The best AI trip planners in 2026, judged on what matters once you're there

Mindtrip, Layla, Wanderlog, Tripadvisor, Stippl, ChatGPT and Google compared on plans, travel times, availability and booking.

Aino team13 October 2026, 10 min read

Aino publishes this guide and is building a trip planning app of its own, launching in winter 2027. Every other app here is described from its own site and store listings, with prices dated.

What makes an AI trip planner good on a real trip?

A list of things to do is the easy part. A plan only works if the days fit. You need to know how long it takes to get from one stop to the next, whether places are open when you arrive, and whether the tour still has space on your date. Then someone has to book it all.

More travellers are leaning on AI for this. In a March 2026 update, Phocuswright found that 56% of active US travellers had used AI for planning, booking or help during at least one trip in the past 12 months, up from 43% in the second half of 2025.

How we compared these apps

On 13 October 2026 we read each app's own website, help pages, launch posts and App Store or Google Play listing. We didn't plan test trips or make bookings, so everything below is what each company says its product does.

We judged every app on four things:

• Does it give you a day-by-day plan you can edit?
• Does it show travel times between stops?
• Does it check live prices or availability?
• What can you actually book in it?

AI trip planners at a glance

Mindtrip: AI planning with flight, hotel and restaurant booking

Mindtrip calls itself a personal travel assistant. It learns how you like to travel and keeps your itinerary, ideas and bookings in one place.

You can book flights, stays and restaurants on Mindtrip, and it keeps an eye on price drops, flight changes and restaurant availability for you. Its App Store listing adds maps with distances and routes, shared itineraries you can edit as a group, and a camera tool that translates signs and menus.

Where it's weaker: its homepage lets you explore things to do, but we didn't find tours or activities among the things you can book. The iPhone app needs iOS 26 or later, and we didn't find an Android app from Mindtrip on Google Play. There's also a web version.

Pricing: free, with no in-app purchases listed on the US App Store as of October 2026, where it has a 4.7 rating from 831 ratings.

Best for: people who want one assistant for flights, hotels and dinner reservations.

Layla: an AI plan, then a human advisor who books it

Layla builds a day-by-day plan from your dates, budget and travel style. Its FAQ says the plan uses live pricing and availability. You can keep refining it with the AI or hand it to one of Layla's human travel advisors.

Those advisors can plan the whole trip and book hotels, flights, transfers and activities for you. Layla also sells ready-made trips, including an 8-day Lapland in the snow trip built around Rovaniemi, from about 2,277 € per person, as of October 2026.

Where it's weaker: we couldn't confirm from Layla's public pages how it handles travel time between stops. Bookings go through an advisor, so there's no instant checkout for the whole plan that we could find.

Pricing: Layla's FAQ says it's free, with no subscription, and you pay only for what you book. Its US App Store listing still shows in-app purchases of $9.99 a month and $49.99 a year, as of October 2026. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android.

Best for: big trips where you'd like a person to check the plan and book everything.

Wanderlog: a map-first planner that shows travel times

Wanderlog puts your itinerary and your map in one view. You add places, see distances and travel times between them, schedule a time for each visit and check opening hours for attractions.

It's built for groups. Friends can edit the same trip in real time, and you can split costs, forward booking emails into the plan and keep packing lists. Wanderlog lists an AI assistant among its features and says more than 8 million trips have been planned with it.

Where it's weaker: most of the plan is still something you build yourself. Reordering stops into the shortest route, offline access and automatic Gmail scanning are Pro features. It helps you find lodging, but we didn't find a way to book tours or activities in it.

Pricing: the planner is free. As of October 2026 the US App Store lists Pro plans from $5.99 a month to $59.99 a year, and the listing doesn't make clear which price applies to which plan. It has a 4.9 rating from 36K ratings there.

Best for: friends planning a trip together who want to see everything on a map. Our list of Wanderlog alternatives goes further if it's not quite right for you.

Tripadvisor AI Assistant: a free draft built on traveller reviews

Tripadvisor's AI Assistant suggests hotels, restaurants and things to do, drawing on more than 1 billion reviews. You can start without an account and sign in later to save your trip.

Tripadvisor says it shows real-time hotel rates and activity availability. You get options side by side on a map, and you can save a day-by-day plan, rearrange days, add or remove stops and share it with the people you're travelling with.

Where it's weaker: its page doesn't mention travel times between stops. Booking happens item by item, through Tripadvisor or the provider.

Pricing: free, as of October 2026.

Best for: a quick, free first draft built on what other travellers liked.

Stippl: a free planner that works out travel times

Stippl calls itself a free AI travel planner. You describe the trip, and the AI builds a day-by-day itinerary with times, places and notes. Its route planner works out distances and travel times between stops.

Around the plan it has a budget tracker with cost splitting, packing lists, a travel journal and a place to search and save hotels, Airbnbs and hostels. Stippl says more than 1.5 million travellers use it.

