The apps and tools that help a volunteer abroad fall into two groups: the official tools of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) and everyday apps.
Each app below had a listing on the German Play and App Store on 8 Nov 2026, and other countries were not tested one by one. Each entry says what the app does and whether a free version exists, without prices. Our guide on your first steps as an ESC volunteer covers what to do when you arrive.
Last updated: November 2026.
Which official tools do ESC volunteers get?
ESC volunteers get these official tools:
🪪 European Solidarity Corps Portal: after registering, you receive a unique Personal Registration Number (PRN), shown on the profile page or in the confirmation email. Fill in a profile on the European Solidarity Corps Portal once, and after that click Apply for each project. Our guide on registering on the ESC Portal explains the steps.
🗣️ Online Language Support: you can access Online Language Support with your EU login and join online courses already before your departure, on a learning management platform of the European Commission called EU Academy. Volunteers, including those in Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas and Humanitarian Aid Volunteering, and participants in Solidarity Projects can receive language learning support through Online Language Support. Our guide on Online Language Support explains the courses.
🎓 General Online Training: optional training modules for registered candidates and volunteers, on the European Solidarity Corps Portal in EU Academy.
💳 ESC Youth Card: a digital card that gives you access to 30 000+ discounts and opportunities available in 35+ countries in the European Youth Card network, valid for 18 months from the moment you receive it through e-mail.
🏥 myHenner: an electronic version of your healthcare insurance card, the Henner Pass, is available on the mobile app myHenner and on the Member Portal. You can search for a healthcare provider close to you from the portal or the mobile app. All volunteers must be insured against the risks linked to their participation, and there is a specific insurance policy for cross-border volunteers (volunteers who go abroad). Our guide on ESC insurance explains the cover.
🔐 EU Login mobile app: two-step verification on a new device can use email, SMS or the EU Login mobile app.
📜 Youthpass: every young person taking part in European Solidarity Corps activities has the right to go through the Youthpass process and receive a Youthpass certificate at the end of the process. Our guide on what Youthpass is explains the certificate.
Which apps help you translate?
Google Translate and DeepL help you translate:
🌐 Google Translate: translates text, speech and camera images, and is practical for signs, menus and short messages but not for legal decisions. The free app lets you download languages onto your device to translate them without an internet connection, on Android and iOS.
📝 DeepL: translator for longer or formal text, with free mobile apps on iOS and Android.
Our guide on learning a language while volunteering covers learning beyond translation.
Which apps help you learn the local language?
Duolingo, Babbel, Busuu, Tandem and HelloTalk help you learn the local language:
🦉 Duolingo: short game-style language lessons, with every course free, on Android and iOS.
📚 Babbel: dialogue-based lessons for practical conversation; you can try the first lesson of every course for free and, depending on the language, up to 80 free lessons, and you'll need a subscription to use Babbel fully, on Android and iOS.
🎯 Busuu: structured courses with feedback from native speakers; free language learning courses are offered and a subscription is required for full access, on Android and iOS.
💬 Tandem: language exchange with native speakers by text, voice and video; you can sign up for free, on the App Store, Google Play and a web login.
🗨️ HelloTalk: chat and calls with native speakers with built-in correction tools; free chatting with native speakers, on Android and iOS.
Our guide on Online Language Support explains the free courses of the programme.
Which maps work without internet?
These maps work without internet, with different limits:
🗺️ Google Maps: directions by walking, car, bike and public transport, free on Android and iOS; when you're offline, transit, bicycling, or walking directions are unavailable.
📍 MAPS.ME: offline maps with offline search and navigation, free on iPhone, iPad and Android.
🧭 Organic Maps: fully offline map and navigation built on OpenStreetMap, with no ads, tracking or account; absolutely free on iOS and Android.
🥾 OsmAnd: offline OpenStreetMap maps with detail for hiking and cycling, no ads even in the free version, on the App Store and Google Play.
🚗 HERE WeGo: a free navigation app; download a map of a region, country or continent and stay totally offline, on Android and iOS.
Our guide on ESC packing essentials lists what else to prepare.
Which apps help with trains, buses and local transport?
These apps help you with trains, buses and local transport:
🚇 Citymapper: public transport routing in big cities with real-time departures, on iPhone and Android; coverage varies by city.
🎫 Omio: compares and books trains, buses, flights and ferries across borders in one search, on Android and iOS.
🚆 Trainline: books rail and coach tickets from many operators with digital tickets and delay alerts, on Android and iOS.
🛣️ Rome2Rio: shows route options between two places by train, bus, ferry, flight and car with time and price estimates, free on Android and iOS; its prices and results can be outdated.
🚌 FlixBus: long-distance intercity buses, on Android and iOS.
🚙 BlaBlaCar: long-distance carpooling, plus bus and train booking; the app is free to download and a service fee applies to carpool bookings, on Android and iOS.
🎟️ Eurail/Interrail Rail Planner: official pass companion with a timetable and trip planner, which shows which trains accept the pass or need a seat reservation; free, on iPhone and Android.
🚄 DB Navigator: official German rail app with tickets, timetables and delays, free to download on Android and iOS; tickets are paid, and national rail apps are usually cheaper than resellers for in-country travel.
Our guide on travelling during your project covers days off, and our guide on booking flights for ESC covers the ticket to your project.
Which apps help with money and shared flat costs?
These apps help with money and with shared flat costs:
💱 Wise: multi-currency account and card and international transfers, on Android and iOS.
💳 Revolut: multi-currency spending, exchange, cards and budgeting in one app, on Android and iOS; adults can open an account if they live in a supported country, and the supported countries include the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland.
