Google Maps is popular and robust enough to have more or less brought on the death of the paper map, and with features like a speed limit checker, it feels like it’s getting more and more accessible by the day. But there are still reasons you wouldn’t want to, or can’t, use Google Maps. Whether it’s country-specific regulations like China, or you don’t want Google profiting off your data, there are plenty of Google Maps alternatives to try.
Good to know: learn how to have Google Maps show the speed limit.
- 1. Best for iOS Users: InRoute
- 2. Best for Toyota and Lexus Integration: Scout GPS Link
- 3. Best for Delivery Drivers: Route4Me Route Planner
- 4. Best for Driving and Hiking: Pocket Earth
- 5. Best for Customizing Maps: OsmAnd
- 6. Best for City Travel: Citymapper
- 7. Best for Offline Maps: Maps.me
- 8. Best for Trip Planning: Bing Maps
- 9. Best for Finding Your Car: HERE WeGo
- 10. Best for Real-Time Updates: Sygic GPS
- 11. Best Community Driven App: Waze
- 12. Best for Commuters: MapQuest
1. Best for iOS Users: InRoute
Platforms: iOS
Price: Free / $4.99 per month
If you’re looking for a map app that really lets you go hands-on with route planning, then InRoute is the one for you. It works with CarPlay, and once you’ve planned the route you want to take, it will try to make your trip as smooth as possible, showing you dynamic weather updates, hotels, campgrounds, other stopovers on your route, and much more.
If you have several places you need to go, select them all, and InRoute will tell you the fastest order to tackle them. You can also specify how long you’ll be stopping in certain places, so InRoute can factor that into your overall journey time. Altogether, the app offers far more options for customizing and configuring your journey than Google Maps.
While the base version is free, it doesn’t have all the features. You’re limited to adding 8 destinations at once, can’t sync between devices, and don’t get severe weather alerts.
Using Google Maps to plan outdoor activities? Consider bringing one of these iPhone hiking apps.
2. Best for Toyota and Lexus Integration: Scout GPS Link
Price: Free / $24.99 per year
Scout GPS Link is designed mainly with car integration in mind, specifically Toyota and Lexus with MapStream mode. But it can show maps on other car infotainment screens as well. The app lets you access both 2D and 3D maps from your car’s screen or in the phone app.
It’s one of the simpler Google Maps alternatives, but it still offers voice controls, turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates, and other similar Google Maps features. One bonus is the navigation data from other sites, such as Fuel and Yelp.
The downside is that it doesn’t work as seamlessly as advertised with vehicles. Many users can’t get it to stay connected. It’d be nice to also add places of interest along the way, but all you can do is search based on a specific address versus all along your route.
Tip: check out how to turn dark mode off in Google Maps by checking our post on the matter.
3. Best for Delivery Drivers: Route4Me Route Planner
Price: Free / $80 per year
Route4Me Route Planner is great for all types of drivers, but delivery and rideshare drivers will probably get the most use from this Google Maps alternative. It’s designed to help you plan multiple destinations/stops with as little overlap as possible.
Google Maps is good at getting you from Point A to Point B. Route4Me Route Planner, on the other hand, saves you time with route optimization to prevent wasteful backtracking. No matter in what order you input destinations (limited to 10 in free version), this app organizes them to optimize your journey, including daily deliveries and pickups.
For the average driver, you won’t see that much benefit. This is more for professionals, as it comes with features such as gathering signatures. Gig workers handling various deliveries will also love it.
4. Best for Driving and Hiking: Pocket Earth
Platforms: iOS (Free version)
Price: Free / $6
This iOS-only map app uses the popular OpenStreetMap data to give you up-to-date navigation all around the world. Crucially, you can download maps for offline use, and it has great organizational tools, such as pins, which can be categorized into groups.
There are plenty of layers and some extra info you can add to Pocket Earth, and you’re given a lot of flexibility about the level of detail shown on your maps. A real bonus is the Wikipedia layer, which links to the online encyclopedia for various points of interest on your map. It’s a nice bonus over Google Maps. The app also gives you access to detailed travel guides.
The basic version is free, but in the premium alternative, you get topographical maps as well as improved offline functionality and other features.
Tip: put your Google Maps location history to good use with these tips.
5. Best for Customizing Maps: OsmAnd
Price: Free / starting at $3 per month
One of the best features of this robust open-source Google Maps alternative is the presence of offline maps, which ensures that wherever you are in the world – no matter your signal status – you’ll be able to find your way. The maps are very nicely detailed, recalling the aesthetic of Ordnance Survey maps, and frequent updates mean you’re never out of date.
You can really break down what you see on your map, too – from things like toll roads and street lighting to more specific variables, like road surface and road quality. Select roads to avoid and add multiple stops. Everything is super-responsive once you’re on the road.
The UI isn’t gorgeous, but it’s highly customizable, letting you fine-tune which elements take priority during navigation. Of course, many features, including monthly map updates for offline maps, weather updates, and Android Auto support are only available in the Pro edition.
6. Best for City Travel: Citymapper
Platforms: Android | iOS | Web
Price: Free / starting at $1.50 per month
Citymapper is more narrow in its scope than Google Maps but does its sole job better than any app out there. Namely, it’s a public transport app, showing you how to get around many of the world’s top cities using bus, tram, subway, and other forms of public transit.
The app keeps an up-to-date database of all public transit routes in its supported cities, showing prices and alerts and letting you keep a list of your favorite locations to travel to.
