Goat Maps vs Gaia GPS
Goat Maps and Gaia GPS both plan routes, record tracks and download maps for offline use. Here is how they differ on price, maps, route planning and platforms.
Updated · Prices checked
At a glance
| Feature | Goat Maps | Gaia GPS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Paid plan | $29.99/year | $59.90/year, or $89.99 with Outside+ |
| Free version | Yes Topo, satellite, public land, slope shading, tracks, waypoints | Yes Gaia Topo, tracks, waypoints; no offline maps |
| Platforms | ||
| Apps | iPhone, iPad, web | iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Apple Watch, CarPlay, Android Auto |
| Android | No In development | Yes |
| Plan on the web | Yes Web map with route planning | Yes Saving routes on the web needs Premium |
| Maps | ||
| Offline maps | Paid plan Downloads in the background | Paid plan Downloads lock if membership lapses |
| Slope angle shading | Yes Free, with custom angle ranges | Paid plan |
| Public land (US) | Yes Free | Paid plan |
| Private land ownership (US) | Paid plan Owner names; online only | Paid plan |
| Recent satellite imagery | Paid plan Updated about every 14 days | Paid plan Recent satellite layer |
| Weather forecasts | No | Paid plan Weather overlays; smoke and air quality free |
| Planning & navigation | ||
| Snap-to-trail routes | Paid plan Needs a connection for now | Yes Works offline since 2026 |
| Off-trail and freehand routes | Paid plan Draw by hand, mix with snapped segments | Limited Straight-line segments |
| Voice turn-by-turn | No | Yes “Guide Me”, also on CarPlay and Watch |
| GPX import and export | Yes Free | Yes GPX, KML, GeoJSON and more |
| Discovery | ||
| Trail guides and reviews | No OpenStreetMap trails on the map | Yes Hikes with reports; Trailforks with Outside+ |
| Made by | Independent | Outside Inc. |
Yes Paid plan Limited No
The short version
Gaia GPS has more of everything: more map layers, more platforms, weather, voice guidance, and snap-to-trail routing that works with no signal. Goat Maps does less and costs half as much. What it does do, it does carefully: a topo map drawn from scratch, a map downloader that works in the background, and a route planner that mixes trail-snapped, point-to-point and hand-drawn segments in one route.
Goat Maps is the better fit if you:
- want topo, satellite, public land and slope angle shading without paying for them. Gaia charges for all of those except its topo map.
- plan off-trail routes and want to draw them by hand.
- are on iPhone or iPad and would rather pay $29.99 a year than $59.90.
- want a mapping app and nothing else: no feed, no media bundle, no magazine subscription.
Gaia GPS is the better fit if you:
- use Android, CarPlay, Android Auto or an Apple Watch.
- need snap-to-trail routing in places with no signal.
- want weather overlays, turn-by-turn guidance, or international topo maps like France's IGN and SwissTopo.
- already pay for Outside+, which includes Gaia GPS Premium.
Where the two apps come from
Gaia GPS started in 2009 as a small independent iPhone app. Outside Inc. (then Pocket Outdoor Media) bought it in 2021, and today sells it on its own or as part of an Outside+ membership with magazines, Trailforks and Outside TV.
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.
Price
Gaia GPS Premium is $59.90 a year, billed annually. Premium with Outside+ is $89.99 a year, which Outside discounts for the first year at the time of writing. Goat Maps membership is $29.99 a year.
The bigger difference is what you get without paying.
| Goat Maps free | Gaia GPS free | |
|---|---|---|
| Topo map | Yes | Yes |
| Satellite imagery | Yes | No |
| Public land (US) | Yes | No |
| Slope angle shading | Yes | No |
| Track recording and waypoints | Yes | Yes |
| Offline maps | No | No |
Gaia's free tier does include wildfire, smoke and air quality layers, which Goat Maps doesn't have.
Neither app downloads maps for offline use on the free tier. If you need maps without signal, you'll pay either way. A Goat Maps membership adds offline maps, the route planner, satellite imagery updated about every two weeks, and private land ownership.
Maps and layers
Gaia has the biggest map catalog of any app we compare: over 250 maps and overlays. That includes international topo maps, historic USGS quads, motor vehicle use maps, cell coverage, private land, weather, and Gaia's own hiking and overlanding maps. If you need a specific, unusual layer, Gaia probably has it. The catalog has also shrunk: Gaia's help center no longer lists the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps, and Esri's World Imagery is gone.
Goat Maps has fewer layers, chosen for people who go off trail:
- Basemaps: Topo (in feet or meters), Satellite and Hybrid. The topo map was designed from scratch for readability.
