My Visa Tracker: Free vs Premium — Is It Worth Upgrading?
If you've just downloaded My Visa Tracker, you're probably wondering what the free plan covers — and whether it's worth paying for Premium. Here's an honest breakdown so you can make the right call for your situation.
What the Free Plan Includes
The free plan is designed to let you experience the core features without any commitment. You get:
- 50 work events — enough to cover a meaningful stretch of farm work or regional employment
- 5 detailed PDF reports — so you can generate compliance evidence for your visa extension
- This month's fruit picking data — browse harvest opportunities for the current month
For backpackers who are just starting their visa journey or who have a short stint of specified work ahead, the free plan may be all you need. 50 events covers approximately 10 weeks of 5-day working weeks — a solid amount of specified work.
The 5 reports included are also more than enough if you're applying for a single visa extension and just need one or two documents for your application.
What Premium Unlocks
Premium removes the limits and adds features that matter once you're managing a longer stint, multiple employers, or planning ahead for Year 2 or Year 3.
Unlimited Work Events
Once you exceed 50 events, the free plan stops accepting new entries. For backpackers doing 88+ days across multiple employers and seasons — or those working toward the 179 days for a third-year visa — this becomes a hard constraint quickly.
Premium removes the cap entirely. You can log every single working day, across every employer, for as long as your visa runs.
Unlimited Reports
PDF reports are your official compliance evidence. Some backpackers generate multiple reports — one per visa period, one per employer, or interim versions to check their progress.
With Premium, you can generate as many as you need, at any time.
Full Picking Season Access
The free plan shows you this month's harvest opportunities. Premium unlocks the full annual picking calendar — so you can plan ahead, know exactly which region to head to next month, and avoid dead zones between harvest seasons.
This feature alone can save you weeks of dead time between jobs if you use it to plan your route around Australia.
Early Access to New Features
Premium subscribers get first access to new features as they're released. The app is actively developed, and new tools for managing your visa journey are in the pipeline.
Which Plan Is Right for You?
Here's a simple way to think about it:
Free is enough if:
- You're doing a single short stint of specified work (under 10 weeks)
- You only need one or two reports for your extension application
- You haven't started yet and want to try the app before committing
Premium is worth it if:
- You're working toward 88 days across multiple employers or seasons
- You're planning for a second or third year and need a full year of tracking
- You want to use the picking season data to plan your route around Australia
- You generate reports regularly to check your progress
The Lifetime Option
Alongside the annual Premium plan, there's a Lifetime access option — a single one-time payment that covers every current feature and every future Premium feature, forever.
For backpackers planning to stay in Australia for two or three years, this tends to work out significantly cheaper than paying annually. It's also the cleaner option if you know you'll be doing multiple visa extensions.
The Lifetime plan includes everything in annual Premium, plus:
- Permanent access with no recurring payments
- All future features as they're added to the app
How Pricing Works
My Visa Tracker is available on iOS and Android. Purchases are processed through Apple's App Store and Google Play respectively. You can see the current pricing directly in the app — prices may vary slightly by country and store.
There are no hidden fees, no web subscriptions to manage separately, and no auto-renewal surprises — annual plans are clearly labelled, and the Lifetime option is a one-time charge.
Trying Premium Risk-Free
If you're unsure, start with the free plan. Use it for a week or two and see how the workflow fits your habits. When you approach the 50-event limit, you'll have a clear sense of whether the app is genuinely useful to you — and upgrading at that point is straightforward from within the app.
The most important thing is that you're tracking your days accurately and consistently. Whether you do that on the free plan or Premium, the core purpose of the app — making sure you hit your specified work target and have the evidence to prove it — is there from day one.
Ready to start? Download My Visa Tracker on the App Store or Google Play, create an account, and start logging your first working day. Your visa extension depends on accurate records — and the earlier you start, the easier it is.
Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash
