Let's be honest about the travel app landscape in 2026: most "free" apps aren't actually free. They're free to download, then hit you with a paywall the moment you try to do anything useful. "Unlock premium to view offline maps." "Subscribe to access full itineraries." "Start your 7-day trial to use the translator." It's exhausting.
This guide focuses specifically on apps that are genuinely, usefully free — either completely free, open source, or with a free tier generous enough to be valuable for an entire trip without upgrading. No bait-and-switch. No "free but you need premium to actually use it." Just apps worth your storage space.
Navigation: Getting Around Without Paying
Organic Maps (completely free, open source)
Organic Maps is the gold standard for free offline navigation. Built on OpenStreetMap data, it lets you download entire countries for offline use — maps, search, walking/cycling/driving navigation, all without an internet connection and without a subscription. No ads, no tracking, no account required. It's maintained by an open-source community, which means it will never suddenly introduce a paywall.
What you get free: Everything. The entire app is free and open source. Download maps for any country, navigate offline, search for places, get turn-by-turn directions. There is no paid tier.
Limitation: No real-time transit data. For public transport, you'll need a separate app.
Google Maps (free with ads)
Google Maps remains free for all core features: navigation, transit directions, offline map downloads, and place search. The "Explore" feature for discovering nearby restaurants and attractions has improved substantially. Offline maps can be downloaded for specific regions and work for up to 30 days without internet.
What you get free: Navigation, transit, offline maps, place reviews, Street View. Genuinely comprehensive.
Limitation: Requires a Google account for full functionality. Offline maps expire after 30 days. Data collection is extensive.
Language: Communicating Across Barriers
Google Translate (free)
The camera translation feature alone makes this essential. Point your phone at a menu, sign, or document and see it translated in real time, overlaid on the original text. Download language packs for fully offline translation — critical when you're in a rural area without data. Conversation mode lets two people speak different languages and hear translations in real time.
What you get free: Text translation (133 languages), camera translation (88 languages), conversation mode, offline language packs, handwriting recognition. All free, no limits.
Limitation: Translation quality for less common languages can be rough. DeepL is better for nuanced text, but DeepL's free tier has character limits.
Duolingo (free tier)
Duolingo's free tier is surprisingly generous for travel preparation. You get unlimited lessons with ads — enough to learn basic greetings, numbers, food vocabulary, and survival phrases in your destination language before you travel. You won't become fluent, but you'll be able to order food, ask for directions, and say "thank you" — which matters more than most travelers realize.
What you get free: All lessons and courses, with ads and limited "hearts" (lives). Enough to learn travel basics in 2-4 weeks of casual use.
Currency: Knowing What Things Cost
XE Currency (free)
The simplest, most reliable currency converter available. Live exchange rates for every world currency, offline support (stores the last-updated rates), and a straightforward interface. Enter an amount in one currency, see it in another. That's it. That's the app. And it's perfect.
What you get free: Live rates, offline mode, rate alerts, currency charts. The free version covers everything most travelers need.
Splitwise (free tier)
If you're traveling with friends and splitting costs, Splitwise tracks who owes whom without the awkward mental math. Add expenses as you go — dinner, taxi, hotel — and Splitwise calculates the net balances. At the end of the trip, one person pays the other the difference. Handles multiple currencies automatically.
What you get free: Unlimited expense tracking, group splitting, multi-currency support, balance calculation. The pro version adds receipt scanning and charts, but the free tier handles the core use case completely.
Wandora's free Explorer tier gives you access to 3 city guides with full landmark details, AI chat (5 messages per day), and the digital passport feature — enough to plan and enjoy a weekend trip without spending anything. No credit card required.
Weather: Planning Around the Forecast
Windy (free)
Windy is overkill for checking if you need an umbrella, but it's the best free weather visualization tool available. The animated wind, rain, and temperature maps show you weather patterns across entire regions — useful for planning day trips or deciding whether to head north or south for better weather. It aggregates multiple forecast models (ECMWF, GFS) so you can compare predictions.