Where it's weaker: unlimited AI trip and day-plan generation, AI route reordering and forwarding booking emails are in the paid plan. We didn't find a way to book activities in it.

Pricing: free, with Stippl Pro at 4.99 € a month as of October 2026. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android.

Best for: travellers who want travel times in a free planner and don't mind adding bookings themselves.

ChatGPT: a fast first draft

You can ask ChatGPT for a day-by-day plan for any trip, and refine it by chatting.

On 6 October 2025 OpenAI added apps inside ChatGPT, and Expedia and Booking.com were among the first partners. That lets you look at flights and stays without leaving the chat.

Where it's weaker: at launch, OpenAI said apps weren't available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the UK. We found no tour or activity partner named in the launch post. Check opening hours, travel times and availability for each stop yourself before you book.

Pricing: apps were available on ChatGPT's Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans at launch.

Best for: a rough first draft you then move into a proper planner.

Google AI Mode with Canvas: trip planning inside Search

In November 2025 Google added trip planning with Canvas to AI Mode in Search. You describe the trip, and Canvas builds a plan in a side panel. It pulls in real-time flight and hotel data and photos and reviews from Google Maps, and it suggests restaurants and activities sorted by travel time.

Google also started booking restaurants for you in AI Mode in the US. It said flight and hotel booking would follow, with partners including Booking.com, Expedia and Marriott.

Where it's weaker: at launch, Canvas trip planning was only for US desktop users who had opted into AI Mode in Labs. We couldn't confirm from Google whether that has changed as of October 2026. Google's post doesn't mention booking tours.

Best for: US travellers who already plan in Google Search and Maps.

Which AI trip planner should you choose?

If you want to book flights, hotels and dinners from the same app, go with Mindtrip. If you'd rather a person sorted the whole thing, try Layla.

If you're planning with friends and care about travel times, Wanderlog and Stippl both show them for free. Wanderlog suits groups who like working on a map, and Stippl's Pro plan costs 4.99 € a month.

For a free draft with live hotel rates, start with the Tripadvisor AI Assistant. Then book the tours themselves on a marketplace or with the operator. Our GetYourGuide vs Viator vs Klook comparison covers which one to use.

Booking the activities is where most of these apps stop. Only 33% of experiences were booked online in 2025, against 64% of the travel market overall, according to Arival. Among the apps above, we didn't find one that picks your activities, fits them into timed days with travel times and lets you book them all in one checkout.

Choosing between Mindtrip, Layla and Wanderlog? Our Mindtrip vs Layla vs Wanderlog comparison goes into more detail.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI trip planner in 2026?

It depends on what you need it to do. For booking flights, stays and restaurants in one app, Mindtrip. For a human advisor who books the trip for you, Layla. For a free plan with travel times between stops, Stippl or Wanderlog. For a free draft built on reviews, the Tripadvisor AI Assistant.

Is there a free AI trip planner?

Yes. As of October 2026 the Tripadvisor AI Assistant is free and works without an account, and Mindtrip is free to download with no in-app purchases listed. Stippl and Wanderlog are free to use, with paid Pro plans for extras such as reordering your route.

Can an AI trip planner book activities for me?

A few can. Layla's human advisors book activities as part of a trip, and the Tripadvisor AI Assistant links things to do that you book through Tripadvisor or the provider. Most of the others focus on flights, stays or restaurants, so tours are usually booked separately.

Can I just use ChatGPT to plan a trip?

You can ask ChatGPT for a day-by-day plan. OpenAI added apps from Expedia and Booking.com in October 2025, but at launch apps weren't available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the UK. Check opening hours and availability for each stop before you book.

Which AI trip planner shows travel times between stops?

Wanderlog and Stippl both work out distances and travel times between the places in your plan. Mindtrip's maps show distances and routes. Google's Canvas in AI Mode sorts restaurant and activity ideas by travel time, but at launch it was only for US desktop users in Labs.

Sources

1. Phocuswright, The fastest shift in travel behavior just became the default (March 2026), accessed 13 October 2026
2. Arival, 4 findings for the experiences market in 2026, accessed 13 October 2026
3. Mindtrip, homepage, accessed 13 October 2026
4. Mindtrip, US App Store listing, accessed 13 October 2026
5. Layla, homepage and ready-made trips, accessed 13 October 2026
6. Layla, frequently asked questions, accessed 13 October 2026
7. Layla, US App Store listing, accessed 13 October 2026
8. Wanderlog, homepage and Pro feature list, accessed 13 October 2026
9. Wanderlog, US App Store listing, accessed 13 October 2026
10. Tripadvisor, AI Assistant page and FAQ, accessed 13 October 2026
11. Stippl, homepage, accessed 13 October 2026
12. Stippl, Stippl Pro features and pricing, accessed 13 October 2026
13. Stippl, Google Play listing, accessed 13 October 2026
14. OpenAI, Introducing apps in ChatGPT and the new Apps SDK (6 October 2025), accessed 13 October 2026
15. Google, New ways to plan travel with AI in Search (17 November 2025), accessed 13 October 2026