The best apps to track the countries you have visited
A countries-visited app colours in a world map as you travel and counts how much of the world you have seen. The main difference between them is how the map gets filled in: by hand, by GPS on the trip, or from your bookings.
These are the main options, with prices and platforms checked on each company's own site or UK App Store listing. TripStow made this page and is one of the apps listed, so every description is factual and cited.
Last updated 3 October 2026
The short answer
- TripStow: best for a scratch-off map that fills itself in from your booking emails, with flight stats too.
- been: best for a quick, simple map of countries and US states.
- Visited: best for countries, regions and cities, with bucket lists.
- Skratch: best for a scratch map of countries, cities and sights, with travel extras.
- Polarsteps: best for tracking a trip by GPS as it happens and turning it into a printed book.
Side by side
| App | Best for | Price | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| TripStow | a scratch-off map that fills itself in from your booking emails, with flight stats too | Free; Pro £3.99 a month or £29.99 a year, 30-day trial | Web app that installs on iPhone and Android home screens (no App Store or Google Play app yet) |
| been | a quick, simple map of countries and US states | Free; Premium from £1.99 (UK App Store)[1] | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android |
| Visited | countries, regions and cities, with bucket lists | Free; Premium purchases from £9.99 (UK App Store)[2][3] | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Android |
| Skratch | a scratch map of countries, cities and sights, with travel extras | Free; Power Ups bundle £11.99 one-off (UK App Store)[4][5] | iPhone, Android |
| Polarsteps | tracking a trip by GPS as it happens and turning it into a printed book | Free; Polarsteps Plus £24.99 a year (UK App Store)[6][7] | iPhone, Android, web |
Prices and features are as each company published them on 3 October 2026. TripStow made this page; the other apps are trademarks of their owners and are not affiliated with TripStow.
TripStow
Best for a scratch-off map that fills itself in from your booking emails, with flight stats too.
TripStow's scratch-off map is built from the trips you forward or import: once you are home, you scratch each country off, and it is coloured by how you got there (by air, by sea, overland or just passing through). Trips that never had a booking can be added by hand. Every trip also feeds lifetime stats, badges and a flight log. It is a web app that installs on a phone's home screen, with no App Store or Google Play app yet.
been
Best for a quick, simple map of countries and US states.
been is a long-standing, simple tracker: tap the countries and US states you have visited and share the map. Premium adds regions, cities, airports, a 3D globe and a timeline.[1]
Visited
Best for countries, regions and cities, with bucket lists.
Visited maps countries, with Premium adding regions and cities, more than 175 travel lists and itineraries. You add places by hand; it does not use GPS or read photo locations.[2][3]
Skratch
Best for a scratch map of countries, cities and sights, with travel extras.
Skratch is a scratch-off map of countries, cities and attractions with stats and widgets, plus a visa checker and eSIMs.[4][5]
Polarsteps
Best for tracking a trip by GPS as it happens and turning it into a printed book.
Polarsteps follows your route by GPS during a trip, even offline, and adds the countries to your map. Trips can be printed as Travel Books. It does not read booking emails.[6][7]
How we chose
We included apps whose main job, or a main feature, is mapping where you have been. Prices, platforms and features come from each company's own website or UK App Store listing on 3 October 2026, cited below.
Questions people ask
- What is the best free app to track countries visited?
- All five apps here have free plans that map countries. TripStow fills the map in from your bookings; been, Visited and Skratch are filled in by hand; Polarsteps uses GPS during the trip.
- Is there an app that fills in my travel map automatically?
- Yes. TripStow puts countries on your map from the booking emails you forward, ready to scratch off, and Polarsteps adds them by GPS while you travel.
- Do these apps work on Android?
- Yes. been, Visited, Skratch and Polarsteps have Android apps, and TripStow works on Android as an installable web app.
- Does a layover count as visiting a country?
- It depends on the app. TripStow marks a country you only passed through in its own colour, separate from countries reached by air, sea or overland. You can try a free countries visited map without an account.
Sources
- been on the UK App Store (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/been/id680148327), checked 3 October 2026.
- Visited (https://visitedapp.com), checked 3 October 2026.
- Visited on the UK App Store (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/visited-travel-map-tracker/id846983349), checked 3 October 2026.
- Skratch (https://skratch.world), checked 3 October 2026.
- Skratch on the UK App Store (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/skratch-travel-map-esim/id1457438876), checked 3 October 2026.
- Polarsteps Plus (https://www.polarsteps.com/plus), checked 3 October 2026.
- Polarsteps on the UK App Store (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/polarsteps/id947925763), checked 3 October 2026.
- Tripsy on the UK App Store (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tripsy-travel-planner/id1429967544), checked 3 October 2026.
TripStow facts are from the product itself. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@tripstow.com and we will correct it.
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