Comparison · Travel-day trackers · 2026

Stretch vs Bounded

Bounded is an iPhone tracker that logs a country a day from your location and offers to rebuild your past travel from your photos. Stretch counts every country from a log you confirmed yourself, on iPhone and Android, and keeps the counter free forever. Here is how I would choose.

By David Toniolo, Do a Stretch · Updated 2026-08-29 · Prices and facts checked 2026-08-17 · 8 min read

Who each one is for

Pick Bounded if you live on an iPhone, your main exposure is a tax test, and you want your days logged for you — from your location, and from your old photos' GPS tags. Pick Stretch if you are on Android, want the counter and alerts free forever, or want a log where every day was typed or confirmed by you.

Every rule Stretch counts is published with its source and the date I last checked it → the rulebook.

TL;DR

Bounded has earned its year: the deepest tax presets on the App Store, and the ratings to match. But it is iPhone-only, the subscription is the price of admission, the annual price is listed at six amounts up to $149.99, and the photo backfill it leads with is what its own reviewers say puts them in countries they have never been.

Quick verdict

Bounded at a glance

What it is. "Country Days Tracker: Bounded", by Wasl Apps LLC, released 18 February 2026, now on version 1.10.0. It reads which country you are in each day from low-power location, offers to rebuild your past travel from your photos' GPS tags, and counts those days against 100+ presets. Widgets, PDF and CSV export, notifications and a "You" tab for passports and visas arrived in August 2026. No account; the data stays on the phone.

Price. Free to download with a free trial, but the listing says "Subscription is required for GPS auto-tracking, saving travel history, and full app access." On the US store on 17 August 2026: $5.99 a month, or an annual tier listed at $19.99, $29.99, $49.99, $69.99, $99.99 or $149.99. The UK ladder is the same in pounds (£5.99/mo; £19.99–£99.99/yr).

Platforms. iPhone only, plus Apple-silicon Mac and Vision Pro builds. The FAQ says Android is "planned".

Rating. 4.7★ from 213 US ratings, 4.6★ from 250 UK ratings. The company's site claims 35K+ travellers.

Stretch at a glance

The app. A counter for every country you enter. Log the day you land — two taps — and Stretch shows the days left, the date you must be out, and reminders at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days out and on the day. It counts limits that reset when you leave and rolling windows like Schengen's 90-in-180 from one log, keeps your e-visas on the stay they cover, and shows a source and a checked date on every rule. Free forever, so a lapsed card cannot cause an overstay.

Stretch+. $49.99 a year, or $149 once for life. It adds entry stamps for every destination on your passports, on-device GPS you confirm at each border, tax-day tallies, planning, travel-history PDFs, and the Visa Desk: it prepares your tourist-visa and entry-declaration forms with you; you review, pay the government and submit.

Feature comparison

How your days get into the log

Bounded's pitch is autopilot: location logs a country a day, and your camera roll fills in the years before that. Stretch is deliberate — two taps when you land, and your exit date is set — and Stretch+ GPS proposes each border for you to confirm rather than writing it. "It showed dozens of trips that never happened," wrote phurnbeats (US, 2★, 23 June 2026): "photo history is effectively useless." "Told me I had spent 130 days this year in Saudi Arabia when I haven't even been this year?" wrote Tom _webster5 (UK, 1★, 7 August 2026). Its GPS side gets warmer reviews, fairly — but a record with invented days is worse than one with gaps.

Winner Stretch — a log you would hand a border officer, because you vouched for every line.

Which countries, and which tax tests

Bounded's presets are the real thing: the Substantial Presence Test's weighted three-year count, UK SRT ties bands (15/45/90/120/182), 30+ US states, green-card and ILR absence caps, citizenship timelines, and a nice touch where Thailand flags at 179 days rather than 180. Stretch goes the other way: every destination on your passports, every rule you would be stopped for, published at doastretch.com/visa. Stretch+ tallies 183-day windows from the same log, so one confirmed border feeds both counts. If Schengen is your only number, the free calculator answers it in your browser.

Winner Bounded — for tax-test depth; credit where it is due.

