About Polarsteps

Polarsteps is a travel app based in Amsterdam, designed to help travelers plan, track, and relive their most adventurous journeys. It has become the go-to platform for millions of users worldwide, offering a seamless way to document travels through beautiful, interactive maps, photos, and travel stats. Built by an international team of passionate travelers, Polarsteps is redefining how people capture and share their adventures.

A journey worth documenting

Travelers often find it difficult to accurately document their journeys, particularly in remote areas where connectivity is limited or inconsistent. Many of today’s existing travel apps require users to manually log their travel routes, which can be time-consuming and error-prone. Others do not offer offline functionality, leaving travelers with gaps in the timeline of their trip.

Polarsteps envisioned an effortless way travelers could record their adventures without worrying about connectivity interruptions or the tedious process of manual updates. The team needed a solution that would not only support automatic travel tracking but also ensure reliable offline operation. The goal was to provide travelers with a beautifully designed, interactive map experience that seamlessly syncs data when back online.

Mapbox gives us a brilliant balance of performance, flexibility, and design control to create maps that suit our unique Polarsteps experience.
Clare Jones, CEO, Polarsteps

Solving travel tracking challenges with Mapbox

Polarsteps selected Mapbox for its ability to deliver customized, interactive maps that support offline use, a key requirement for travelers on the go. Using the Mapbox Maps SDKs, Polarsteps can make its maps visually appealing and responsive, while seamlessly tracking travel routes. With Mapbox GL JS, Polarsteps maintains consistently fast and visually engaging maps on the web, even when high-density travel data is involved.

The developer-first approach that Mapbox takes with its products and documentation was crucial for Polarsteps, enabling rapid feature implementation and providing the scalability needed for a global user base. The availability of global map data also means travelers can reliably track their journeys anywhere, regardless of connectivity.

To power its mobile app, Polarsteps integrates the Mapbox Maps SDKs for real-time travel tracking, dynamic map updates, and customization options that reflect the brand’s own look and feel. Mapbox GL JS supports highly interactive maps that update in real time as users add photos and stories, providing a smooth and immersive experience.

With Mapbox, we’re able to plot millions of travel routes onto beautiful, interactive maps that are fast, responsive, and packed with detail.
Clare Jones, CEO, Polarsteps

Turning data into unforgettable stories for 15 million travelers

Polarsteps launched a completely revamped world map experience, built with Mapbox, in 2023. User growth has taken off since the launch, with almost 20 billion kilometers of travel tracked in 2024 and 15 million registered travelers in 2025.

The app’s seamless tracking and offline functionality receives consistently positive feedback from users, and the ability to sync routes after reconnecting is a vital feature, making travel documentation effortless.

With Mapbox as a core component, Polarsteps continues to innovate, adding new features that give its users even more immersive ways to tell the stories of their trips. As the app grows, the scalable location infrastructure from Mapbox ensures that millions of adventures can be beautifully and accurately documented, no matter where their journeys take them.

Mapbox helps us turn raw travel data into an experience — one that’s intuitive, personal and seamless.
Clare Jones, CEO, Polarsteps