The Best Apps for RVing: Proven Reliable Resources
After months of full-time RV travel and working from the road, we have gathered the ultimate list of apps for RVing to help you travel safely, efficiently, and comfortably and make the most of your time on the road!
If you are like us, there is nothing more exciting than the possibilities that await on the open road. Exploring the U.S. by RV allows you the freedom to travel at your own pace with all the comforts of home. You can get remote and live off-grid out in nature, enjoy luxury amenities at RV resorts, stay in National Parks, or visit family all over the country.
RV travel is an excellent way to vacation in your own style, or live a life of your own design. As with any form of travel, there are important considerations to make sure your experience is as safe and stress-free as possible.
Best Apps for RVing
With so many apps and resources out there, it can be hard to know what you really need and what is worth that precious storage space on your devices. The following apps for RVing are our top contenders, as they are what we use most regularly during our full-time RV travels and have found the most value in:
Fuel Apps
Open Roads
If you have a diesel vehicle (such as a Class A diesel pusher or a diesel truck as your tow vehicle), the Open Roads app is a great option for saving money on diesel fuel at truck stops all over the country.
By signing up, you become part of TSD Logistic’s program and in turn can receive discounted prices on fuels at truck stops and travel centers including Love’s, TA, Petros, and more. On their website, they advertise that members enjoy 30-40 cents off the pump price on average and we have found this to be the case! In some cases, we have even had discounts of 70 cents per gallon off the pump price.
There are no fees to join, no contracts, and no hidden fees. You will need to connect your debit card to sign up. We love this program for the fuel savings and the convenient app which shows you discounted prices at pumps all over the country.
We also love stopping for fuel at truck stops due to the availability of DEF at the pump, high clearance for our fifth wheel, and the high-flow nozzles that help us fuel our main tank and auxiliary tank quickly.
Cost: FREE
Website: https://myopenroads.com/
App: Available in the App Store and Play Store
Gas Buddy
With fuel prices in 2022, savings on fuel has been a high priority for us whenever possible. Once we are set up at a campsite and unhooked, we are then free to fill up at any station with diesel and are not limited by having our large fifth wheel in tow.
Gas Buddy is a great app and resource for finding local fuel stations and comparing prices and locations and can be used for either diesel or gas.
Cost: FREE
Website: https://www.gasbuddy.com/
App: Available in the App Store and Play Store
GPS & Trip Planning Apps
RV Life (GPS)
When it comes to RV travel, size matters. At 13’4″, our RV has some bridges it cannot fit under. And at 57′ long, there are some roads we are not able to travel on. Learn from our mistakes and be very cognizant of the routes you are taking.
As rookie RVers, we got ourselves into our fair share of wrong turns and sticky situations which required a bit of stressful maneuvering. While no technology is perfect, having the right tools at your disposal can make a big difference.
The RV Life app is perfect for RVers as it allows you to input your RV details and get RV-safe directions to your intended destination. It will help you avoid roads with certain restrictions and low bridges, and also does a great job of estimating time, based on the fact that you are traveling in an RV or towing. With a variety of features every RVer needs, we consider this to be our best RV travel app.
RV Life Trip Wizard (Trip Planning)
RV Life also offers a great tool called RV Trip Wizard, which is a really helpful trip planner. It allows you to see your routes in real-time as you build out trips to different destinations and campgrounds and then use that itinerary to select places to navigate in the RV Life App.
You can track mileage and costs along the way and can also share routes and itineraries with friends or loved ones. In addition, on the web app you can view the topography of your directions, so you know exactly what elevation you will be passing through. This would have saved us from towing over Teton Pass, but we hadn’t figured out that feature just yet.
Finally, they also have great campground reviews which can be helpful when deciding where to stay and a maintenance tracker app to help you make sure your rig is safe and ready to roll! When push comes to shove, staying aware and trusting your gut and local signs are imperative. For a more in-depth look at RV LIFE and its features, check out our complete RV LIFE review and guide.
Don’t pull a Michael Scott and drive right into that lake… (and if you are not an “Office” fan – don’t blindly follow your GPS if your eyes are warning you otherwise).
Cost: $59/year
Website: https://rvlife.com/
App: Available in the App Store and Play Store
Apps For Finding Campgrounds & Campsites
Campendium
Planning RV travel can be stressful. We have spent countless hours researching campgrounds and reading reviews to try and figure out where we can stay and what is available.
Campendium has been an invaluable tool for finding campgrounds. It offers a convenient app and website that allows you to search for public and private campgrounds as well as dump stations all around the country.
