The best group trip planner app depends on whether money has to move through it. If you are the group trip organizer collecting payments, use SquadTrip: you build a booking page for the trip and travelers pay a deposit plus automatic installments. The Starter plan is free, and travelers pay a single 6% processing fee on top of the trip price, so you receive the full price. If you are friends splitting costs after one person books, use Splitwise, which is free and tracks who owes whom. TripIt and Plan Harmony have free versions for the shared schedule.
Below, five tools that plan or sell group trips are compared on price (checked on each company's own website on 30 Sep 2026) and on payments. Splitwise, an expense-sharing app, is covered in the section on who each tool suits.
Group Trip Planner Apps Compared (Prices as of September 2026)
"Collects payments" means travelers pay through the tool. "Payment plans" means the tool splits the price into scheduled payments.
| Tool | Best for | Price (as of 30 Sep 2026) | Collects payments? | Payment plans? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SquadTrip | Organizers collecting money from travelers | Starter free (travelers pay a 6% processing fee on top of the trip price); Premium $29/month | Yes | Yes, automatic installments |
| WeTravel | Travel businesses running multi-day trips | Basic $0/month; Pro $79/month; plus payment fees | Yes | Yes, up to 24 installments |
| Travefy | Travel agents building client itineraries | Core $39/month, Premium $59/month (billed annually) | Card authorizations on invoices | Payment schedules on invoices |
| TripIt | One itinerary for everyone's flights and hotels | Free; Pro $49/year | No | No |
| Plan Harmony | Friends deciding and planning together | Free; Pro $2.99/month or $9.99/year | No (tracks expenses) | No |
Notes on price:
- SquadTrip: the 6% fee includes Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ card fees, so on a $1,000 trip the traveler pays $1,060 and you receive $1,000. Plan details are on the pricing page.
- WeTravel: in US dollars, local Visa and Mastercard payments cost 2.9%, Amex 3.9% and ACH bank transfers 0%, plus a WeTravel booking fee on each transaction (minimum $1.50; the rate is not listed on its pricing pages), per WeTravel's pricing help article. You choose whether to absorb these fees or pass them to travelers.
- Travefy: 10-day free trial. Monthly billing is available, but Travefy's pricing page does not publish that price.
- TripIt: Pro starts with a 30-day free trial, per TripIt's Pro page.
- Plan Harmony: Pro is also $0.99/week, or $6.99 one-time for a single trip, per Plan Harmony's help center.
The 5 Best Group Trip Planner Apps, Reviewed
1. SquadTrip — Best for Organizers Who Collect Money
SquadTrip is built for the person who books the trip and needs everyone else to pay for their spot: retreat hosts, friends-trip organizers who put the villa on their own card, reunion and wedding organizers, travel agents and small tour operators. Each traveler books and pays through one link instead of sending you money in a group chat.
What it does:
- Booking pages: one page with the trip details, options and prices, where each traveler books their own spot.
- Deposits and automatic payment plans: set a deposit and an installment schedule, and travelers are charged on the dates you set.
- Buy Now Pay Later: US travelers can pay with Klarna, Afterpay or Affirm at checkout; a 4% convenience fee is added to their total when they do. See how BNPL works for group trips.
- Registration forms and custom questions: collect passport details, dietary needs, rooming preferences or anything else you need.
- E-signature waivers: travelers sign your waiver and terms online.
- Room and package options: sell private and shared rooms, or different packages, at different prices.
- Traveler messaging: send trip updates to everyone who has booked.
- Affiliate tracking: give partners and promoters their own link and see which bookings each one drove.
- Test mode: run a practice checkout before you share the link.
Pricing: SquadTrip's Starter plan is free. Travelers pay a single 6% processing fee on top of the trip price, which includes Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ card fees, so the organizer receives the full price: on a $1,000 trip the traveler pays $1,060 and the organizer receives $1,000. The Premium plan is $29/month.
Where it fits less well: if nobody pays anybody, you do not need a payment platform, and the free tools below will do.
Stop chasing deposits in the group chat. SquadTrip gives your trip one booking page with deposits and automatic payment plans. Free to use.
2. WeTravel — Best for Tour Operators With Many Departures
WeTravel describes itself as itinerary, booking and payments software for multi-day travel businesses. It suits tour operators and agencies running several departures a year who want payments, a CRM and payouts in one account.
- Payment plans: interest-free plans you set, up to 24 installments, with auto-billing of outstanding balances, per WeTravel's pricing page.
- Plans: Basic is $0/month. Pro is $79/month per organization with no per-seat fees and includes an AI-assisted itinerary builder, a travel CRM and inventory management. New users get a 60-day trial.
- Fees: card processing fees plus a per-transaction booking fee (see the notes under the table).
- Payouts and reporting: free payouts to a local bank account and payment reports that work with QuickBooks.
Running one or two trips a year? Price one real booking on each platform first; our WeTravel alternatives comparison covers other options.
3. Travefy — Best for Travel Agents Building Client Itineraries
Travefy is built for travel agents and agencies: itinerary management, proposals and quotes, a CRM with custom forms, and invoices.
- Invoices with payment schedules: create an invoice from an itinerary, attach a payment schedule and collect client payment authorizations, per Travefy's CRM page.
