Gaia GPS alternatives
The best alternatives to Gaia GPS for hiking and backcountry navigation, what each one is best for, and how to move your tracks, routes and waypoints to Goat Maps.
Updated · Prices checked
At a glance
| Feature | Gaia GPS | Goat Maps | CalTopo | onX Backcountry | AllTrails |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||||
| Paid plan | $59.90/year, or $89.99 with Outside+ | $29.99/year | $20/year Mobile, $50 Pro, $100 Desktop | $29.99/year Premium, $99.99/year Elite | $35.99/year Plus, $79.99/year Peak |
| Free version | Yes Gaia Topo, tracks, waypoints; no offline maps | Yes Topo, satellite, public land, slope shading, tracks, waypoints | Yes Full web planner; no offline maps | Yes Tracking, limited waypoints, one offline map | Yes Trail search, reviews, recording, web route planner |
| Platforms | |||||
| Apps | iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Apple Watch, CarPlay, Android Auto | iPhone, iPad, web | iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Windows and Mac desktop | iPhone, iPad, Android, web | iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Apple Watch, Wear OS |
| Android | Yes | No In development | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plan on the web | Yes Saving routes on the web needs Premium | Yes Web map with route planning | Yes The most capable web planner here | Yes | Yes Custom routes free on the website |
| Maps | |||||
| Offline maps | Paid plan Downloads lock if membership lapses | Paid plan Downloads in the background | Paid plan Mobile plan and up | Paid plan One map free; unlimited with Premium | Paid plan Plus |
| Slope angle shading | Paid plan | Yes Free, with custom angle ranges | Yes With LiDAR where available | Paid plan Premium | Paid plan Peak only |
| Public land (US) | Paid plan | Yes Free | Yes | Paid plan Premium | Paid plan Peak only |
| Private land ownership (US) | Paid plan | Paid plan Owner names; online only | Paid plan Pro | Paid plan Elite only | Paid plan Peak only |
| Recent satellite imagery | Paid plan Recent satellite layer | Paid plan Updated about every 14 days | Paid plan Live imagery with Pro | Paid plan Elite only | No Standard satellite base map |
| Weather forecasts | Paid plan Weather overlays; smoke and air quality free | No | Yes NOAA point forecasts and forecast layers | Yes Point forecasts, free | Yes 7-day forecast free; trail conditions with Plus |
| Planning & navigation | |||||
| Snap-to-trail routes | Yes Works offline since 2026 | Paid plan Needs a connection for now | Yes Needs a connection on mobile | Paid plan Premium; needs a connection | Yes Free on the web; in the app with Peak |
| Off-trail and freehand routes | Limited Straight-line segments | Paid plan Draw by hand, mix with snapped segments | Yes | Paid plan Point Draw, Premium | Yes On the website |
| Voice turn-by-turn | Yes “Guide Me”, also on CarPlay and Watch | No | No Not documented | No Not documented | Paid plan Plus, with wrong-turn alerts |
| GPX import and export | Yes GPX, KML, GeoJSON and more | Yes Free | Yes GPX, KML, GeoJSON | Yes GPX and KML | Yes GPX, KML, FIT and more |
| Discovery | |||||
| Trail guides and reviews | Yes Hikes with reports; Trailforks with Outside+ | No OpenStreetMap trails on the map | No Shared maps from other users | Yes Trails, climbs, ski lines, 1,500 guided Adventures | Yes 500,000+ trails, 72 million reviews |
| Made by | Outside Inc. | Independent | CalTopo LLC, independent | onXmaps, Inc. | AllTrails, Inc. |
Yes Paid plan Limited No
Why people look for an alternative to Gaia GPS
Gaia GPS is still one of the most capable backcountry apps, with the biggest map catalog of any of them. People who leave usually do so for one of these reasons:
- Price. Premium is $59.90 a year, or $89.99 bundled with Outside+. Users reported a rise from about $40 a year in 2024.
- A changing catalog. Gaia's help center no longer lists the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps, and Esri World Imagery has been removed.
- Outside ownership. Since Outside bought Gaia in 2021, the app has become part of a larger media membership, with an activity feed and Outside accounts. Some long-time users want a map app that is only a map app.
- A thin free tier. Gaia's free account gets its topo map, track recording and waypoints. Satellite imagery, public land and slope angle shading all need Premium.
If none of those bother you, Gaia is a good app and you may not need to switch. If they do, here are the alternatives worth a look.
