MatchaFacts about Tripadvisor are as of October 2026, from its App Store and Google Play listings and its help center (links under Sources).
The short answer
You open Tripadvisor before you eat somewhere new: you read what other travelers thought, check the bubble rating and save the place to a Trip. It’s free on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, and it books hotels and tours too.
Matcha is for after the meal. You score the dish you ate, and over a few trips you build your own ranking of the best pizza, ramen or matcha latte you’ve had, on a map. It’s a private iPhone app with no reviews for strangers to read.
Pick Tripadvisor to find places in a new city, and Matcha to remember what was good.
How they rate
A Tripadvisor review rates the whole place, from one bubble (“terrible”) to five (“excellent”). The overall rating weighs the quality, quantity and age of all reviews, and a separate Popularity Index ranks similar places within a location. Insider tips can name a must-try dish but carry no rating.
Matcha rates the dish, from 1 to 10 in half steps, with an optional photo, price and note. Every food gets its own ranking, so your carbonara in Rome and the one in New York share a list. There are rankings by city, restaurant and year too, all from your own scores (how to rate food).
Lists, maps and friends
On Tripadvisor, you tap the heart on a hotel, attraction or restaurant to save it to a Trip. A Trip has privacy settings and can have collaborators, and the AI trip builder suggests more places from your saves. Reviews are public, under your display name.
On Matcha’s map, each rated place shows its best dish’s score. Want to try places are pink, with the dish to order if you know it. You share on purpose:
- lists shared through iCloud, where a friend’s score stays hidden until you’ve scored the dish
- share cards for a Story, a post or a square: your top 5, a big #1 or a podium
- a Send my places link that copies your places into a friend’s Want to try (they need Matcha)
Each year you get your year in food. There’s no account to make, and nobody can follow you. Matcha has no ads and uses no AI.
Price and platforms
Tripadvisor and its membership are free. The app contains ads, needs iOS or iPadOS 18 or later, and comes in 28 languages. Its free Rewards program gives 5% back in Trip Cash on hotels and experiences you book.
Matcha is a free download with a 7-day free trial, then $9.99/year, or $0.99/week without a trial. Other plans may show in the app, prices vary by country, and nothing is free after the trial (pricing). It’s iPhone only (iOS 26 or later), comes in 9 languages, and is in App Store review now. On price, devices and languages, Tripadvisor is ahead.
Moving from Tripadvisor to Matcha
There’s no Tripadvisor import. Matcha imports only shared Google Maps lists, and Tripadvisor’s help center doesn’t describe a way to export a Trip.
For a few saved restaurants, search each one on Matcha’s map and tap Want to try. If they’re also in a Google Maps list, share that list to Matcha instead, up to 3,000 places per list (Google Maps list to iPhone).
Or keep both: find a place on Tripadvisor, then score what you ate in Matcha. More apps: Matcha alternatives.
Sources
Checked on 16 October 2026.
- Tripadvisor on the App Store and Google Play
- Tripadvisor help center: Manage my Trips, Popularity Index versus overall bubble rating, Write a review, insider tips, profile privacy, membership
