Alternatives to Gaia GPS
Outdoor mapping app with topographic and satellite layers and offline maps for hiking and off-road trips. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Gaia GPS
Outdoor mapping app with topographic and satellite layers and offline maps for hiking and off-road trips.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Gaia GPS.
onX Backcountry
GPS trail map app for hiking, backpacking and ski touring with 3D terrain and offline maps.
onX Backcountry adds 3D terrain available offline, LiDAR topo maps and slope angle shading, but requires a paid subscription after the trial and an account.
CalTopo
Backcountry mapping and trip planning tool with collaborative map editing, terrain layers and offline mobile use.
CalTopo adds a web app with real-time collaborative map editing, slope angle and snow depth layers and map printing, though many layers focus on the United States.
AllTrails
A trail guide and mapping service for finding, planning and recording hikes, rides and runs.
AllTrails centres on a large trail database with reviews and photos and runs on iOS and the web, but lacks an Android app in this listing.
Locus Map
An outdoor navigation app for hiking, cycling and geocaching with offline maps and route planning.
Locus Map adds offline routing, a detailed route planner with surface information and geocaching support, though iOS only gets a Lite version.
OsmAnd
An open-source offline map and navigation app based on OpenStreetMap, for driving, cycling and hiking.
OsmAnd is open source under GPL-3.0 and uses OpenStreetMap data for fully offline maps and routing, with a denser interface and no satellite layers mentioned.
Guru Maps
An offline navigation app with 3D terrain, GPS track recording and sync across devices.
Guru Maps offers offline turn-by-turn navigation, 3D terrain and contour lines, CarPlay and Android Auto support, and a lifetime Pro purchase instead of only a subscription.
Avenza Maps
A mobile map app that shows your position on georeferenced PDF and GeoTIFF maps without internet.
Avenza Maps shows your position on georeferenced PDF and GeoTIFF maps offline, suiting official park or custom maps, with field data collection tools.
Mapy.com
Map service with world search, hiking and cycling trails, city maps and route planning.
Mapy.com adds a web version with marked hiking and cycling trails and route planning, with trail detail strongest in Europe rather than North America.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Gaia GPS as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
BackCountry Navigator
Android app that turns a phone or tablet into an offline topo map GPS for outdoor trips.
Gaia GPS offers many topographic and satellite layers with offline downloads on both Android and iOS, using a freemium model with advanced features in Premium.
FarOut
A navigation app with offline trail guides for long-distance hiking, biking and paddling routes.
Gaia GPS offers many topographic and satellite layers with offline downloads for hiking, ski touring and off-road trips, on a freemium model with advanced features in Premium.
Komoot
Route planner and outdoor navigation app for hiking, cycling and mountain biking with community routes.
Gaia GPS offers many topographic and satellite layers with offline downloads for hiking, ski touring and off-road trips, with advanced features in Premium.
onX Hunt
Hunting GPS app with public and private land boundaries, 3D maps and offline navigation.
Gaia GPS offers many topographic and satellite layers with offline maps on a freemium model, without dedicated hunting and land ownership layers.
onX Offroad
Off-road trail map and GPS app for 4x4, ATV, UTV, dirt bike and overlanding trips.
Gaia GPS covers off-road trips alongside hiking with many topographic layers and offline maps, on a freemium model rather than a paid subscription.
OruxMaps
An ad-free outdoor navigation app for Android with online and offline maps, relief and 3D views.
Gaia GPS provides many topographic and satellite layers with offline downloads on Android and iOS, but advanced features require Premium and it cannot open as many map formats.
Outdooractive
An outdoor platform and app for finding, planning and following hiking, cycling and winter sports routes.
Gaia GPS focuses on topographic and satellite layers with offline downloads for hiking, ski touring and off-road trips, but it has no web version listed and advanced features need Premium.
Topo GPS
A GPS app for phones and tablets that uses official topographic maps, available offline.
Gaia GPS offers many topographic and satellite layers with offline downloads on Android and iOS, covering hiking, ski touring and off-road use, with advanced features in Premium.
Trailforks
A crowd-sourced map of mountain bike trails with trail conditions and ratings from riders.
Gaia GPS provides many topographic and satellite layers with offline downloads, but it lacks Trailforks' crowd-sourced mountain bike trail conditions and ratings.
Wikiloc
A trail-sharing platform and mobile app for finding, recording and following outdoor routes with GPS.
Gaia GPS focuses on topographic and satellite map layers with offline downloads for hiking and off-road trips, rather than a large shared trail library.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
PeakVisor
A mobile app that identifies mountain peaks with augmented reality and shows trails on 3D maps.