- Forms: credit card authorization forms, passport collection and e-signatures for terms and conditions.
- Price: Core $39/month and Premium $59/month, billed annually, after a 10-day free trial.
Its payments run through invoices and card authorizations, which suits an agent billing a family or a couple. For group departures, see our Travefy alternatives guide.
4. TripIt — Best for One Shared Itinerary
TripIt turns booking confirmations into one itinerary. It suits groups where everyone booked their own travel and just needs one place to see flights and hotels.
- Automatic itinerary: forward confirmation emails to TripIt and it builds the plan; Inbox Sync can add plans from your inbox.
- Sharing: send plans by text, email or apps, and sync them to your calendar.
- Price: free; TripIt Pro is $49/year after a 30-day free trial and adds alerts and reminders.
TripIt does not collect money, so pair it with Splitwise or a booking page if costs are shared.
5. Plan Harmony — Best for Friends Deciding Together
Plan Harmony is a collaborative trip planner for friends and family choosing where to go and what to do.
- Voting: the group votes on accommodations, activities and restaurants.
- Shared calendar and trip chat: an itinerary everyone can edit, with a group chat for each trip.
- Budget: log trip expenses; its help center lists splitting costs across the group under Pro.
- Price: free plan; Pro is $2.99/month, $9.99/year or $0.99/week, or $6.99 one-time for a single trip.
Once someone has paid a deposit, the money needs its own tool. See how to collect money for a group trip for deposits, installments and deadlines.
Who Each Group Trip Planner Suits
1. You Are Collecting Money From Travelers: SquadTrip
- Retreats, friends trips where you fronted the rental, family reunions, destination weddings and church groups: any trip where people pay you for a spot.
- You need a deposit to hold each spot and installments that are charged without reminders from you.
- If you are booking rooms or flights for 10 or more people, how to book group travel covers the steps before you open sales.
2. You Run Trips as a Business: WeTravel or SquadTrip
- Tour operators and agencies running several departures a year, with staff and suppliers to pay.
- Compare fees on a real booking, payment plan limits and reporting; our guide to group travel booking software for tour operators and agencies covers this case.
3. You Are a Travel Agent Billing Clients: Travefy
- Agents who sell trips built from supplier bookings and want a polished itinerary and invoices.
- If you also sell group departures at a set price per person, a booking page with payment plans handles that part.
4. You Are Friends Splitting Costs: Splitwise
- One person books the house or the boat, and everyone pays them back.
- Splitwise is free on iPhone, Android and the web and tracks shared expenses, balances and who owes whom.
- If the amounts are large or people need months to pay, a deposit and a payment plan are easier to collect than an IOU. See our Splitwise alternatives for group travel.
5. You Are Still Deciding Where and When: Plan Harmony or TripIt
- Dates, destination, budget per person and who is in: Plan Harmony's free plan handles the votes and the shared calendar, and TripIt gathers everyone's bookings once they exist.
- How to plan a group trip walks through the order of decisions.
6. Your Company Is Planning an Offsite
- When the company pays, the job is booking rooms, travel and a venue for a headcount, not collecting from each person. See how to book a company retreat.
How to Choose a Group Trip Planner App
1. Decide Whether Money Moves Through the App
Groups often pick a planning app, then try to collect money with it. A poll and a spreadsheet cannot chase eight people for a second installment. If anyone pays anyone before the trip, start with a tool that collects payments.
2. Work Out Who Pays the Fees
Card processing always costs someone something. On one real booking, check:
- the card processing fee, and whether you or the traveler pays it
- any platform or booking fee per transaction
- any monthly subscription
Our comparison of group travel payment platforms covers the money side in more depth.
3. Match Payment Plans to Your Booking Window
Group trips usually sell months before departure. Look for a deposit that holds each spot and installments that finish before your own supplier payments are due, charged automatically so you are not sending reminders.
4. Check What Travelers See at Checkout
Travelers judge the trip by the page they pay on. Open checkout on a phone, look at what it asks for (registration questions, waivers), and check whether travelers can spread the cost, for example with Buy Now Pay Later.
5. Run a Test Booking Before You Share the Link
Book a spot yourself, end to end. In SquadTrip, test mode lets you run a practice checkout first.
Group Trip Planner App vs Group Travel Software
People searching for a group travel planner usually mean one of four kinds of tool:
- Group trip planner apps such as TripIt and Plan Harmony help people agree on and follow a plan. They do not sell the trip.
- Group travel software sells and runs the trip: a booking page, deposits and payment plans, traveler details and messages. SquadTrip and WeTravel sit here; for agencies and operators, see our guide to group travel management software.
- Corporate travel tools book flights and hotels for employees on the company's account and apply a travel policy. Compare them in reviews of travel management software on G2.
- Expense splitters such as Splitwise divide costs after people have paid.
If anyone pays you for a spot, you need the second kind.
The Bottom Line
- Collecting money from travelers: SquadTrip.
- Running many departures as a business: WeTravel or SquadTrip.
- Billing clients as a travel agent: Travefy.
- Splitting costs among friends: Splitwise.
- Deciding and sharing the plan: Plan Harmony or TripIt.
Get paid for your next group trip without chasing anyone. SquadTrip builds the booking page and charges each traveler's payment plan automatically. Free to use.
