Goat Maps vs Komoot

The short version

Komoot plans the route for you. Pick a start and an end, choose hiking or cycling, and it finds a way along mapped paths, then talks you through it turn by turn. It's especially popular with cyclists and in Europe, and it connects to most bike computers and watches.

Goat Maps gives you what you need to plan the route yourself: slope angle shading, public and private land, recent satellite imagery, and a planner that lets you draw where there's no path at all.

Goat Maps is the better fit if you:

• go off trail and want to draw your route by hand, not only follow mapped paths.
• want to see how steep the ground is. Komoot has no slope angle shading.
• hike in the US and want public land and private land ownership on the map.
• want satellite imagery from the last couple of weeks to check snow, burns or washouts.

Komoot is the better fit if you:

• want the app to plan the route for you and tell you where to turn, with a warning when you go off route.
• ride bikes as much as you hike, or use a Garmin, Wahoo or other bike computer.
• hike mostly in Europe.
• would rather pay once for the regions you use than subscribe.
• use Android.

Price

Komoot mixes one-time purchases with a subscription:

• Free: route planning anywhere in the world, plus navigation, offline maps and GPX export in one free region you pick when you sign up. The choice is permanent.
• Maps, paid once: a single region for $3.99, a region bundle for $8.99, or the whole world for $29.99. Each unlocks voice navigation, offline maps, GPX export and device sync in the regions you own, with map updates for life.
• Premium, $59.99 a year: worldwide maps while you subscribe, plus the multi-day planner, weather along your route, sport-specific maps, 3D maps, heatmaps, Live Tracking, and since June 2026, official topo maps for seven countries including the USGS and Ordnance Survey.

Goat Maps membership is $29.99 a year. Topo, satellite, public land and slope shading are free. Membership adds offline maps, the route planner, private land ownership and recent satellite imagery.

Komoot's World Pack is good value if you mainly want offline navigation: $29.99 once, rather than every year. It doesn't include Premium features, though, and it adds no terrain layers.

Route planning

Komoot routes automatically. Set waypoints and it finds the best path along mapped trails and roads for your sport, with drag-to-reshape and loop options. Where there's no mapped path, it draws a straight line. It's fast and easy, and on mapped trails it's very good. Planning and rerouting need a connection.

Goat Maps lets you choose for each segment. Add points by tapping or draw with your finger. With snapping on, your route follows trails and roads. With it off, the route stays exactly as you drew it. Follow the forest road with snapping on, then draw the cross-country line up the ridge you picked out on the slope shading. Each segment gets its own name, color, notes and travel mode for time estimates, and a table shows the stats for every leg. Snapping needs a connection for now too.

Komoot is better at finding a route along paths that exist. Goat Maps is better at planning one through terrain where they don't.

Maps and terrain

Komoot's map is clear and good for route-finding, with hillshade and contours, and Premium adds sport-specific maps showing surface and gradient. What it doesn't have is terrain analysis: no slope angle shading, no land ownership, no recent imagery.

Goat Maps is built around those layers:

• Slope angle shading, free, with custom angle ranges and colors: highlight avalanche terrain, or find flat ground for a tent.
• Public land (US), free, and private land ownership with owner names, for members.
• Recent satellite imagery updated about every 14 days, with a cloud-free option, for members.
• 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.

Navigation

Komoot's navigation is its strongest feature: spoken turn-by-turn directions, a warning when you leave the route, and automatic rerouting when you have signal. It works on Apple Watch, Garmin watches, and most bike computers.

Goat Maps doesn't give turn-by-turn directions or off-route warnings. It shows your position on the route with the elevation profile, and records your track.

Offline

In Komoot, offline maps come with the regions you've unlocked: your free region, regions you've bought, or everywhere with Premium. Navigation works offline in those regions, but planning, editing and rerouting don't.

In Goat Maps, offline maps come with membership. Pick basemap squares on a grid and they download in the background, with a notification when they're done. Overlays download in one go.

Who makes them

Komoot was founded in Germany in 2010. Bending Spoons, the Italian company behind apps like Evernote, bought it in 2025. Since then, according to press reports, most of the original staff were laid off and Komoot's pricing and device sync rules changed.

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.

Questions

Is Komoot good for hiking?

Yes, especially on well-mapped trails in Europe. Its automatic routing and voice navigation are excellent. For off-trail routes, or for terrain like slope angle and land ownership, an app like Goat Maps gives you more to plan with.

Does Komoot have slope angle shading?

No. Komoot has hillshade and contours, and Premium shows gradient along your route, but there's no slope angle shading layer. Goat Maps has slope angle shading for free.

Is Komoot free?

Partly. Planning is free everywhere, and you get one free region for navigation and offline maps. More regions cost $3.99 to $29.99 once, or Premium is $59.99 a year.

Can I import Komoot routes into Goat Maps?

Yes. Komoot exports routes and activities as GPX files, one at a time, which Goat Maps imports. Komoot exports the route line only, without waypoints, and only for routes that start in a region you've unlocked. Moving from Komoot to Goat Maps has the steps.