HappyCow is a map of places to eat for people who do not eat meat, built up since 1999 by the people who use it. It lists more than 240,000 vegan, vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants, cafés, shops and bakeries in over 185 countries, each with community reviews and photos. For a plant-based traveller it is often the first app opened after the boarding pass.
We like it for two specific things: the Veg Options category, which finds ordinary restaurants where a vegan and a steak lover can share a table, and the ability to save favourites for offline use before you lose signal. Here is our HappyCow review: what is free, what the iPhone version costs, where the data wobbles and how it compares with Google Maps and Yelp.
HappyCow Promo Code: None needed
Best deal: the Android app is free; the iPhone app is a one-off £4.99 with no subscription
| Offer detail | What you get |
|---|---|
| Promo Code | None needed. HappyCow does not publish promo codes |
| Welcome offer | Free on Android and on the website; the iPhone app is a one-off £4.99 |
| Who qualifies | Anyone with an Android phone, an iPhone or a web browser |
| Key terms | iPhone purchase is one-off with no renewal; refunds go through Apple |
| How to claim | Download from Google Play or the App Store, or search at happycow.net |
HappyCow: key facts
- Official website: happycow.net
- Owner: HappyCow, Inc. (acquired by Claudia Torres, announced late 2025)
- Headquarters: California, USA
- Founded: 1999
- Ratings: App Store 4.8 (7.5k ratings, UK App Store); Google Play 4.8 (15.2k reviews, Google Play); Trustpilot 3.5 (8 reviews)
- Headline offer: Free on Android and the web; iPhone app is a one-off £4.99 with no subscription
- Promo Code: None needed
- Price from: Free (Android, web); £4.99 one-off on the UK App Store
- Free plan or trial: Yes: Android app and website are free
- Payment methods: Apple App Store
- Best features: 240,000+ vegan, vegetarian and veg-friendly listings in 185+ countries; Veg Options category for mixed groups; Favourites saved for offline viewing
HappyCow at a glance
- Owner: HappyCow, Inc. (California); acquired by entrepreneur Claudia Torres in late 2025
- Launched: 1999, as a volunteer-run website by founder Eric Brent
- Platforms: iOS, Android, web
- Free plan: yes, the Android app and the website are free
- Paid from: £4.99 one-off for the iPhone app (UK App Store)
- Offline use: saved favourites can be viewed offline
- Ratings: App Store (UK) 4.8/5 from 7.5k ratings; Google Play 4.8/5 from 15.2k reviews
Our verdict
HappyCow is still the most complete guide to plant-based eating for travellers, and nothing else comes close on coverage in small towns and far-flung cities. The trade-off is that its listings depend on volunteers, so closed cafés and wrong addresses slip through, and paid sponsorship now affects which places you see first. Use it to build a shortlist, then check the latest reviews before you walk twenty minutes in the rain.
Pros
- More than 240,000 listings in over 185 countries, including shops, bakeries and veg-friendly hotels
- Free on Android and on the web, with no subscription anywhere
- Veg Options category helps mixed groups find a restaurant that works for everyone
- Favourites can be saved for offline viewing before a trip
- Community reviews and photos often mention specific vegan dishes, not just the menu
Cons
- The iPhone app costs £4.99, and Android users switching to iPhone pay again
- Listings rely on volunteers, so closures and wrong addresses can linger
- Sponsored listings can push paying venues up the results
- Some users report that new non-vegan places with vegan dishes are slow to be added
- The app is mid-rebuild under its new owner, so features may change
What HappyCow does and who it is for
Open the app and it shows what is near you on a map or list, sorted into vegan, vegetarian and Veg Options (restaurants with good plant-based choices on a mixed menu). Each listing gives opening hours, a price guide, cuisine, photos and reviews written by other users. You can filter by type, distance, rating and price, and search a city rather than your current location.
It is aimed squarely at vegans and vegetarians, but anyone with a plant-based friend in tow will find it useful. A few moments when it earns its keep:
- The late arrival. Your flight lands in Athens after ten and the hotel restaurant has closed. Five minutes on HappyCow finds a vegan souvlaki place still open two streets away.
- The mixed group. Six of you in Rome, one vegan, one coeliac, four who want carbonara. The Veg Options filter turns up a trattoria with a proper plant-based section.
- The road trip. Driving through rural France, where vegetarian can mean “the chicken is small”, you save a handful of veg-friendly stops on the route before the signal drops.
Is HappyCow free? Android, iPhone and the website
HappyCow is free on Android: the Google Play listing now states the Android app is free for all users. The website at happycow.net is also free to search. On iPhone the app is a paid download, £4.99 on the UK App Store, with no in-app purchases listed and no subscription.
That gap is a quirk worth knowing. Older guides describe a free, ad-supported Android version and a paid version with offline saving and no adverts; those lines have since been redrawn, and the iPhone app was once free or donation-based. Today the one-off iPhone price covers the full app.
HappyCow price: what it costs and the cheapest way to get it
| Version | UK price | US$ | € |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android app (Google Play) | Free | Free | Free |
| Website (happycow.net) | Free | Free | Free |
| iPhone and iPad app (App Store), one-off | £4.99 | $6.65 | €5.92 |
Dollar and euro figures are conversions of the UK price, not HappyCow’s own prices, and App Store prices vary by country.
The cheapest way. If you have an Android phone, it costs nothing. On iPhone, the website works well enough in Safari for a quick search at home, so you only need the app if you want offline favourites and map browsing on the move. There is no student discount, free trial or family plan, and none is needed at this price.