The alternatives
Goat Maps: best for a simpler, cheaper Gaia
Goat Maps launched in fall 2024. It was started by a small, independent team led by Jesse Crocker and Anna Hentzel-Johnson, two former engineers at Gaia GPS. Built from scratch as a simple and powerful tool for the outdoors, Nathan Cahill later took over the development of Goat Maps. Goat Maps remains fiercely independent and is not affiliated with Gaia GPS or Outside.
If Gaia felt right ten years ago, Goat Maps will feel familiar, without the media bundle.
- Price: $29.99 a year. Free accounts get topo, satellite and hybrid maps, public land, slope angle shading, track recording, waypoints and GPX import and export.
- Better than Gaia: half the price, a far more generous free tier, a route planner that mixes snapped and hand-drawn segments, and background map downloads.
- Not as good as Gaia: no Android app yet, no Apple Watch or CarPlay, no weather, no turn-by-turn guidance, a smaller layer catalog, and snap-to-trail routing that needs a connection for now.
Goat Maps vs Gaia GPS in detail.
CalTopo: best for planning at a desk
CalTopo is the planning tool search and rescue teams use, with a free web planner and a deep catalog of terrain, snow and weather layers.
- Price: web planning is free. Offline maps on your phone are $20 a year, Pro is $50, Desktop is $100.
- Better than Gaia: a more powerful planner on a big screen, large-format printing, avalanche forecasts and observations, and cheaper offline maps.
- Not as good as Gaia: the phone app is secondary to the web, and there's a real learning curve.
onX Backcountry: best for curated routes and avalanche tools
onX Backcountry adds guidebook-style Adventures, ski lines, climbs and avalanche tools to the land ownership maps onX is known for.
- Price: Premium is $29.99 a year, Elite is $99.99. Private land and recent imagery need Elite.
- Better than Gaia: curated content, avalanche-specific tools, and free point forecasts.
- Not as good as Gaia: most layers and all route building need a paid tier, the land and imagery layers need the top one, and coverage is mostly US.
AllTrails: best for finding trails
If what you used Gaia for was finding hikes, AllTrails has the biggest trail library, with reviews and photos.
- Price: Plus is $35.99 a year, Peak is $79.99.
- Better than Gaia: trail discovery, reviews and recent conditions.
- Not as good as Gaia: custom routes in the app need Peak, and land and slope layers need Peak too. It's built for following trails rather than planning your own.
Which should you pick?
- You liked Gaia for planning and following your own routes on an iPhone: Goat Maps.
- You plan big objectives at a desk, print maps, or work in SAR: CalTopo.
- You want to be told where to go, especially for skiing and climbing in the US: onX Backcountry.
- You mainly want to find popular hikes: AllTrails.
- You're on Android and need Gaia's breadth: staying on Gaia may be the right answer for now.
Moving from Gaia GPS to Goat Maps
Your tracks, routes and waypoints move across as GPX files. Exporting from Gaia GPS is free, and your saved data isn't tied to your membership, so you can do this even after Premium has lapsed.
Export from Gaia GPS
The quickest way to move a lot of data is a folder: put what you want in a folder, then export the folder as one GPX file.
- On the web (gaiagps.com): open the item or folder, choose Export, then GPX.
- On iPhone: Saved tab > the item or folder > Share > Export File > GPX. To export everything of one type, filter Saved to Tracks, Routes or Waypoints, tap More, and choose Export. Do it once for each type.
- On Android: Saved > the item or folder > Export > GPX > Share File.
For a very large account, you can also email Gaia's support team and ask for an export of your data. Our Gaia GPS migration guide has more on that.
Before you export, unarchive anything you archived in Gaia (on the website), or it won't be in the folder.
Import into Goat Maps
- In Goat Maps, open the My Data tab and create a new project called something like "From Gaia GPS". Make it the active project, so everything you import lands there, together and easy to hide with one switch.
- Tap + in the top right and choose Import GPX File, then pick the file. You can also open a GPX file from Files, Mail or AirDrop and choose Goat Maps.
- One GPX file can hold hundreds of tracks, routes and waypoints, and Goat Maps imports them all at once.
Importing is free, so you can bring everything across before deciding on a membership. The import guide has more detail.
What doesn't come across
Photos aren't part of GPX files, and Goat Maps doesn't support photos yet. Folder structure and colors don't transfer either.
Try Goat Maps free.
Topo and satellite maps, slope angle shading, public land, track recording, waypoints and GPX import are free. Membership adds offline maps and the route planner for $29.99 a year.
