Planning a multi-state road trip: Best apps and tools in 2025

Planning a multi-state road trip involves more than just navigating highways. Treks like these are about discovering hidden gems, scenic drives, and rad roadside attractions. 

Choosing the right app to help with your itinerary planning is essential for building the perfect adventure. While classic options like Google Maps and Waze are reliable for navigation, our Roadtrippers app is your go-to for a fully customizable, discovery-based road trip plan. You can even use our Trip Collaboration feature to plan your trip with friends. 

It’s our bread and butter to build content and itineraries that embody the best in multi-state road-tripping. In this post, we’ll discover how Roadtrippers stacks up against other popular trip-planning apps and why it’s a standout option for 2025.

Roadtrippers vs. Google Maps

When it comes to basic navigation, Google Maps is generally the go-to. It’s reliable, with accurate directions and real-time traffic updates. Google Maps is an excellent option if you need to get from point A to point B. 

However, it lacks the customization and depth that we offer at Roadtrippers. Google Maps also only allows you to add 10 stops, whereas the Roadtrippers app lets you add 150. 

Roadtrippers takes your trip beyond navigation. We’re a community of road-tripping folks sharing the best itineraries to follow on a multi-state road trip. We offer all the usual features like in-app navigation and then layer the map with must-see places and paths. 

For example, trip guides like the ones we built for the best road trips in each U.S. region combine real-life road trippers’ experiences with advanced navigation. Most stops in our app also feature easy-to-access peer reviews so you can see feedback from other travelers. 

The Roadtrippers app lets you customize your trip itinerary by adding stops and scenic routes to create your perfect trip. Simply jump into an article like our 22 U.S. road trips to take before you die and drag and drop your favorite stops into the app. 

While Google Maps is a worthy tool for day-to-day navigation, Roadtrippers is the best way to build and navigate an unforgettable multi-state road trip.

• In sum: Google Maps offers straightforward navigation and traffic updates, while Roadtrippers offers a more customized experience for those looking to discover what lies on and beyond major highways.

Roadtrippers vs. Waze

Waze is beloved for its real-time user alerts about road hazards, traffic jams, and police activity. If avoiding traffic is your top priority, Waze is your app. It’s excellent for commuters looking for the fastest route through congested areas. But when it comes to building a detailed, multi-stop itinerary, Waze falls short.

Roadtrippers focuses more on the journey than the destination. With the ability to discover scenic byways, quirky attractions, and lesser-known landmarks, we’re perfect for travelers who want to savor the trip. 

Roadtrippers launched over a decade ago with a vision for putting the best itineraries at your fingertips. We’re storytellers as much as tour guides on your multi-state road trip. That’s why everything we build has an eye toward funness. 

• In sum, Waze ensures you get there fast, while Roadtrippers helps you enjoy every mile.

Roadtrippers vs. RV Trip Wizard

RV Trip Wizard is a well-known tool that helps plan routes, especially for larger vehicles. It provides detailed trip planning features like identifying low-clearance bridges, RV-friendly roads, and campgrounds. However, it is highly focused on RV-specific logistics, leaving less room for discovering fun and spontaneous stops along the way.

In contrast, Roadtrippers strikes a balance between practicality and exploration. While RV Trip Wizard is a powerful tool for avoiding road restrictions and finding appropriate campgrounds, Roadtrippers offers those same tech-savvy features with the added bonus of uncovering hidden attractions, quirky landmarks, and local points of interest. 

In addition, Campendium is a much-beloved tool built by Roadtrippers. Campendium features detailed user reviews on campgrounds and RV parks nationwide. Much of this information is woven into the Roadtrippers app so you can see cell coverage, user stories, photos, RV site size, and more for virtually any campground on your route.

This makes Roadtrippers more versatile for camping folk looking for an all-in-one road trip experience that goes beyond the mechanics of RV travel.

• In sum: RV Trip Wizard is good at RV-specific route logistics, while Roadtrippers is perfect for creating a well-rounded trip that blends practical RV considerations with epic exploring.

Roadtrippers vs. Campground Finder Apps (e.g. AllStays)

If you’re hitting the road in an RV, apps like AllStays, RV Parky, Campnab, Hipcamp, and The Dyrt are great at locating campgrounds and RV parks. 

They offer descriptions of the campgrounds and user reviews, but they don’t offer much on route planning or finding activities and attractions.

This is where Roadtrippers excels. It packs in detailed info to help you find the best campsites while also plotting the route from one campground to another. Our app does all this while showing off unique stops along the way — whether you’re looking for the perfect hike, a historic landmark, or a small-town diner. 

Roadtrippers combines what RV-specific apps offer with broader trip-planning tools, giving you a one-stop-shop solution.

• In sum: Roadtrippers is best for comprehensive RV trip planning including finding and reserving campsites, while apps like Campnab and The Dyrt are more specialized tools for finding campgrounds.

Roadtrippers vs. Wanderlog

Wanderlog is a travel planning app known for its ease of use and collaborative features. It allows users to create detailed itineraries, track expenses, and collaborate with friends and family on trip planning. 

