Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Travel

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Make travel easy: The best packing apps for every type of traveler

Packing is always the worst part of traveling. Find the best packing app to help you stay sane for your trip

Mike Richard
By
Someone packing their suitcase for a trip.
Jaromir Chalabala / Shutterstock

Let’s be real: Packing for a trip is tedious, stressful, and time-consuming. For most of us, it just plain sucks. If you’re not the sort of masochist traveler who actually enjoys packing, smartphone technology is here to help. There’s an app for everything, and they have come up with the best packing apps so you don’t have to cry while putting things randomly into your suitcase.

There’s a huge selection of travel apps out there, including packing apps for every flavor of traveler. From control freaks to those who want a dead-simple wizard to hand-hold them through every step of the packing process, these mobile packing apps make the process as quick, painless, and even mindless as possible. These are the best packing apps for travelers who seriously hate to pack.

The packing app PackTeo.
Google Play Store

For almost anyone: PackTeo

PackTeo promises to be all things to all people. Whatever your packing style, the app’s user-friendly design makes it a snap to use. For those who like to be in control, it allows for adding specific details about everything in your luggage, like weight and which bag you plan to put each item in. Alternatively, the built-in templates mean you’ll pick from typical lists (say, “Camping,” “Cycling,” or “International”) without having to create your own from scratch. Then, it’s just a matter of customizing it to fit your style of travel.

OneBag packing app.
Google Play Store

For the minimalist traveler: OneBag

OneBag is arguably the most streamlined travel packing app, aiming to keep the process easy and quick. It encourages packing light (hence the name) with a focus on the weight of each item, ensuring you’re keenly aware of how much stuff is in your bag. As any long-term traveler will tell you, light luggage — only packing your travel essentials or even being a carry-on-only passenger — makes for easy traveling. Knowing the total weight of your luggage also helps to avoid oversized baggage fee surprises at the airport.

The packing app Packr.
Apple App Store

For the globe hopper: Packr

Packr has one thing going for it that’s lacking in most other packing apps: Multi-destination trip planning. It seems like a strange oversight, but most of its competitors don’t offer this feature. For that reason alone, it’s the best on this list for landhoppers who typically plan medium or long-term, multi-country trips. It’s otherwise similar to the others on this list, with a solid lineup of features, including auto-generated packing lists, the ability to share your lists with others, and weather forecasting for your next destination.

The packing phone app Easy Pack.
Google Play Store

For the list lover: Easy Pack

Easy Pack isn’t the best packing app overall, but there’s a lot to like about it. First, it’s lightweight, and its creators promise it’ll be free forever. Second, while its competitors rely on trip-centric list creation, Easy Pack takes a unique bag-centric approach. So, for example, if you take the same messenger and duffle bag on every trip, it’s easier to create several listed “bags,” and then re-use them for each new trip.

Recommended Videos

The app takes into account unique points about upcoming trips, like whether you’re traveling with pets, the type of stay, and any transportation concerns. Lastly, it doubles as a daily planning app to help prep for mundane activities closer to your home base, like packing for a day at the beach or taking your dog on a hike.

The app PackPoint
Google Play Store

For the ultimate lazy traveler: PackPoint

For travelers who are seriously packing averse, it doesn’t get easier than PackPoint. It’s clear a great deal of thought went into the user interface. The streamlined design offers a simple, wizard-like process to handhold users through every step of packing. Just launch the app and enter a few basic details like the date of your trip, where you’re heading, any activities you plan on doing while there (e.g., hiking, swimming, beach-going, etc.), and whether it’s for business, leisure, or both.

Related

PackPoint checks the weather forecast and pre-populates a packing list with a best guess of everything it thinks you might need. It’s just under $3 to buy for either smartphone platform (iOS or Android), but the long list of great features — like TripIt integration, forecast-checking, and list-sharing with friends and family — make it worth it.

The packing app Packing Pro.
Apple App Store

For the control freak: Packing Pro

If you’re not keen on packing but still appreciate being in full control of the process, Packing Pro is your jam. The app lacks the polish of the others mentioned here, and it could feel a bit confusing on first launch, but it makes up for it with extreme versatility. Every item on your packing list is customizable with options like which bag it goes in, the item’s level of importance for your overall trip, weight, monetary value (for insurance purposes) — the list goes on. Users create specific templates (say, one for business and one for leisure) and you could even create templates within templates if you really want to drill down. This is an app designed for serious “power-user” type travelers.

The packing app PackKing.
Apple App Store

For the every man traveler: PackKing

PackKing’s user interface is simple and streamlined like PackPoint, although it lacks some of the panache. The free version offers a few more features than the former, which is why we like it for most travelers. It offers a long list of preloaded activities, like Hiking, Photography, Beach, Dog, and Mobile Office. All of these include their own related items, so it’s easy to fine-tune your packing list no matter where you’re going or what you’re doing. It also asks if and how often you’ll be doing laundry while traveling, which will seriously lighten your clothing load.

The TrekPack app
Google Play Store

For the outdoorsman: TrekPack

We said there was an app for every type of traveler, and we’re not leaving out the outdoorsy one. TrekPack is for the hikers and trekkers who will do the bulk of their traveling with their feet. You could use one of the other apps for your non-hiking days and make sure to use TrekPack for the adventuring days.

Put in what kind of terrain you’ll encounter, where you’ll sleep, how you’re going to cook your food, and the total weight of your bag to create your ultimate packing list. You’ll be able to make multiple lists for the same trip if you want to find the one that fits best. You could even share your lists with others to see if you forgot something you’d need or might have overpacked.