- Slope angle shading: free, and customizable. Use the built-in scheme to highlight avalanche terrain, or set your own angle ranges and colors to find flat ground for a tent.
- Public land (US): boundaries, unit names and managing agency. Free.
- Private land ownership (US): parcel boundaries with owner names. Members only, and online only.
- Recent satellite imagery: two global layers from Sentinel, updated about every 14 days. "Latest Cloudless" falls back to older imagery when the newest is more than 10% cloud. Members only, and online only.
- Historic wildfires, USFS motor vehicle use maps and USFS timber harvests.
Trail data in Goat Maps comes from OpenStreetMap, and the map is rebuilt at least once a month. If a trail is missing, you can add it to OpenStreetMap yourself and see it in Goat Maps within a few weeks.
Route planning
Both apps snap routes to trails and roads, and both let you mix snapped and straight segments. The differences are in the details.
Goat Maps has two ways to add to a route: tap points, or draw with your finger. Snapping is set per segment. Draw with snapping on and your line follows the nearest trail or road. Turn it off and the route stays exactly as you drew it. So you can snap the approach trail, draw the off-trail ridge by hand, then snap back onto the descent trail, all in one route. Each segment can have its own name, color, notes and travel mode, which feeds the time estimates. A table breaks the route into legs with stats for each, and an out-and-back option adds the return leg to every total. Route planning is a member feature.
Gaia GPS has snap to trail, snap to road and straight line modes on mobile and the web, with a full-width route editor on the web. Saving routes on the web needs Premium. Since early 2026, Gaia downloads routing data along with offline maps, so snap-to-trail works with no signal. This is a real advantage over Goat Maps, where snapping needs a connection for now. If you plan routes in the field rather than at home, it matters.
Navigation and track recording
Both apps record tracks for free and show your position on a planned route with its elevation profile. Gaia adds "Guide Me" turn-by-turn directions on routes, including on CarPlay, Android Auto and Apple Watch. Goat Maps doesn't give spoken or turn-by-turn directions.
Distance and elevation gain are harder to get right than they look. GPS positions wander, and a track that simply adds up every point overstates both. Goat Maps' statistics come from an algorithm the team has refined for years to tell GPS noise apart from real switchbacks,.
Offline maps
Goat Maps downloads basemaps square by square: pick squares on a grid, tap the check mark, and put the phone away. Downloads continue in the background, and you get a notification when they finish, so you don't need to babysit the app on a town stop. Overlays download in one go. Some layers, like private land and the latest satellite imagery, are online only.
Gaia GPS allows unlimited downloads, capped per download at 100,000 tiles for most maps and 10,000 for its avalanche slope layer. Downloaded maps lock if your membership lapses.
Platforms
| Goat Maps | Gaia GPS | |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone and iPad | Yes | Yes |
| Android | In development | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Watch | No | Yes |
| CarPlay and Android Auto | No | Yes |
If you're on Android today, Gaia GPS is the choice between these two. Goat Maps for Android is in development; join the mailing list to hear when it's ready.
Switching from Gaia GPS to Goat Maps
Gaia GPS exports tracks, routes and waypoints as GPX files for free, even after Premium lapses, and Goat Maps imports them for free. The quickest way is to put everything in a folder in Gaia and export the folder as one file. Moving from Gaia GPS to Goat Maps has the steps for the website, iPhone and Android.
A tip: import into a new project named something like "From Gaia GPS". It keeps the old data together and lets you hide it with one switch. Photos don't transfer, since Goat Maps doesn't support them yet.
Questions
Is Goat Maps made by the Gaia GPS team?
No. Goat Maps was started by a small, independent team led by Jesse Crocker and Anna Hentzel-Johnson, two former engineers at Gaia GPS, and Nathan Cahill later took over its development. It isn't affiliated with Gaia GPS or Outside Inc., which owns Gaia today.
Is Goat Maps cheaper than Gaia GPS?
Yes. Goat Maps membership is $29.99 a year. Gaia GPS Premium is $59.90 a year, or $89.99 a year with Outside+. Goat Maps also gives free accounts satellite imagery, public land and slope angle shading, which are Premium features in Gaia.
Does Goat Maps work on Android?
Not yet. Goat Maps runs on iPhone, iPad and the web. An Android app is in development.
Can I bring my Gaia GPS data into Goat Maps?
Yes, as GPX files. Tracks, routes and waypoints come across. Photos don't. See how to migrate from Gaia GPS.
Does Gaia GPS still have National Geographic maps?
Gaia's help center no longer lists the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps among its Premium layers.
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.
