Which Apps to Install in Vietnam

Before your first trip to Vietnam, you could open the App Store and spend twenty minutes turning your phone into a branch office of the country.

Don’t.

You probably won’t need most apps on your first day anyway. I would sort out just a few basic things in advance:

internet → taxi → maps → tickets → communication with locals.

Everything else can be downloaded later when you actually need it. Below are the apps that are genuinely useful in Vietnam.

📱 Start with internet

Without it, half of the list below becomes pointless.

Taxis, maps, messages to your accommodation host, tickets, food delivery and finding addresses all require a connection almost immediately after arrival.

If your phone supports eSIM, you can sort this out before the trip.

FROGI has its own service: FROGI eSIM.

Choose a package for Vietnam, install the eSIM in advance and connect to a local network after landing.

I explained local operators, physical SIM cards and eSIM in more detail in the article “SIM Cards and Internet in Vietnam”.

Install eSIM, Grab or Green SM, Google Maps and Zalo. That is already enough to land, contact the people you need and get to your accommodation.

You can download everything else later.

🚕 Taxis and getting around the city

Grab

One of the main apps for travelling around Vietnam.

With Grab, you can order a car or motorbike, as well as food delivery. For a first trip, I would install it in advance.

It is especially convenient because you can see the price and destination before booking. This makes the first few days much easier when you still do not know the city well.

Green SM

Another personal favourite.

The service used to be called Xanh SM, but now operates under the name Green SM.

You can use the app to order electric cars and electric motorbikes. I like Green SM mainly because of how the ride feels. The cars are usually of a predictable standard, and the trip itself often feels calmer.

I would install both apps: Grab and Green SM.

Not because one is necessarily better than the other. Sometimes one finds a car faster, while the other has a better price or pickup time.

🚌 If you are planning to travel between cities

Intercity buses are very popular in Vietnam.

And a separate adventure here is the sleeper bus, buses with sleeping berths.

For finding routes, it is convenient to use:

Vexere

With Vexere, you can search intercity buses, compare operators and buy tickets.

For example:

• Nha Trang → Da Lat;
• Nha Trang → Ho Chi Minh City;
• Ho Chi Minh City → Mui Ne;
• Hanoi → Sapa.

But I would not choose a bus just because the seat looks nice in the photo. Different operators can vary a lot in terms of the buses themselves, boarding points, service and sleeping berth layouts. So before booking, check the specific operator and trip conditions.

I also made a separate sleeper bus guide: what types of buses there are, which seat to choose and what to expect if you are travelling overnight across half of Vietnam.

Read it here

🚆 Trains

If you want to see the country from somewhere other than an airplane window, Vietnam has a railway running through much of the country.

You can search for tickets through the Vietnam Railways / DSVN system.

The official website for buying train tickets is **dsvn.vn**

Train tickets are also available through travel services and aggregators. Before buying, I would simply compare the price and refund conditions.

🚐 Airport and intercity transfers

If you do not want to deal with finding a car after a flight, you can book a transfer in advance.

For self-booking, we use: **Trip.com**

And if you need a private transfer, airport pickup or an intercity trip, you can message me on Telegram @Froginya_travel or WhatsApp

You can discuss the route in advance and avoid dealing with it after landing.

✈️ Domestic flights in Vietnam

Vietnam is a long country. So a route that looks on the map like:

“Well, that doesn’t look very far”

can suddenly turn into many hours on the road. For domestic flights, I usually check several options.

Vietnam Airlines

The national carrier has its own app and website. Convenient if you already know which flight you want to take.

Trip.com

Another option for comparing flights and buying tickets: Trip.com

🍜 Food and delivery

Sometimes after a flight, the best cultural experience looks like this: not leaving your room and ordering pho.

For that, these will be useful:

GrabFood

Food delivery inside the Grab app. You can search nearby restaurants, browse menus and order to your accommodation.

Green SM Food

Food delivery inside Green SM. I would keep both options and decide on the spot:

• which one has the restaurant you want;
• how much delivery costs;
• how long the order will take.

There is no reason to stay loyal to one app on principle.

🛒 Shopping

If you are coming to Vietnam for more than a few days, you will quickly discover that apps are useful for more than just taxis.

Shopee (similar to WB or Amazon)

Probably the most obvious app for online shopping. You can find almost anything there:

• household items;
• electronics;
• clothes;
• cosmetics;
• everyday essentials;
• pet supplies;
• sports equipment.

Lazada (similar to WB or Amazon)

Another large marketplace.

