Why a counter inside the planner
A standalone calculator only knows the dates you type into it. A counter inside the trip planner already has the dates: every trip you plan in PlanToTrip has an arrival and a departure, so it counts itself. The question the counter answers is the one people actually ask before booking: if I take this trip, do I go over?
Where the days come from
- Trips planned in the app. Counted automatically.
- Past stays entered by hand. For trips the app cannot know about.
- Photo date and place tags. Read on the device, never uploaded, and kept current automatically once allowed.
- Recorded place visits. With location on, the country is resolved on the device, and a borderline day is queried rather than assumed.
The whole history sits on a draggable 180-day timeline, and the forward planner projects a planned trip onto it. Everything except the first item is Pro.
The rule it counts
The Schengen Borders Code allows a short stay of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, and the 180-day period is the one preceding each day of stay (Regulation (EU) 2016/399, Article 6(1)). It is a rolling window, so leaving and coming back does not reset anything. The European Commission publishes a reference calculator for exactly this arithmetic (short-stay calculator).
What it is not
PlanToTrip's counter is an estimate from known dates. It does not read passport stamps or border records, and it will not know about a stay you never told it about. Treat it as your own running tally, and check the official calculator before a trip that runs close to the limit.
Who this is for
People who visit the Schengen Area several times a year on a visa-free passport and want the arithmetic done while they plan, not afterwards. If you only need the arithmetic, the Commission's calculator or a standalone app is enough. If you also want the itinerary, the document scans and planning with friends without accounts, that is what PlanToTrip is for.