Comparison

Highlights vs Wanderlog

Wanderlog is a workspace where you and your friends build a trip. Highlights writes the trip for you from one sentence. Most people who compare them need only one of those jobs.

Published by Highlights · checked Nov 9, 2026

Highlights is our app. Every line about Wanderlog comes from Wanderlog's own pages, opened on November 9, 2026 and listed under Sources. Where Wanderlog does a job better, we say so. No scores and no affiliate links.

Should I use Wanderlog or Highlights?

Wanderlog is best for a group that wants to build one itinerary together, with costs and reservations in the same place. Highlights is best for someone who wants every day written from one sentence, and it isn't for a group that needs to edit the plan together or split costs.

Pick Wanderlog if

Several of you want to edit the same plan at the same time.
You want to track a budget and split costs with your trip mates.
You want flight and hotel confirmations pulled into the itinerary by forwarding an email.
It's a road trip and you want the stops put in the best order.

Pick Highlights if

You'd rather read a finished plan than build one.
You have one sentence or a messy list, and no days yet.
You want friends to say Going, Maybe or Can't go from a link, without installing anything.
You want the plan offline on your phone without paying for it.

Wanderlog: "One app for all your travel planning needs": itineraries, a map, reservations and budgets, built by you and your trip mates.
Highlights: A planner that turns one sentence into a day-by-day trip, made by Sally, our balloon guide.

Side by side

Job	Wanderlog	Highlights
How a plan starts	You create a trip, add the places you want and arrange them by day on a map. Its site also links a "Trip planner AI".	One sentence: where, when and who's coming. Or paste your own notes and lists.
Planning with friends	"Collaborate with friends in real time": live syncing and collaborative editing, on the free plan.	One link. Friends answer Going, Maybe or Can't go without the app. They see the plan; they don't edit it with you.
Budget and expenses	"Keep track of your budget and split the cost between your tripmates."	None. No budget, expense log or bill splitting.
Reservations	Forward a confirmation email, or connect Gmail (Pro) to import flights and hotels automatically.	None. It doesn't read confirmation emails.
Route order	"Optimize your route" rearranges stops for you (Pro).	Days are paced around opening hours and the walk or drive between stops.
Offline	"Offline access" is listed under Pro.	Trips you own or joined work offline in the iOS and Android apps.
Packing and to-do lists	Preset packing lists and custom checklists.	A checklist for each trip day.
Booking	Wanderlog says it earns "a small percentage from bookings made through the app".	None. Sally can suggest hotels and tours and show flight fares, but you book them on other sites.
Where it runs	The web, iOS and Android.	iOS, Android and the web.

Words in quotation marks are Wanderlog's own.

Where Wanderlog is better

Editing together. Wanderlog's free plan lets a whole group edit one itinerary live. On Highlights, friends see the plan and RSVP; one person holds the pen.
Money. Wanderlog has a budget, an expense log and cost splitting. Highlights has none of the three.
Reservations. Wanderlog files flights and hotels from forwarded emails. Highlights doesn't import bookings.
Road trips. Wanderlog reorders stops to shorten the drive (Pro) and exports places to Google Maps (Pro). Highlights is built for days in a place more than for a long driving route.
Free without limits. Wanderlog says its site and app "will remain free forever, for as many trips as you want to plan".

Where Highlights is better

The first draft. You type one sentence and get every day written, with opening hours and travel times. On Wanderlog you choose and arrange the places.
Starting from what you already wrote down: paste your notes and tips, and Sally turns them into days.
Invites that work like an invitation: Going, Maybe or Can't go from one link, no app and no account for the guest.
Offline trips in the free app. Wanderlog lists offline access under Pro.

Plan a trip in one sentence with Sally: free, about a minute, no account to start.

How much does each one cost?

These are the prices each app showed on November 9, 2026.

Wanderlog

Wanderlog's help centre says the site and app are free "for as many trips as you want to plan", with a paid subscription, Wanderlog Pro, for "premium, power-user features". On November 9, 2026 its Pro page showed no price to a visitor who wasn't signed in, and the App Store listing says only "Free · In-App Purchases", so we don't print one. Check wanderlog.com/pro after signing in.

Highlights

Making and editing your own trips is free, and you can make up to 3 plans a day without an account. Highlights Pro is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year: it opens every ready-made plan and uses Sally's deeper planner. A ready-made plan on its own is $5 (day 1 is free to read), and a custom plan that a person checks is $5.

What we couldn't check

Wanderlog Pro's price (not shown signed out).
How much its AI assistant plans on its own: we didn't sign in to test it.

Questions people ask

Is Wanderlog actually free?

Yes for planning. Its help centre says the site and app "will remain free forever, for as many trips as you want to plan", and it sells a paid Wanderlog Pro. Offline access, route optimising, Gmail import and exporting places to Google Maps are listed under Pro, and on November 9, 2026 its Pro page showed no price to a visitor who wasn't signed in.

Is there an app better than Wanderlog?

Not for building a trip together. Its free plan has live co-editing, and it tracks budgets and files reservations from forwarded emails. If you'd rather not build the trip yourself, Highlights writes every day from one sentence, and if you want someone to book it, look at Layla.

Can my friends edit a Highlights plan?

No. Friends see the plan from one link and answer Going, Maybe or Can't go, and the person who made it does the editing. If your group wants to edit together, Wanderlog is the better pick.

Sources

Opened on November 9, 2026. Prices and features change: if a line here is out of date, the source is right.

Work on one of these apps and see a mistake? Email support@winding.ai and we'll correct it.