What you get free: Animated weather maps, multi-model forecasts, 10-day predictions, severe weather alerts. The premium version adds extended forecasts and removes some ads, but the free version is excellent.
AccuWeather (free with ads)
For simple, accurate daily forecasts, AccuWeather's free version provides hourly and 15-day forecasts with the "MinuteCast" feature that predicts rain start/stop times for your exact location. Useful for deciding "should I wait 20 minutes for this rain to pass or find shelter?"
What you get free: Hourly forecasts, 15-day outlook, MinuteCast precipitation predictions, severe weather alerts.
City Exploration: Finding Things Worth Seeing
Wandora (free tier)
Full transparency: this is our app. But we designed the free tier specifically to be useful for real trips, not just a demo that frustrates you into upgrading. The free Explorer tier gives you 3 complete city guides — not abbreviated versions, but the full guide with all landmarks, descriptions, insider tips, and map pins. You also get 5 AI chat messages per day, the digital passport and stamp collection, and access to the community features.
What you get free: 3 full city guides (choose any 3 from 528 cities), 5 daily AI chat messages, digital passport with stamps, community access, trip planner for one active trip. No credit card required, no trial expiration.
Limitation: Limited to 3 cities. Frequent travelers who visit more destinations will benefit from the Navigator or Voyager tiers. But for a specific trip to 1-3 cities, the free tier is complete.
Wikivoyage (completely free)
Wikipedia's travel guide sister project. Community-written guides for thousands of destinations worldwide, completely free, with no ads and no account required. The quality varies — major cities have excellent, detailed guides while smaller destinations may be sparse — but for popular destinations, Wikivoyage is remarkably comprehensive and refreshingly ad-free.
What you get free: Everything. Open-source travel guides with practical information, itineraries, and local tips. Available as a website or through third-party apps like Kiwix for offline access.
Packing & Organization
PackPoint (free tier)
Tell PackPoint where you're going, when, and what activities you're planning, and it generates a customized packing list. Traveling to Iceland in January for hiking? It knows you need thermal layers, waterproof boots, and hand warmers. Beach holiday in Thailand? Lightweight, completely different list. You can customize and save lists for future trips.
What you get free: Smart packing lists based on destination, weather, and activities. The premium version adds integrations with TripIt and more customization, but the free version handles the core packing list perfectly.
TripIt (free tier)
Forward your booking confirmation emails to TripIt and it automatically builds a unified trip itinerary — flights, hotels, car rentals, restaurant reservations, all organized chronologically with confirmation numbers and addresses. The free tier handles this core function completely.
What you get free: Automatic itinerary creation from confirmation emails, trip timeline, shareable itineraries. The pro version adds real-time flight alerts and seat tracking, but the free tier covers itinerary organization.
Wandora's built-in trip planner lets you organize landmarks into daily itineraries with automatic route optimization — saving you the need for a separate planning app. Even on the free tier, you can plan one active trip with up to 3 city guides.
The Free Travel App Stack
Here's our recommended stack of genuinely free apps for an international trip — every app below is either completely free or has a free tier generous enough for a full trip:
- Offline navigation: Organic Maps (100% free, open source)
- Online navigation: Google Maps (free)
- City exploration: Wandora free tier (3 cities) + Wikivoyage
- Translation: Google Translate (free, download offline packs)
- Currency: XE Currency (free)
- Weather: Windy or AccuWeather (free with ads)
- Packing: PackPoint (free tier)
- Itinerary: TripIt (free tier)
- Expense splitting: Splitwise (free tier, if traveling with others)
Total cost: zero. Total storage: approximately 500MB including offline map downloads. Total utility: genuinely everything most travelers need for a 1-2 week international trip.
The travel app industry has conditioned people to believe they need to pay for quality. For many categories, that's simply not true anymore. Download these apps before your next trip, keep your wallet closed, and spend that money on a better meal when you arrive.