One app for the whole trip

Most groups plan trips across four or five apps: a chat for discussion, a spreadsheet for money, a notes app for lists, and a doc nobody opens. Vacationist puts the entire group-trip workflow in one place — and everyone can join with a single link, no account required.

The core features

Activity voting →

Suggest activities and let the group decide with a 5-tier voting system — from "must do" to "group blocker." No other travel app has it, and it ends the endless group-chat debates. Learn how voting works.

Expense splitting →

Log every shared cost with a category and a receipt attached, split it equally or with custom amounts, and watch balances update in real time. Flag business costs — on expenses, bookings, or transport — and export a per-person report for work trips. See how expense splitting works.

Shared shopping & packing lists →

Live lists that sync to every phone instantly — plus a unique recipe-to-shopping-list sync for group cooking. Explore shared lists.

Transfers & flights →

Vote on flights, manage rental cars and public transport, assign who rides with whom, and keep every ticket and boarding pass attached to the journey. See how transfers work.

Encrypted travel documents →

Passports and IDs stored encrypted at rest, protected by a biometric lock, shareable with the organizer temporarily — and revocable anytime. Read about the document vault.

Trip costs & analytics →

A live per-trip cost total against your budget, plus an Analytics tab showing your own share of every trip you've taken, by year — in your currency. See how trip cost tracking works.

And everything around them

• Guest access without an account — send one link and the whole group is in. Nobody has to sign up to vote, edit lists, or be part of expenses.
• Real-time sync — every vote, expense, and list change appears on everyone's device instantly.
• Offline first — the app keeps working on planes, ferries, and mountain trails, then syncs when you're back.
• Shared trip calendar — winning activities, accommodations, and transfers in one timeline everyone can see.
• Accommodation management — collect options, vote on them, and keep confirmations where the group can find them. Each place keeps its own currency and can be flagged as a business cost.
• Group chat — trip discussion next to the plan it's about, not lost in a parallel WhatsApp thread. Drafts survive switching tabs.
• Add an expense from your home screen — a long-press shortcut on the app icon jumps straight to logging a cost for your active trip.
• Vacation tracker — the whole trip and its spending at a glance.

Frequently asked questions

Is Vacationist free?

Yes — the core app is free with no ads. A Pro tier adds more planning days per year and unlimited members for large groups.

What platforms does it run on?

iOS, Android, and the web. Friends on any device can also participate through the web app via invite link, no install required.

How is Vacationist different from Splitwise or Wanderlog?

Splitwise does expenses only; Wanderlog focuses on itineraries with light collaboration. Vacationist is built around the group — voting, shared costs, shared lists, guest access — in one app. Read the detailed comparisons: Vacationist vs. Splitwise and Vacationist vs. Wanderlog.