If you’ve got the travel itch but no destination in mind, two tools do the legwork of finding you a cheap flight to somewhere: Kayak’s Explore map and Skyscanner’s Everywhere search. Both let you skip typing in a city and instead browse every place you could fly for the price you’re willing to pay, but they’re built around very different search habits — one is a map, the other is a list.
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This guide breaks down how each one actually works, what filters they offer, and which is the better pick depending on whether you’re chasing a specific budget, a specific date range, or just want to see the world laid out on a map.
Quick Answer
Neither tool is definitively “cheaper” — both pull from the same kind of live fare data, so prices for the same route are usually close. The real difference is workflow: Kayak Explore is built around a visual map and a budget slider, so it’s better when you want to browse by price cap and see options geographically. Skyscanner Everywhere is built around a ranked list sorted cheapest-first, with no map view in its browser experience, so it’s faster when you just want the single cheapest destination from your airport on flexible dates.
How Skyscanner Everywhere Works
On Skyscanner, enter your departure airport, then type “Everywhere” (or select it from the destination dropdown) instead of a specific city. Choose your dates — exact dates, a whole month, or “Cheapest month” if you want Skyscanner to find the least expensive window for you — and run the search. This is a list/grid experience in the browser, not a map.
Skyscanner returns a list of destinations sorted from cheapest to most expensive, with a thumbnail and price for each. From there you can narrow results with filters like direct flights only, specific airlines, cabin class, or region, then drill into any destination to see exact flight times and book. It’s a list-first experience: good for scanning fast and landing on a number rather than browsing a map.
Skyscanner also offers a price alert feature, so once you’ve found a cheap window to a destination you like, you can track it and get notified if the fare drops further.
How Kayak Explore Works
Kayak Explore (found at kayak.com/explore) starts with a map of the world rather than a list — this map-based browsing is what sets it apart from Skyscanner’s list-style Everywhere search. You set your departure airport, then use a budget slider to cap your maximum price instead of typing a number — the map updates in real time to gray out or highlight destinations based on whether they fit your range.
You can also filter by flight duration (a slider for total travel time), nonstop-only flights, travel dates or date range, and in some views by trip theme, like beach destinations or emerging spots. Because it’s map-based, Explore is especially useful if you have a rough idea of a region — say, “somewhere in Europe under $600” — rather than being open to truly anywhere.
Kayak notes that Explore’s fares reflect round-trip economy prices other users have found recently, including taxes and fees but not necessarily baggage costs, so treat the number as a strong estimate rather than a guaranteed live quote until you click through.
Tips and Common Mistakes
Don’t rely on just one tool. Because both pull fares from overlapping but not identical sources, it’s worth checking a promising destination on both Skyscanner and Kayak (and directly on the airline’s site) before booking, since the exact price and available dates can shift between the search tool and the final checkout page.
Use “cheapest month” or flexible date ranges instead of fixed dates whenever you can — locking in exact travel dates dramatically narrows what either tool can show you and often hides the best deals.
If you’re loosely committed to a region (a continent, a season, a type of trip like a beach getaway) and want to browse visually, Kayak Explore’s map and theme filters usually get you there faster. If you have zero destination preference and just want the single cheapest flight out of your airport, Skyscanner’s ranked list gets you an answer in fewer clicks.
Set a price alert once you find a fare you like on either platform — mystery-destination deals can disappear or reappear as airlines adjust pricing, and an alert saves you from having to re-run the search every day.
Explore more: more travel planning guides.
Skyscanner Everywhere vs Kayak Explore FAQs
Is Skyscanner Everywhere or Kayak Explore better for finding the absolute cheapest flight?
They tend to be close since both use live fare data, but Skyscanner’s ranked cheapest-first list is usually faster for finding a single lowest price when you have zero destination preference. Kayak Explore is better when you want to browse by budget and region together on a map.
Does Skyscanner have a map view like Kayak Explore?
No. Skyscanner’s Everywhere search presents results as a sorted list of destinations with prices in the browser, not an interactive map. The visual, map-based browsing experience is Kayak Explore’s distinguishing feature, not Skyscanner’s.
Do I need an account to use either tool?
No. Both Skyscanner Everywhere and Kayak Explore are free to use without creating an account, though signing in on either site lets you save searches and set price alerts.
Can I use these tools on mobile?
Yes, both Skyscanner Everywhere and Kayak Explore work on their respective mobile apps (iOS and Android) as well as on desktop browsers.
Why does the price change when I click through to book?
Both tools display fares based on recent search data, which can shift by the time you click through due to fare updates, currency fluctuations, or the specific dates and cabin class you select next. Always confirm the final price on the booking page before paying.
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Photo: Kgbo / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.