While it’s great for general travel and organizing trips, Wanderlog lacks the specialized road trip features that Roadtrippers provides, especially for multi-state road trips.

Roadtrippers sets itself apart with its ability to suggest attractions, scenic routes, and offbeat stops along your drive, something Wanderlog doesn’t prioritize. While Wanderlog is good for itinerary building and keeping everything organized, it doesn’t offer the in-depth exploration tools that make road trips all they should be.

• In sum: Wanderlog is good for collaborative trip planning and general travel, while Roadtrippers is the better choice for road trippers and RVers who want to explore scenic routes and discover hidden gems along their journey.

Roadtrippers vs. Roadside America

Roadside America is a niche app that focuses on offbeat attractions across the U.S., making it a good option for travelers seeking fun and unusual stops on their trips. It offers a large database of oddball landmarks, historic sites, and strange roadside attractions, curated specifically for the traveler looking to explore the weird and wonderful.

Roadtrippers also includes these types of quirky stops and provides a much broader experience. In addition to offbeat attractions, Roadtrippers helps you plan scenic routes, find natural wonders, RV parks, and even restaurants. It offers a complete multi-state road trip planning tool that not only highlights quirky destinations like those in Roadside America but also incorporates more practical features like route optimization, RV-friendly stops, and itinerary customization.

• In sum: Roadside America is good for travelers with a strong focus on discovering the most bizarre and unique roadside attractions, while Roadtrippers is better for creating a well-rounded road trip that blends quirky stops with scenic routes, natural spots, and RV-friendly routing.

Using Roadtrippers for Multi-State Road Trip Planning

Planning a multi-state road trip can be overwhelming, that’s why Roadtrippers built all the best pieces from the apps above into our trip planning tool.  

Here’s how to maximize Roadtrippers’ features to make your road trip seamless, efficient, and fun:

1. Route Optimization

• Efficient Route Planning: Roadtrippers’ route optimization feature helps you find the most efficient route while ensuring you hit all your desired stops.
  
• Multiple Stops: You can add up to 150 waypoints on your route, making it perfect for extended road trips across multiple states.
  
• Flexible Route Adjustments: Roadtrippers lets you drag and drop your route map, so you can easily add last-minute stops or adjust your itinerary as you go.

2. Curated Travel Guides

• Pre-Planned Itineraries: If you’re unsure where to go, Roadtrippers offers curated travel guides, showcasing popular routes, scenic byways, and must-see landmarks.
  
• Off-the-Beaten-Path Destinations: Discover hidden gems and lesser-known attractions that are often missed by standard navigation apps.

3. Customized Trip Planning for RVs and Cars

• RV-Specific Features: For RV travelers, Roadtrippers tailors your route based on your vehicle’s height, weight, and length, ensuring you avoid low bridges and unsuitable roads.
  
• Parking and Rest Stops: Use the app to find RV-friendly parking, rest stops, and campgrounds, making it easy to map out where you’ll stay overnight or take breaks.
  
• Gas and Charging Stations: The app integrates fuel stops, including gas and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, to keep your road trip running smoothly.

4. Find Local Attractions

• Points of Interest (POI): Use the ‘Explore’ feature to discover local attractions along your route, from national parks and museums to quirky roadside stops.
  
• Custom Categories: Search by categories like “outdoors,” “history,” or “food and drink,” so you can tailor your stops based on your interests.
  
• Real User Reviews: Check reviews from other Roadtrippers users to get a better idea of which attractions are worth your time.

5. Roadtrippers Autopilot™

• Automatic Trip Planning: With the Roadtrippers Autopilot™ tool, you can take the heavy lifting out of trip planning. Answer just a few questions about your travel preferences, and Autopilot™ will use data from 38 million real-life trips to build a custom multi-state road trip for you.
  
• Time and Budget Estimation: Take the guesswork out of calculating trip costs. Autopilot™ helps you estimate how much time and money each leg of the trip will take, so you can stay on schedule and within your budget.

6. Trip Collaboration

• Road trips are more fun with friends. That’s why we make it easy to invite friends and family to collaborate on trip planning. 

• Pro and Premium Roadtrippers members can access this feature, which allows invited guests to review, edit, and add to the shared trip itinerary. 

7. Explore Premium Features

• Roadtrippers Premium: Unlock additional features with Roadtrippers Premium, such as ad-free browsing, enhanced trip collaboration, and the ability to add up to 150 stops on a single trip.
  
• Offline Navigation: Access offline routing and custom map styles, perfect for multi-state road trips through areas with limited connectivity.

While there are plenty of apps to choose from when planning a multi-state road trip, Roadtrippers stands out as the best all-around tool for travelers in 2025. Its unique combination of customizable routes, discovery-based recommendations, and RV-friendly features makes it an essential companion for those who want more from their road trip than just getting from point A to point B.

Whether you’re planning a cross-country RV adventure or a weekend getaway filled with scenic stops, Roadtrippers offers the tools you need to make your trip unforgettable. Check out the Roadtrippers app before your next road trip.