Where the rules come from

Bounded's presets are presets: switch on "Schengen 90/180" and trust the number in the box, though its August update added links to official checkers. Stretch shows the source, the checked date and a trust label on every rule — verified against the official source, one source, reported, or sources disagree — and says so when a rule is not yet verified.

Winner Stretch — a number with a source beats a number in a box.

Reminders, and who you write to

Stretch sets the must-exit date when you log an entry, then reminds you at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days out and on the day, free. Bounded added counter notifications in 1.10.0, and one reviewer's went red in time to rebook a flight and avoid an overstay (LovettaLarosec, US, 5★, 31 July 2026). Bounded answers store reviews within days, though several one-star reviews say refund emails went unanswered. Stretch is one nomad of twelve years: hello@doastretch.com.

Winner Tie — Stretch's schedule is finer and free; Bounded is more visible on the store.

Documents, forms and privacy

Bounded's "You" tab stores passports, visas and residency permits. Stretch keeps e-visas on the stay they cover, free, links the arrival cards and portals you must complete before you fly, and then the Visa Desk prepares your visa and entry-declaration forms with you. Stretch has no account, no server, no ads and no analytics. Bounded's site says your trips and photo data never leave the phone, and I have no reason to doubt it — but its App Store privacy label on 17 August 2026 lists Purchases, Location and Usage Data under "Data Used to Track You". That is not your travel history leaving the phone. It is not "we never see, collect, or transmit your data" either.

Winner Stretch — the forms prepared, and a label that matches the promise.

Price and platforms

Price is the loudest complaint in Bounded's recent reviews, in two shapes. There is no free tier: "I cannot stand apps that let you get through the entire set up process before telling you there is a mandatory subscription" (shard4y, UK, 2★, 10 August 2026). And there is which price: six annual amounts from $19.99 to $149.99, and reviewers describe the number moving. "Used trial stating that it would charge £29 for a year but I was charged £69 !" (jaslavene, UK, 1★, 15 August 2026); "more than doubled the annual subscription cost to £69.99" (HuckinD, UK, 1★, 25 July 2026). Stretch has one price: the counter and alerts free forever, Stretch+ at $49.99/yr — $110 a year under Bounded's top tier. Bounded is iPhone-only; Stretch ships on both stores.

Winner Stretch — one price you can quote, on an entire extra operating system.

Choose Bounded if you…

• are on an iPhone and your main exposure is a tax test — the Substantial Presence Test, UK SRT bands, a US state question;
• want past travel reconstructed from photo GPS tags, and will audit every day it fills in;
• accept a subscription as the price of keeping your history, and will check which annual price you are charged.

Choose Stretch if you…

• use Android, or share a life with someone who does — one app, both phones;
• want the counter, the alerts and your documents free, forever, with no trial that ends;
• want one price — $49.99/yr, or $149 once for life — not a ladder topping out at $149.99;
• want a log with no invented days, and every rule's source in front of you.

How we evaluated

• How days get into the log, and whether the app can add one you did not confirm
• Which countries each one covers, and which tax tests
• Whether a rule shows its source, its checked date and any doubt
• Price by published tier, platforms, and what the store reviews complain about

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Bounded on the US App Store — 4.7★ (213 ratings), v1.10.0, prices, privacy label, US reviews: apps.apple.com/us/app/bounded/id6758992473 (checked 2026-08-17)
• Bounded on the UK App Store — 4.6★ (250 ratings), £ tiers, UK reviews: apps.apple.com/gb/app/bounded/id6758992473 (checked 2026-08-17)
• Bounded website — features, privacy claims, "35K+ travelers": bounded.app (checked 2026-08-17)
• Bounded support FAQ — pricing, Android "planned": bounded.app/support (checked 2026-08-17)
• Our August 2026 market review of travel-day trackers (internal)
• Stretch's rules, with source and checked date: doastretch.com/visa
• Stretch pricing and free tier: doastretch.com

Recommended reads

• Stretch vs iReside: the two apps that count both visa days and tax days [2026]
• Stretch vs Country Days Tracker: $34.99 a year, or a counter that's free forever [2026]
• 8 best Bounded alternatives in 2026 (Android included)

Prices, ratings and features are as published by each product on the date shown; they change — check the store listing before you buy. Stretch is a tracker, not legal advice.