Been and Polarsteps alternatives for tracking where you've been
Travel trackers fall into three groups: apps that count countries on a map, apps that record a journey as you go, and apps that plan a trip in detail. Gan sits between the first two. It's a map of where you've been and where you're going, built around the countries you choose rather than background GPS.
At a glance
| App | Best for | How it works | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gan | A shareable map of visited, planned and wishlist countries | You add countries and trips; no background tracking. Country count, timeline, photos, passport stamps, friend comparison, private family profiles. | Browser and installable web app |
| Been | Counting countries and comparing with friends | Manual country map, continent ratios. Premium adds regions and cities. | iOS and Android |
| Polarsteps | Automatic journey journals | Records your route in the background and builds a journal you can print as a book. | iOS, Android, web |
| Pin Traveler | Pinning places and a bucket list | Manual pins on a world map with stats and wishlist. | iOS and Android |
| Visited Countries Map | A quick shareable map | Click countries on a free web map. | Browser |
| Wanderlog / Stippl | Detailed itinerary planning | Day-by-day plans, budgets, bookings and collaboration. | Apps and web |
Based on each app's public description. Features and pricing change, so check their sites for the latest.
Gan vs Been
Been is a long-standing country counter. Gan covers the same ground (visited countries, continent stats, comparing with friends) and adds planned trips and a wishlist as separate states on the same map, a trip timeline, trip photos and passport stamps. It runs in your browser, so there's nothing to install from an app store.
Compare with friends, and keep the family on the map
Gan lets you compare your map with friends to see the countries you've both visited, the ones only one of you has, and the ones neither of you has. You can also add separate profiles for your children, babies, pets and relatives. Each one has a child lock that's on by default, so it stays private; you pick exactly which friends can view it, and they can only view, never edit.
Gan vs Polarsteps
Polarsteps is the pick if you want your route recorded automatically while you travel. Gan is the pick if you'd rather keep a clean map of countries and trips without background location tracking or battery drain, and look back across all your travels in one place.
Which should you choose?
- Want a map of every country you've visited, trips you've planned and places you want to go: Gan.
- Want automatic route logging on a single trip: Polarsteps.
- Want detailed day-by-day itineraries and bookings: Wanderlog or Stippl.
Gan is built in Scotland by Nicole Christie. Read about it and what "Gan Far" means.