Features that matter for travellers
Offline favourites. Save restaurants before you go and their details remain on your phone without data. It is not a full offline map, so save the places you care about rather than relying on browsing a whole city offline.
Filters. Vegan only, vegetarian, Veg Options, distance, rating and price. A separate category covers health food shops, which HappyCow says now number more than 13,000 organic stores.
Trips and the Feed. You can build shareable trips of saved places, follow other reviewers and browse a feed of new reviews and photos. It is handy for a group planning a city break.
Add and edit listings. Members can add new places, flag closures and correct details, earning points on their profile. This is what makes the coverage so wide, and also why it is uneven.
Sponsored listings. Venues can pay for higher placement. A Trustpilot reviewer in 2024 said top-tier sponsorship cost a restaurant about $300 a month and that the badge looks more like an award than an advert. Treat the first result as a suggestion, not a ranking.
Privacy and safety
HappyCow’s App Store privacy label says it links contact details, coarse location, user content and a user ID to your account, used for app functions, analytics, personalisation and advertising or marketing. Device ID, usage and diagnostic data are collected but not linked to you. On Google Play it says data is encrypted in transit and you can request deletion. DailyStoke found no regulator action against the company.
The safety point is about food rather than data. A vegan label is not an allergen guarantee, and cross-contamination warnings, where they exist, tend to be buried in user reviews. If you have a serious allergy, ask the restaurant directly.
What users say about HappyCow
HappyCow scores 4.8 out of 5 on the UK App Store from 7,500 ratings and 4.8 on Google Play from about 15,200 reviews, with more than a million Android downloads. Trustpilot has only a handful of reviews, too few to judge. The praise is mostly from travellers; the complaints are about stale listings and what gets added.
On the App Store, Nelufas summed up the fans in July 2026: “This is genuinely my go to travel app.”
Another App Store reviewer, HeyitzGeorgiaxx, gave an August 2026 review a pointed title: “So many vegan food not listed just because the place sells lamb”.
Kirstin F, also on the App Store, raised the same issue in August 2023: “…now you can’t add reviews for new non vegan places.” HappyCow replied that non-vegan places with vegan options are still listed.
On Google Play, Chris C was frustrated in February 2026: “This could be a good app, but it doesn’t actually act on new information”.
How to get started and how to cancel
Getting started
- Download HappyCow from Google Play (free) or the App Store (£4.99), or search at happycow.net.
- Allow location access, or type in the city you are heading to.
- Choose vegan, vegetarian or Veg Options, then sort by distance or rating.
- Read the most recent reviews on any listing before you go, and check the opening hours.
- Create a free account to save favourites, build trips and add reviews.
Cancelling and refunds
- There is no subscription, so there is nothing to cancel.
- If you bought the iPhone app by mistake, request a refund from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple decides refunds, not HappyCow.
- To close your account, use the account settings or contact HappyCow support and ask for your data to be deleted.
HappyCow vs Google Maps vs Yelp
| HappyCow | Google Maps | Yelp | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes on Android and web | Yes | Yes |
| Paid from | £4.99 one-off (iPhone) | Free | Free |
| Best for | Dedicated vegan and vegetarian search worldwide | Live opening hours, directions and huge coverage | Reviews of restaurants in North American cities |
| Offline | Saved favourites | Downloadable offline maps | No |
| App Store rating (UK) | 4.8 (7.5k) | 4.7 (978k) | 3.9 (2.2k) |
Pick HappyCow if you are vegan or vegetarian and travel often. Its categories save you reading dozens of menus.
Pick Google Maps for up-to-date hours, directions and offline maps. Searching “vegan” works well in big cities, less so for spotting good options on mixed menus.
Pick Yelp if you are in the US or Canada and want detailed restaurant reviews. It is thinner in the UK and Europe.
HappyCow alternatives
- abillion: a free, Singapore-founded app where users review individual vegan dishes and products rather than whole restaurants.
- Google Maps: search “vegan” in any city and read the reviews; free, with offline maps.
- Vanilla Bean: a vegan and vegetarian restaurant app focused on Germany, useful for a Berlin or Munich weekend.
- Yelp: detailed restaurant reviews with a vegan filter, strongest in the US and Canada.
HappyCow FAQs
Is HappyCow free?
Yes on Android and on the website. On iPhone it is a one-off £4.99 on the UK App Store, with no subscription.
Why do I have to pay for HappyCow on iPhone?
HappyCow charges a one-off price for the iOS app. Android is free for all users. There are no in-app purchases on either.
Does HappyCow work offline?
Partly. You can save favourite listings to view offline, but you need a connection to search or browse the map.
Is HappyCow accurate?
Mostly, but it relies on users to report closures and changes. Check the date of the latest reviews and the opening hours before you set off.
What does Veg Options mean on HappyCow?
A restaurant that is not vegetarian but has good vegan or vegetarian choices on its menu. Handy for mixed groups.
Who owns HappyCow now?
HappyCow, Inc. was bought by Peruvian business consultant Claudia Torres, announced in late 2025. Founder Eric Brent sold the business in 2021 and stays on as a brand ambassador.
Is there a HappyCow promo code?
No. The app does not use promo codes and there is no subscription to discount.
What is the best vegan app for travelling?
For worldwide coverage, HappyCow. Pair it with Google Maps for live hours and offline maps.
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