Source-backed analysis8
Review basis
Research-based review: the AppDuo Editorial Team compiled it from official pages, documentation, app stores, press and user feedback, without hands-on testing. Every claim links to a source with the date it was checked.
8 reference sourcesInformation updated Nov 10, 2026
How we review
Tripadvisor Review
A huge, free travel review site; customer support and moderation draw complaints
By AppDuo Editorial Team · Updated
- Web
- iOS
- Android
On this page
Decide at a glance
Our verdict
Tripadvisor suits people who want to read reviews of hotels, restaurants and attractions before a trip and plan itineraries for free, drawing on over one billion reviews and opinions per its App Store description. The trade-offs: fake reviews remain an issue (the company identified 1.33 million fraudulent reviews in 2022), the "Featured" sort factors in partner payments, and Trustpilot scores it 1.8/5 even though the app holds 4.8/5 on the App Store.
Best for: Travellers who want plenty of traveller reviews and photos of hotels, restaurants and tours before choosing
Skip it if: Anyone who wants flights, rooms and customer service from a single company: Tripadvisor mostly refers you to partners or suppliers
Pros
- Reading, saving places and writing reviews are free
- Over one billion reviews and opinions (per the app description), with AI review summaries
- Publishes its anti-fraud process and review transparency reports
Cons
- Trustpilot 1.8/5 with 31% one-star reviews, citing booking errors, slow refunds and weak support
- By the company's own account, its "Featured" sort factors in compensation paid to it
All pros and cons · Who is it for?
More pros
- The app offers 28 languages on the App Store
More cons
- The policy allows selling or sharing data for interest-based advertising (opt-out available)
Best for
- Groups who want to save places and plan a trip together
Problems it solves
Experience & key features
What Tripadvisor is
Tripadvisor is a travel review platform founded on 14 February 2000 in the US and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts (per Wikipedia). IAC acquired it in 2004, it sat under Expedia from 2005, and it was spun off onto NASDAQ (TRIP) in December 2011. In April 2025 it completed a 430 million USD acquisition of its parent, Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings.
How it works and key features
Per the App Store description, you build itineraries with Trips, save hotels, restaurants and experiences to view on a map, and share them with your travel group. The app offers reviews, photos, AI summaries, nearby picks, and hotel and tour booking. Hotel and attraction rankings use the Popularity Index, which weighs review quality, recency and volume; the company says partners have no influence on it.
Price and business model
Users pay no fee. Per the company's explainer, tours and activities are bookable only when suppliers contract with a Tripadvisor affiliate, vacation rentals pay a commission once a stay is completed, and the order of hotel price offers depends partly on what partners pay. The "Featured" sort accounts for compensation the company receives, and sponsored placements are labelled Ad or Sponsored. In the US app, Tripadvisor Rewards gives 5% back in Trip Cash toward future bookings.
More analysis
Review reliability
Every review passes through automated checks; reviews that are flagged or reported by the community go to a moderation team. The 2022 transparency report (published 12 April 2023) said 30.2 million reviews were posted, 1.33 million (4.4%) were fraudulent, 72% of those were blocked before going live, and just over 33,000 businesses received ranking penalties for fraud. Even so, Trustpilot reviewers complain that their negative reviews were removed without clear reasons and that fake reviews stayed up after being reported.
Versus alternatives
Tripadvisor is stronger on reviews and planning than on selling travel. If booking rooms is the main goal, Booking.com, Agoda or Traveloka fit better; Google Maps also carries place reviews with navigation, while GetYourGuide focuses on tours and attraction tickets.
Screenshots
Plans & pricing
Prices last verified Nov 10, 2026
Miễn phí / Free
PersonalFree
Reading reviews, saving places, building itineraries and writing reviews are free. Per the site's how-it-works page, hotels, restaurants, airlines, landmarks and tour operators are listed free of charge. Tripadvisor earns from partners through booking commissions, cost-per-click bids and sponsored placements.
- Free plan limits
- Free for users. When you book a room or tour, you pay the supplier or partner booking site, whose terms set the cancellation and refund rules.
- Free trial
- No free trial
Cancellation & refunds
Tripadvisor is mainly a review and referral platform and charges users no fee. For tours and activities booked through suppliers such as Viator, refunds follow each supplier's policy; some Trustpilot reviewers report refunds refused or delayed.
Privacy
The US privacy statement (last updated 7 July 2025) lists collected data including identifiers, payment and travel-document details, booking history, browsing and search history, precise location when permitted, photos, reviews, support calls and inferences drawn from them. Tripadvisor says it may sell or share identifiers, internet activity, commercial information and inferences with business partners, social media sites, advertising networks and data aggregators for interest-based advertising; you can opt out via the Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link or a Global Privacy Control signal. Data is kept while an account is active or as needed for the stated purposes unless the law requires longer. Users in the EEA, UK, US, Korea and Brazil get rights such as access, correction and deletion, requested through the company's privacy portal; Tripadvisor LLC is named as controller. On the App Store the developer declares that identifiers, usage data and diagnostics are used to track users.