🏦 N26: mobile bank account, with a standard account that is free of opening or maintenance fees, on Android and iOS; you must live in an eligible country where N26 operates.
📈 XE Currency: live exchange rates and currency conversion, on iOS and Android.
🧾 Splitwise: tracks shared bills and who owes what, for flat costs like groceries, bills and rent, on Android and iOS.
🧮 Tricount: group expense splitting, available on iOS and Android.
⚖️ Settle Up: tracks group debts and calculates the fewest transfers, on Android, iOS and web.
➗ Splid: splits group bills with no account needed, on Android and iOS.
Our guide on ESC pocket money explains the money you receive.
How do you keep mobile data affordable?
You keep mobile data affordable by knowing the roaming rules and comparing a local SIM with an eSIM.
When you travel outside your home country to another EU country, you don't have to pay any additional charges, and the same applies in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Ukraine. Roaming means using your phone while occasionally travelling outside the country where you have a mobile subscription. You are roaming as long as you spend more time at home than abroad or use your phone more at home than abroad. If you move abroad but keep your home-country SIM, your mobile operator may charge you extra for roaming, capped under the fair use policy. Over a 4-month period an operator may check your roaming use, and if you spend more time abroad and your roaming use is more than your use at home, it may ask you to clarify within 14 days. Roaming has no maximum stay length, and the 4-month period is a monitoring period, not a deadline. We did not find an official page on ESC volunteers and home SIMs. A SIM card and phone line are usually paid by the volunteer from pocket money; some organisations provide them, so clarify this with the organisation.
These eSIM services sell data plans:
📶 Airalo: prepaid eSIM data plans, regional Europe plans installed by QR code, on Android and iOS.
📶 Holafly: unlimited-data eSIM for Europe, costing more than capped plans, on Android and iOS.
📶 Saily: eSIM service from Nord Security, on Android and iOS.
📶 Nomad: prepaid eSIM data plans, on iOS and Android.
Our guide on hidden costs covers what you pay yourself.
Which apps keep you in touch?
WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram keep you in touch:
💬 WhatsApp: free messages, calls and video over Wi-Fi or data, on mobile and desktop.
🔒 Signal: free messaging and calls over Wi-Fi or data, on Android and iOS.
✈️ Telegram: messaging with large groups and channels, free, on Android and iOS; normal chats are not end-to-end encrypted, only manually started Secret Chats are.
Our guide on making local friends gives ideas for staying connected where you live.
Which apps help you meet people?
Meetup, Bumble For Friends and Couchsurfing help you meet people:
🎈 Meetup: finds local groups and events by interest, free to sign up, on Android and iOS.
👋 Bumble For Friends: friend-finding app from Bumble, free to download and use with an optional Premium subscription, on Android.
🛋️ Couchsurfing: connects travellers and locals through stays plus local events and hangouts, on Android and iOS.
Our guide on making local friends has more ideas, and our guide on safety tips for volunteering abroad covers staying safe.
Which emergency apps should you know about?
112 is the European emergency phone number, available everywhere in the EU, free of charge. Note that the three apps below are national, not Europe-wide:
🚨 112NL (Netherlands): official Dutch app to contact the 112 control room, whose chat translates the conversation, on iOS and Android; intended for the Netherlands only.
🚨 AlertCops (Spain): official app of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior with an SOS button, location sharing and chat with police, on Android and iOS; intended for Spain only.
🚨 112 Where ARE U (Italy): official app that sends GPS position to 112 with voice call, silent call and chat, on Android and iOS; region coverage varies.
Our guide on safety tips for volunteering abroad covers who else to contact.
Which apps scan your documents?
These apps scan the documents you need to keep:
📄 Adobe Scan: scans paper to PDF and searchable text, with an Adobe account, as a free mobile scanner app on Android and iOS.
🧾 Genius Scan: scans documents to multipage PDF, with an unlimited and fully-functional basic version, on Android and iOS.
📠 CamScanner: scanner with many export formats and AI tools, with ads and limits in the free version, on Android and iOS.
📱 iScanner: scanner with OCR and AI tools, with in-app purchases, on Android and iOS.
Keep the receipts of all expenses. Our guide on visas for ESC and Erasmus+ explains which documents you need.
Which tools help you find your next project?
Youth Works Hub has a Match page that finds projects suited to you: it asks 8 questions and shows the results as a swipeable deck of cards, and using Match requires creating an account on the site. Training courses, seminars and study visits from SALTO (Support, Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities), the European Training Calendar, are pulled into Youth Works Hub automatically several times a day and appear in the Erasmus+ projects category. Our guide on how to find projects shows where the offers are published.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a local SIM card?
If you move abroad and keep your home-country SIM, your mobile operator may charge you extra for roaming, capped under the fair use policy. A SIM card and phone line are usually paid by the volunteer from pocket money; some organisations provide them, so clarify this with the organisation.
Is Online Language Support free?
Yes: participation in the European Solidarity Corps is free of charge for the volunteer, and you can also access a range of free services, including Online Language Support. Our guide on Online Language Support has the details.
How many languages can I study with Online Language Support?
There are no restrictions concerning the number of courses and languages.
How long is the ESC Youth Card valid?
The card is valid for 18 months from the moment you receive it through e-mail.
What should you set up before you leave?
Our guide on what to do before you go covers the preparation, and the Youth Works Hub pages below go deeper.
Related pages: registering on the ESC Portal · Online Language Support · ESC insurance · ESC packing essentials · what to do before you go · travelling during your project
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