However you travel and wherever you travel, if you have to pack a bag to get there, make sure you find the right app to help you on your journey. Take one thing off your plate so you don’t wind up screaming into an empty bag. You won’t want to leave your packing to the last minute once you figure out which of the best packing apps is the one for your travel needs.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mike Richard
Mike Richard
Contributor
Mike Richard has traveled the world since 2008. He's kayaked in Antarctica, tracked endangered African wild dogs in South…
Flight attendant shares genius travel tips and a key hotel hack on TikTok
Finally, a good place to store your toothbrush
Interior of a hotel room with a bed, bathtub, and sink in one room.

Who better to give the best hotel travel tips than a flight attendant? They basically live in hotels when they’re on the job, so it makes complete sense that they would know exactly how to maximize a person’s hotel experience. Globe-trotting flight attendants are a unique resource for travelers to look to for tips. Since she spends so much time in them, one flight attendant has taken to TikTok to share her top hacks for a seamless trip.
Esther Sturrus, who works for Dutch airline KLM, has more than a few tips to keep travelers safe, clean, and refreshed on their next journey. One such video — with more than 34.8 thousand likes to date — garnered lots of support thanks to a genius safety hack and a simple trick to try with a paper cup.

Flight attendant shares top hotel tips on TikTok
In Oct. 2022, Sturrus’ first hotel tip video garnered nearly 39 million views. She walked viewers through the first things she does when arriving in hotel rooms during trips across the globe. Immediately upon entering the room, she goes through a number of steps, including putting on the do not disturb sign, locking the door, closing the curtains, and adjusting the air conditioning before showering and getting comfortable. Then, before getting some shut-eye, she checks for bedbugs.
The comment section of her video is filled with praise for the usefulness and value of her tips for travelers — especially those traveling solo. Below, we’re taking a closer look at the newest set of tips she shared:

Read more
American Airlines, United Airlines, and more: Study says these are the most unreliable airlines for holiday travel
Study says these are the most unreliable airlines for holiday travel
Airplane flying at sunset

Airlines, despite being essential components of modern travel, are often criticized for their perceived unreliability. Delays, cancellations, overbooking, and lost baggage are a few of the most common issues when it comes to air travel. Unfortunately, these problems only tend to increase during the holiday season.

With all of the uncertainty surrounding air travel during the holidays, many people wonder which airlines are better than others when it comes to reliability. Compare the Market recently conducted a study comparing major airlines to determine which companies are the least reliable. United, JetBlue, and American Airlines are among the few of the least reliable airlines to travel with.
American Airlines
American Airlines has been ranked as the least reliable airline in the United States, with 2,183 yearly flight problems recorded, 157 cases of oversold tickets, and 1,476 issues with refunds. American is the largest airline in the world when measured by scheduled passengers, completing nearly 6,800 flights per day to 350 different destinations. 
United Airlines
Headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois, United Airlines, Inc. comes in as the second-least reliable airline in the country. United Airlines topped the list for lost and delayed baggage, with 763 cases of lost, delayed, or damaged bags over a 12-month period. The airline reported 1,538 total flight problems, including 470 cases of misinformation on fares and 22 cases of discrimination. 
Spirit Airlines
Next on the list is Spirit Airlines, which is North America’s largest ultra-low-cost carrier. This airline is known for last-minute cancellations and overbooked flights, causing dozens of disruptions every day. Spirit had a total of 1,102 flight problems recorded over the year.
JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airlines is another low-cost airline that operates around 1,000 flights every day. The airline comes in as the fourth-least reliable airline, with 1,167 total flight problems recorded within a year. Despite these troubles, JetBlue recently announced several new flight paths from the United States to Europe, which will begin service in 2024. 
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines ranks as the fifth-least reliable airline in the United States, with 1,097 recorded flight problems. Frontier is an ultra-low-budget airline, so many customers understand the risk they are taking when booking with the airline.

Read more
Why air travel feels so expensive: Airlines will make a record $118B in extra fees this year
Baggage, seat selection, and more — airlines are making us pay
Interior of an airport with people stanidng in the shadows in front of a window

Airlines worldwide are set to make an anticipated record high of nearly $118 billion in revenue from ancillary sales this year, according to a study from IdeaWorks and CarTrawler. Ancillary sales include baggage fees, seat selection, and other air travel surcharges that airlines add to the base price of your ticket — you’ve probably noticed them driving up the price of air travel recently.
The staggering earnings in 2023 represent a 7.7% surge from pre-pandemic records and highlight a profound shift in the airline industry’s revenue model. It also reflects a stark reality for travelers: the days of straightforward ticket prices are long gone. The study sheds light on this escalating trend, showcasing the various fees airlines impose on passengers and what’s driving the change.

Why do airlines charge so many extra fees?
In the quest for profitability amidst competitive — aka low — ticket pricing, airlines have turned to tacking on extra fees for travelers, transforming these once supplementary charges into a lucrative revenue stream. “Airfares, on an inflated adjusted basis, have been declining for more than a decade,” IdeaWorks president Jay Sorensen noted in the study. “Low fares and ancillary revenue are joined at the hip. You can’t have one without the other.”
But, as shown by the continued year-over-year revenue increase for add-on fees industry-wide, this is no longer a matter of only budget airlines asking passengers to foot the bill for bags, extra legroom, and other “amenities” in flight. Large airlines such as British Airways, Air France, and KLM have ventured into charging fees for premium business class seats, expanding the spectrum of ancillary charges across the pond.
American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines have been at the forefront of the fee frenzy in recent years. Baggage fees have been a substantial source of revenue for these carriers, with American Airlines’ baggage fees, Delta’s baggage fees, and United Airlines’ baggage fees contributing significantly to their bottom lines. It’s not just luggage; American Airlines and United Airlines seat selections are also now subject to additional fees, further intensifying the expense of flying.

Read more