The ratings and reviews are extremely helpful for learning about other people’s experiences, campground conditions, and cell signal (which is really important for people like us who RV and work from the road).
Cost: Free for general access; premium ad-free access with cell service overlays $49/year
Website: https://www.campendium.com/
App: Available in the App Store and Play Store
Harvest Hosts
If you plan to RV long distances and need quick overnight stays, Harvest Hosts is an app for RVing that is a complete game changer! While you might be just fine staying at Walmart or Cracker-Barrel, Harvest Hosts gives you the option to upgrade those overnight stays to fun and unique experiences.
With over 4,000 farms, breweries, vineyards, museums, and homesteads around the country, Harvest Hosts provides an app that allows you to select and book overnight stays for free as part of your membership. Some Harvest Hosts offer hook-ups, but most are dry (no hook-up) spots in grass, gravel, or pavement.
We have stayed on a 700-acre hay farm, done wine tastings at vineyards, sat in front of a wood stove at a brewery, got fresh eggs from a homestead, and chatted under the stars with the owners of a small farm. It is recommended you spend at least $20 in the location you book, which we have found is a great way to support small local businesses in the areas we visit.
We have met wonderful people and had great experiences at each place we have stayed and then had safe and convenient places to sleep overnight! Our membership has certainly paid for itself.
To join Harvest Hosts, you must have a self-contained RV.
Cost: $99/year
Website: Harvest Hosts
App: Available in the App Store and Play Store
Google Maps
We RV full-time and love spending time boondocking off-grid. With this, we have to be careful about where we are going so we can do our best to not get stuck. While we use RV Life for navigation, we use Google Maps on satellite view to get an idea of what the areas look like where we are thinking about staying at.
These aerial views can help us see how the roads look and how big the sites are before pulling down any road that might not accommodate our large size.
Cost: FREE
Website: https://www.google.com/maps
Apps: Available in the App Store and Play Store
Other Helpful Resources for RVing (Apps, Websites, & App Based Products)
For Dump Stations:
Sanidumps
If your travels include campgrounds with partial hook-ups, boondocking, or Harvest Hosts, you might not always have access to dump stations or water to fill your fresh tank. Sanidumps is a great tool for locating local dump and water filling stations in the areas you plan to visit.
We have found many free dump stations and it has been really convenient in allowing us to dump our tanks and not have to carry extra weight around.
Cost: Free; donations accepted
Website: https://www.sanidumps.com/
RV Dumps
Cost: Free
Website:rvdumps.com
For Selecting Campsites:
Campsite Photos
If you have ever booked a campsite and then shown up and wished you had selected a different site, this website is for you. With a larger rig and concerns about solar and Starlink, we tend to be pretty particular about what we are looking for in a campsite.
In addition, recreation.gov, state parks, or even private campgrounds often don’t have pictures of all sites that you can view before booking. Campsite Photos is an app for RVing that allows you to view different campsites at a given campground and can help make that decision a bit easier.
While not every campground has photos of all sites, we have been impressed with how many are listed in their database. We have been able to use this resource for 99% of our campground bookings!
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.campsitephotos.com/
For RV sites & amenities:
iOverlander
iOverlander offers a nice combination of features that you might find on Campendium and SaniDumps. iOverlander offers crowd-sourced places for free camping (both overnight and longer), water hook-ups, dump stations, and more.
We know this RVing app is especially helpful for van lifers, who are able to do more stealth camping and fit into smaller areas. In addition, this is a global resource! Find camping spots and water filling stations all over the world.
Cost: Free; donations accepted
Website: ioverlander.com
App: Available in the App Store and Play Store
For weather updates:
Hipcamp & The Dyrt
Similar to Campendium, The Dyrt and HipCamp are additional apps for RVing that are helpful for finding campgrounds and campsites. These both offer ways to find unique camping sites such as privately owned sites and glamping experiences.
It can be a nice addition to Campendium, especially in areas with limited larger campgrounds or boondocking opportunities.
Cost: Free
Apps: Available on the App Store and the Play Store
Accuweather
When traveling in an RV it is imperative to stay aware of changing weather conditions. Whether it is a travel day, an overnight stay, or you plan to be out hiking, the weather can change quickly and pose many threats.
Weather apps like Accuweather are important apps for RVing as they can provide a way to stay up to date with weather changes, check the radar, and get alerts for weather warnings (such as strong winds, tornadoes, thunderstorms, or hail). Stay safe on the road and while camping or hiking by paying close attention to the forecast and local weather.
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.accuweather.com/
App: Available on App Store and Play Store
For mobile internet & connectivity:
Speed Test
If you need to stay connected while on the road, Speed Test is the perfect app for RVing adventures. This is a great resource for checking internet speeds prior to setting up shop at your campsite.