Tripadvisor alternatives
7.8/10Google Maps
The free all-rounder map: navigation, traffic, places and Gemini AI
7.2/10Booking.com
A huge stays marketplace with no booking fees and mostly free cancellation
Frequently asked questions
Is Tripadvisor free?
Yes. Reading, saving places, building itineraries and writing reviews are free. The company earns from booking partners, commissions and ads; when you book a tour or room, you pay the supplier.
How are Tripadvisor rankings calculated?
Hotel and attraction rankings use the Popularity Index, weighing review quality, recency and volume. The company says partners have no influence on it and cannot buy a ranking position, but the "Featured" sort accounts for compensation paid by accommodations or booking sites.
How does Tripadvisor deal with fake reviews?
Every review goes through automated checks, flagged reviews are examined by moderators, and reviews written in exchange for gifts, services or money are removed. The 2022 transparency report recorded 1.33 million fraudulent reviews, 72% of them blocked before posting.
Does the Tripadvisor app support Vietnamese?
Yes. Per the App Store, the app comes in 28 languages, including Vietnamese, English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Thai.
Review evidence & sources8
Scores
- Ease of use
- 7.5
- Features
- 8.0
- Value for money
- 8.0
- Performance
- 7.0
- Support
- 5.0
- Privacy & security
- 5.5
Why this score
The app scores 4.8/5 on the Vietnam and US App Stores and offers a map of saved places and itinerary building. Points lost because Trustpilot reviewers cite booking-platform errors, such as a My bookings section that stopped working.
Why this score
Per the app description: trip planning, saving and sharing with a group, nearby picks, AI summaries, review writing, and hotel and tour booking. Tripadvisor does not sell airline tickets directly.
Why this score
Reading, saving and writing reviews are free because the company earns from partners, and the US app adds Tripadvisor Rewards with 5% back in Trip Cash on bookings. Points lost for sponsored placements and a "Featured" sort shaped by partner payments, so listing order is not fully neutral. No paid consumer plan appears in the sources checked.
Why this score
The app keeps a high App Store score; the latest version, 70.6.0, shipped on 4 November 2026. Trustpilot has complaints about tour tickets arriving late or not at all.
Why this score
Trustpilot reviewers report slow responses and trouble getting refunds; the company replied to only 24% of negative reviews there. The US toll-free number in the privacy statement is for privacy requests only.
Why this score
The policy sets out rights clearly by region and offers opt-outs, but allows selling or sharing identifiers and online activity with ad networks, and collects precise location when permitted.
What users say
- App Store (Vietnam)4.8/5 · 11,595
- App Store (United States)4.8/5 · 482,050
- Trustpilot1.8/5 · 3,945
Sources
- Vendor-providedOfficial: how the site worksNov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial US privacy statement (updated 2025-07-07)Nov 10, 2026
- Vendor-providedOfficial newsroom (about us)Nov 10, 2026
- storeApp Store listing (Vietnam)Nov 10, 2026
- storeApp Store listing (United States)Nov 10, 2026
- review-siteTrustpilot reviewsNov 10, 2026
- Community-reportedWikipedia: TripadvisorNov 10, 2026
- pressRestaurant Online (2023-04-12): Tripadvisor 2022 transparency reportNov 10, 2026
Specs & compatibility
- Developer
- Tripadvisor, Inc.
- Headquarters
- United States
- Launched
- 2000
- Category
- Travel
Capabilities
- Mobile app
- AI features
- Real-time collaboration
Platforms
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Interface languages
- Vietnamese
- English
- Japanese
- Chinese
- Spanish
- French
- Korean
- German
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Thai
- Indonesian
Support
- Phone
- Help center
Change history
- Feature.Announces plans to merge Viator and Tripadvisor into one team under an experience-led model and launches a Tripadvisor app inside ChatGPT (November 2025).
- Company.Completes the 430 million USD acquisition of parent Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings (April 2025).
- Update.Publishes the 2022 review transparency report: 1.33 million fraudulent reviews, 72% blocked before posting.
Full change history (8)
- Company.Rebrands the spelling from TripAdvisor to Tripadvisor and cuts about 25% of its workforce during COVID-19 (2020).
- Company.Acquires Viator, part of a series of acquisitions in 2014.
- Company.Expedia spins Tripadvisor off as a public company listed on NASDAQ as TRIP (December 2011).
- Company.IAC/InterActiveCorp acquires Tripadvisor (2004).
- Launch.Tripadvisor LLC is founded by Stephen Kaufer, Langley Steinert, Nick Shanny and Thomas Palka.
About the author
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