less name recognition than Splitwise
Splitwise
Great splitter, nothing else
Pros
- + Best-in-class expense splitting
- + Widely known — everyone can join
Cons
- – No itinerary, no proposals, no photos
- – Free tier is limited on expense count
- – Doesn't model exclusions as cleanly as it should
Wanderlog
Strong for itineraries, weak for group dynamics
Pros
- + Map-first itinerary view
- + Restaurant and place database
Cons
- – No voting / proposal model — one person builds, others watch
- – Expense splitting is a bolt-on
TripIt
For solo travelers with a lot of bookings
Pros
- + Auto-imports flight and hotel confirmations from email
Cons
- – Built for solo business travel, not groups
- – No group collaboration primitives
Notion / Google Docs
Fine to start, painful to finish
Pros
- + Free
- + Infinitely flexible
Cons
- – No expense math
- – No structured voting
- – Turns into a wall of text by day 2 of a trip
How to choose
If you just need to split a shared Airbnb, Splitwise is fine. If one person is building the whole itinerary and everyone else is along for the ride, Wanderlog works. If you want the crew to actually shape the trip together — vote on ideas, split expenses fairly, keep photos and memories in one place — that's the problem CrewTrip is built for.
Try it
Start a crew trip in under a minute
Free to start. Invite the crew, drop your first idea, and skip the group-chat spiral.