There is nothing worse than taking the time to settle into your campsite or boondocking spot, only to take out your laptop and realize that your service is not enough for work.
If we are unable to use our Starlink in the location we are visiting, we always double-check the speeds on Speed Test prior to committing to the spot. We rely on service for work and have to move if the service is not strong enough.
Cost: FREE
Website: https://www.speedtest.net/
Apps: Available on the App Store and Play Store
Starlink
We love our Starlink! It has been a huge help in easing the stress of working from the road by providing us with a stable and fast internet connection even in remote places. Their app is great and easy to use and helps you to check for obstructions, see outages, and track your data usage. Check out our Starlink review & guide for more on our experience.
Website: https://www.starlink.com/
For Hiking & Outdoor Activities:
AllTrails
What we love most about RV travel is how it brings us closer to nature. Our goal is to spend as much time out in nature as possible, both because of how much we enjoy it, and due to the positive benefits associated with spending time outdoors.
AllTrails is a great app for RVing as it allows you to find hiking and biking trails and other outdoor activities in the areas you visit. You can search based on difficulty and length, read reviews, and see pictures to help make your decisions. With a premium membership, you can also download offline maps to help with navigation when you are outside of cell service. (This has helped us out more times than we can count)!
Cost: Free for general use; AllTrails Pro $35.99/year
Website: https://www.alltrails.com/
Apps: Available on the App Store and Play Store
For Star Gazing:
SkyView Lite
RVing to get out of the city? We love spending our nights out by the fire, looking up at the stars. We have seen some amazing sights of the Milky Way and constellations while RVing that have captivated us and left us in awe. The SkyView Lite app is great for RVing as it allows you to identify what you see in space.
Cost: Free
Apps: Available on the App Store and Play Store
For Connecting With RVers & Advice:
Instagram & Facebook
Instagram has been a great resource for meeting other RVers, learning tips, and finding out about great destinations, campgrounds, and boondocking spots. We have joined RV travel groups on Facebook to get similar tips and support about RV travel.
We’re also part of a specific group for our brand of RV that has been immensely useful for fixes and troubleshooting. While social media is not all good, we believe it can be a valuable tool when used as such!
We love meeting new people who love travel, hiking & the outdoors!
Connect with us on Instagram!
For General Directions (helpful for solar, satellites, etc.):
Compass
A wonderfully useful app for RVing if you need to know a certain direction to set up your satellite dish, Starlink, or want your RV set up a certain way to catch the sun on your solar panels.
For example, we typically check which direction is North and which direction is East and West before unhitching from our truck and setting up to ensure we are set up in a way that has an available north sky for Starlink and great sun for our flat-mounted solar panels.
Cost: Free (might even come installed on your iPhone)
For Efficiency Grocery Shopping:
Walmart
This one might be a bit of a stretch, but using Walmart pick-up for our groceries has been a really nice experience for us while traveling throughout the U.S. in our RV.
It cuts down on our time spent grocery shopping, saves us from the struggle of having to learn the layout of new stores in each place we go, and allows us to proactively stick to our budget while shopping.
Cost: Free
Apps: Available on the App Store and Play Store
For Security & Pet Safety:
SimpliSafe
When living life on the road, our safety comes first. Our SimpliSafe system allows us to alarm our door and storage compartments, as well as check in on our RV through video cameras. This is also a great way to check in on our dog, Azalea, to make sure she is okay when we leave her in the RV.
Wesbite: https://simplisafe.com/
Temp Stick
Traveling with our adventure pup means long hikes in nature and plenty of new smells to explore. At the same time, our travels to National Parks sometimes mean that Azalea has to stay behind. Our Temp Stick is a great product and app for RVing as it allows us to wirelessly check in on the temperature inside our RV when we are not there. This gives us peace of mind that Azalea is comfortable and safe in the RV (no worries about our A/C working or if Azalea is overheating).
Website: https://tempstick.com/
Best Apps for RVing Overall
This list of apps for RVing comes from what we have found most helpful while living and working on the road as full-time RVers. They generally fall into a few broad categories; fuel savings, directions, safety, and fun and adventure.
RVing can be such a fun and rewarding experience and we hope these apps can help you get out and see the world in a way that is safe, fun, and efficient. RVing has taken us to beautiful places, inspired us to live a more sustainable and mindful lifestyle, and has allowed us to benefit mentally and physically from spending more time in nature.
The world is waiting and RV travel can be a great way to get out and experience more. Have other apps or resources that you think we should add to this list? Let us know in the comments so we can try them out!