Sometimes a particular product or seller is only available there, so I would simply compare both services.

SHEIN

If you have already used SHEIN in another country, it works the same way.

Hasaki

This is one I would save separately if you are into cosmetics. Hasaki is a major Vietnamese chain for cosmetics and personal care products.

If after moving you reach the stage of:

“Where do I find my cream, shampoo and basically the Vietnamese version of Golden Apple?”

start here.

Vietnam also has plenty of interesting local cosmetics brands and stores, so there is no need to bring half your bathroom from home.

🗺 Maps and navigation

Google Maps

The basic app you will use constantly. It is convenient for:

• finding cafés;
• checking reviews;
• building routes;
• saving places;
• finding nearby shops, clinics and services.

But in Vietnam, I would not treat Google Maps as absolute truth.

Sometimes the pin is slightly wrong. Sometimes the entrance is on another street. Sometimes the place has already moved.

So if you are going to a specific business, also check recent reviews and the latest photos.

Maps.me

Useful for offline maps.

Especially if you are planning to travel outside the city or simply want a backup option without internet.

💬 Communication

Zalo

This is one of those apps tourists often do not install in advance and then end up downloading anyway.

You can think of Zalo as the local relative of WhatsApp.

It is used by:

• locals;
• accommodation hosts;
• service professionals;
• clinics;
• shops;
• small businesses;
• service companies.

If you are spending more than a few days in Vietnam, Zalo will almost certainly be useful.

WhatsApp

It is also used, especially in tourist areas and for communication with foreigners.

But I would not assume that every local business will use WhatsApp.

💳 Money and payments

This deserves a separate conversation.

QR payments are extremely common in Vietnam, but simply downloading Vietcombank or BIDV is not enough for a tourist.

To fully use local banking apps, you generally need a Vietnamese bank account and the relevant registration.

So I would not put them on the list of essential tourist apps.

If you have just arrived, it is more important to understand in advance:

• which cards work;
• where to withdraw cash;
• what fees apply;
• how to exchange money;
• how QR payments work;
• what to do if your foreign card is declined.

We will cover all of this in a separate article: “Money in Vietnam: Cards, Cash, ATMs and QR Payments.”

🏥 Healthcare

MyVinmec

If you use Vinmec clinics, the app can be useful for managing appointments and medical information. But I would not tell every tourist to install it in advance.

Download it only if you are actually planning to use this healthcare network.

We will also prepare a basic guide on what to do if you get sick in Vietnam, how travel insurance works and where to go in Nha Trang.

🎾 Sports

If you are planning to stay in Vietnam for longer than a holiday, you start needing a different type of app.

Not “how do I survive after the airport,” but how do I actually start living here.

ALOBO

With ALOBO, you can search for and book sports facilities. It is especially useful if you play:

• tennis;
• pickleball;
• badminton;
• football.

Reclub

Reclub is more about the sports community. You can use it to find:

• players;
• clubs;
• group games;
• sports meetups;
• tournaments.

It is especially active for racket sports.

If you arrive in a new city and want not just to find a court, but to find people to play with, this becomes much more interesting.

🏡 Accommodation

For a short trip, I would start with familiar services.

Trip.com

Find accommodation in Vietnam

Booking.com

Good for hotels, apartments and other short-term accommodation.

Airbnb

Useful for apartments and houses, especially if you do not want to stay in a traditional hotel. But if you are looking for long-term rent for several months, the logic changes.

In Vietnam, a lot of long-term accommodation is found through:

• Facebook;
• local groups;
• agents;
• recommendations;
• signs and listings directly in the neighbourhood.

And sometimes the most effective method is literally arriving in the area you like and looking at options in person.

If you need trusted contacts in Nha Trang, you can message me at @Froginya_travel

📲 What to install before your first arrival

If I removed everything unnecessary, my list before a first trip would look like this:

1. FROGI eSIM, if you want internet immediately after landing.
2. Grab.
3. Green SM.
4. Google Maps.
5. Zalo.

If you are planning to travel around the country, add:

1. Vexere.
2. a service for buying plane or train tickets.

If you are staying longer, add later:

1. Shopee.
2. Hasaki.
3. ALOBO or Reclub, if you play sports.

That’s it.

You do not need to prepare for the trip as if the App Store will disappear the moment your plane lands.

• Install FROGI eSIM in advance for internet.
• Grab or Green SM will help you get to your accommodation.
• Google Maps will help you understand where you actually are.
• Zalo will come in handy once you start communicating with locals.

You can discover the rest of digital Vietnam once you are already there.