onX Backcountry alternatives

Alternatives to onX Backcountry for land ownership maps, slope shading and route planning, what each one is best for, and how to move your onX data to Goat Maps.

Updated October 7, 2026 · Prices checked October 7, 2026

At a glance

Feature	onX Backcountry	Goat Maps	Gaia GPS	CalTopo	AllTrails
Price
Paid plan	$29.99/year Premium, $99.99/year Elite	$29.99/year	$59.90/year, or $89.99 with Outside+	$20/year Mobile, $50 Pro, $100 Desktop	$35.99/year Plus, $79.99/year Peak
Free version	Yes Tracking, limited waypoints, one offline map	Yes Topo, satellite, public land, slope shading, tracks, waypoints	Yes Gaia Topo, tracks, waypoints; no offline maps	Yes Full web planner; no offline maps	Yes Trail search, reviews, recording, web route planner
Platforms
Apps	iPhone, iPad, Android, web	iPhone, iPad, web	iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Apple Watch, CarPlay, Android Auto	iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Windows and Mac desktop	iPhone, iPad, Android, web, Apple Watch, Wear OS
Android	Yes	No In development	Yes	Yes	Yes
Plan on the web	Yes	Yes Web map with route planning	Yes Saving routes on the web needs Premium	Yes The most capable web planner here	Yes Custom routes free on the website
Maps
Offline maps	Paid plan One map free; unlimited with Premium	Paid plan Downloads in the background	Paid plan Downloads lock if membership lapses	Paid plan Mobile plan and up	Paid plan Plus
Slope angle shading	Paid plan Premium	Yes Free, with custom angle ranges	Paid plan	Yes With LiDAR where available	Paid plan Peak only
Public land (US)	Paid plan Premium	Yes Free	Paid plan	Yes	Paid plan Peak only
Private land ownership (US)	Paid plan Elite only	Paid plan Owner names; online only	Paid plan	Paid plan Pro	Paid plan Peak only
Recent satellite imagery	Paid plan Elite only	Paid plan Updated about every 14 days	Paid plan Recent satellite layer	Paid plan Live imagery with Pro	No Standard satellite base map
Weather forecasts	Yes Point forecasts, free	No	Paid plan Weather overlays; smoke and air quality free	Yes NOAA point forecasts and forecast layers	Yes 7-day forecast free; trail conditions with Plus
Planning & navigation
Snap-to-trail routes	Paid plan Premium; needs a connection	Paid plan Needs a connection for now	Yes Works offline since 2026	Yes Needs a connection on mobile	Yes Free on the web; in the app with Peak
Off-trail and freehand routes	Paid plan Point Draw, Premium	Paid plan Draw by hand, mix with snapped segments	Limited Straight-line segments	Yes	Yes On the website
Voice turn-by-turn	No Not documented	No	Yes “Guide Me”, also on CarPlay and Watch	No Not documented	Paid plan Plus, with wrong-turn alerts
GPX import and export	Yes GPX and KML	Yes Free	Yes GPX, KML, GeoJSON and more	Yes GPX, KML, GeoJSON	Yes GPX, KML, FIT and more
Discovery
Trail guides and reviews	Yes Trails, climbs, ski lines, 1,500 guided Adventures	No OpenStreetMap trails on the map	Yes Hikes with reports; Trailforks with Outside+	No Shared maps from other users	Yes 500,000+ trails, 72 million reviews
Made by	onXmaps, Inc.	Independent	Outside Inc.	CalTopo LLC, independent	AllTrails, Inc.

Yes Paid plan Limited No

Why people look for an alternative to onX Backcountry

onX Backcountry is a polished app with a lot of curated content, and its land maps are what onX is known for. People look elsewhere because of how that content is priced:

The layers you want are in the top tier. Private land with owner names and recent satellite imagery both need Elite, at $99.99 a year. Premium, at $29.99, covers public land, slope angle and route building.
Promotional pricing. onX often discounts the first year. Renewals are at the full price.
One membership per app. onX Backcountry, onX Hunt and onX Offroad are each paid for separately, and markups don't sync between them.
Route building needs signal. onX's own help says the Route Builder needs cell service or Wi-Fi.
Mostly US. Its maps and content focus on the United States.

If you use onX's Adventures, ski lines and avalanche tools, they're hard to replace, and staying may make sense.

The alternatives

Goat Maps: best for land maps without the top tier

Goat Maps has US public land, private land with owner names, slope angle shading and recent satellite imagery, with one membership.

Price: $29.99 a year, which includes private land ownership and recent satellite imagery. Public land and slope angle shading are free.
Better than onX: the Elite layers at the Premium price, free public land and slope shading, hand-drawn off-trail routes, and one simple membership.
Not as good as onX: no curated Adventures, ski lines or climbs, no avalanche forecasts or weather, private land online only, and no Android app yet.

Goat Maps vs onX Backcountry in detail.

Gaia GPS: best for the most layers on every platform

Gaia GPS has private and public land, slope angle, motor vehicle use maps and hundreds of other layers in one Premium tier, with apps for Android, Apple Watch and CarPlay.

Price: $59.90 a year, or $89.99 with Outside+.
Better than onX: private land without a top tier, offline snap-to-trail routing, and a bigger layer catalog.
Not as good as onX: less curated content and fewer avalanche-specific tools.

Goat Maps vs Gaia GPS.

CalTopo: best for serious ski and mountain planning

CalTopo has slope angle shading with LiDAR, avalanche forecasts and observations, weather layers and the strongest planner on a big screen.

Price: web planning is free. Offline maps are $20 a year, Pro (with parcels) is $50.
Better than onX: deeper planning, printing, and parcels for half the price of Elite.
Not as good as onX: less polished on a phone, and no curated routes.

Goat Maps vs CalTopo.

AllTrails: best for finding popular trails

If you mostly used onX to find trails, AllTrails has the largest library, with reviews and photos.

Price: Plus is $35.99 a year, Peak is $79.99.
Better than onX: many more trail reviews and photos, and turn-by-turn directions with Plus.
Not as good as onX: land and slope layers need Peak, and it has no avalanche tools.

Goat Maps vs AllTrails.

Which should you pick?

You want private land, recent imagery and slope shading without paying for Elite: Goat Maps.
You want everything in one tier on Android or Apple Watch: Gaia GPS.
You plan ski and mountain objectives in depth: CalTopo.
You want popular trails with reviews: AllTrails.

Moving from onX Backcountry to Goat Maps

onX lets you export your Markups (waypoints, routes, lines, shapes and tracks) at any membership level, including after you cancel. The web map exports everything in one GPX file.

Export from onX Backcountry

On the web map (the easiest way): sign in to the onX Backcountry web map > My Content > Select > Select All > Export > GPX > Save.
On iPhone or iPad: My Content > Select > tick the Markups > swipe left on the row of buttons at the bottom > Export. To export a folder, open it and choose Export.
On Android: onX's help says exporting from the app is iPhone and iPad only, so use the web map.

Export from onX Backcountry itself. Markups don't sync between onX Backcountry, onX Hunt and onX Offroad, so anything you made in another onX app needs exporting from that one.

Import into Goat Maps

In Goat Maps, open the My Data tab and create a new project called something like "From onX". 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

onX exports each Markup's name and location only. Notes, colors, icons and photos stay behind, and lines and area shapes arrive as tracks.

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.

Or open the web map