While Google Maps helps you get to your destination, Citymapper shows you how to get around once you’re there. You can check live wait times, compare transportation costs, and even share your arrival time in real time with friends and family. The only downside is that smaller cities aren’t covered, only larger cities.
7. Best for Offline Maps: Maps.me
Platforms: Android | iOS | Web
Price: Free / starting at $3.50 per month
Maps.me has all the necessities you’d want from a map app: traffic info, public transport, cycling navigation, you name it. Unlike many other map apps, however, it also has that Google Maps perk of letting you download maps to use offline (only 10 for free) – handy when traversing foreign cities or if you find yourself Internet-less.
It’s good for all kinds of scenarios. If you’re exploring a city, it shows all the important points of interest and things to see, while hikers in the wilderness also benefit, as it has a regularly updated database of hiking trails all around the world. (It’s a premium feature, though.)
This makes it a great Google Maps alternative, especially since Google Maps only focuses on national parks currently. Once you’ve planned your trip or hike, bookmark it, and send it to a friend. Unfortunately, you have to download maps to your device. You can’t just enter routes and get directions. Yet, you can view maps in full in the web version.
FYI: learn how to remove the Bing Chat button from your Edge browser.
8. Best for Trip Planning: Bing Maps
Platforms: Web
Price: Free
Did you know that Bing Maps is just as old as Google? Yes, the Microsoft-owned map service was originally known as MapPoint before taking on its more catchy name. It’s packed with plenty of features, including a traffic overlay and 3D views. For the more traditional mappers out there, or people working in town planning, it has the full ordnance survey (OS) map of the UK, too.
Bing usually picks different routes from Google, yet when you compare, Google tends to come out on top when it comes to journey planning. If you’re looking for neat extra features, like 3D views and OS maps, as well as its own comprehensive answer to Street View, then Bing’s worth a pop. The service also shows recommended stops and attractions.
Of course, Bing Maps doesn’t have an app. You’ll need to bring up your map in your favorite browser to get directions on the go.
9. Best for Finding Your Car: HERE WeGo
Platforms: Android | iOS | Web
Price: Free
If a consortium of BMW, Audi, and Mercedes were willing to cough up $3 billion to Nokia for this app, there must be something good about it, right? It supports over 200 countries and provides all basic features, like navigation, places to visit, and detailed routes, and gives you up-to-date info and prices on all the public transport links around your area, calculating them for you. It can also save parking information.
Here WeGo offers current route conditions using different information, like police reports, cameras, Twitter feeds, construction sites, speed cameras, and other data to keep you informed and provide a faster route if required. Its offline maps support is also amazing with the ability to archive a whole continent and get step-by-step navigation even while offline.
Many users report the recommended routes are longer than Google Maps. It also tends to suggest certain stops over others that may be closer. However, this isn’t the case with every user.
10. Best for Real-Time Updates: Sygic GPS
Price: Free / $20 per year
Sygic GPS is one of the better navigation apps for not only driving but walking around cities. Unlike many Google Maps alternatives that make you re-download offline maps, Sygic GPS automatically updates your downloaded maps when a new version is available.
Enjoy monthly map updates, complete with live traffic details, speed camera notices, tons of points of interest, walking directions, and much more. Unlike Google Maps, Sygic detects speed limits based on the signs as you pass them, versus just uploaded information. It works like a smart dashcam.
Much like Maps.me, maps must be downloaded to use. If you don’t have much space on your device, this could make the app unusable. Most features outside of basic mapping and POIs, including Android Auto and CarPlay connectivity, are only available in the Premium+ version.
FYI: check out how to easily save a route in Google Maps.
11. Best Community Driven App: Waze
Platforms: Android | iOS | Web
Price: Free
Waze is a community-driven map service that is fast to navigate and very intuitive. Its highly interactive system, which lets you warn other drivers of changes in traffic, speed cams, hazards, etc., on the roads, proved so popular, that Google bought the company in 2013. It’s telling that years later, Waze continues to exist as a separate entity from Google Maps.
You can get information about the cheapest gas stations near you, sites under construction, accidents, speed cameras, police, and other information that is updated by millions of other Waze users. You can even track the locations of other Waze users and your friends in real time. Bear in mind that it’s designed more for drivers than pedestrians looking to get around a city.
Overall, it’s the app that is the most like Google Maps, but without all the data privacy issues Google is known for. Since the app relies on community updates, if users don’t send in information, the app doesn’t show any updated traffic data.
12. Best for Commuters: MapQuest
Price: Free
MapQuest is another great Google Maps alternative. It works especially well if you use public transportation for commuting. It will let you compare local transportation services for your route, like Uber or car2go, and also book cars right from the app. In addition, it provides quick updates about all local transportation options near you. If you like walking to different places, it will show you how many calories you will burn, too, which is a nice perk!
Its advanced features include automatic re-routing, real-time traffic conditions, ETA, the ability to detect cameras/accidents/construction sites/slow-downs, location-sharing, weather reports, and roadside assistance. It also has some basic features of Google Maps, like turn-by-turn navigation, bookmarking, best route, satellite view, nearby locations to visit, etc.
The app is ad-supported, with some users reporting the ads block their view. This is the case in both the app and Web versions. Currently, there is no premium option to get rid of ads.
Tip: want more Google product alternatives? Check out these potential replacements for Google Search.
Weighing Your Options
If you still love using Google Maps, discover how to make it better using different sites and extensions. Or, if you love listening to music, learn how to control Spotify through Google Maps and Waze.
Image credit: Freepik. All screenshots by Crystal Crowder.
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