Comparison

Paper Maps vs Tile Server

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Paper Maps

This app allows you to view and edit digital maps with support for various file formats. You can customize maps by adding placemarks, recording tracks, and drawing shapes. It also offers real-time annotation sharing and useful tools like a theodolite.

Highlights
  • View PDF, TIFF, KAP, KML files
  • Cloud integration (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox)
  • Add placemarks and record tracks
  • Draw lines and shapes
  • Real-time annotation sharing
  • Theodolite and georeferencer tools
Features
Read full description

The best digital maps viewer and editor ever made for a mobile device! - View PDF, TIFF, KAP, KML - Integrated with iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, - Customize your map - add placemarks, record tracks, draw lines and shapes - Share annotations with other users in real time - A lot of useful tools: theodolite, georeferencer and more!

About

Tile Server

Features
Read full description

Portable Tile Server - allows you to serve Map Tiles (XYZ or WMTS) URL's to mapping clients/apps/software or to advanced map viewer. Load MBTILES or GPKG (GeoPackage) SQLite Databases/files that contain raster tiles, vector tiles, elevation/terrain tiles, other tile data in the tile_data blob. Serve Static Geospatial Data (GIS) files like KML/KMZ, GeoJSON, CSV, GPX, CZML, SHP, 3DTiles, 3DModels (gltf/glb) and others. This is basically a file server that any file type including zip file has an endpoint and accessible for streaming or downloading across the network. NO DATA is Provided with the app. The User Side-Loads their own data via itunes FileSharing or iCloud Discover-able Endpoints and webpages WiFi turned on is required to run this app and have it get an IP Address from the network. This is a local IP Address NOT internet accessible. So only users on your local network can access this data. ipaddress:8080/discover - web page listing of all the tile layers and static files ipaddress:8080/services - JSON response and access to tile.json for each layer ipaddress:8080/map - advanced map viewer with quick access to tile layers and adding local Shapefiles, GPKG, GeoJSON, KML, GPX, CSV ipaddress:8080/wmts - XML getcapabilities response The app also features a tile details view of each tile service. That includes data from the metadata table and the URL's and TileJSON The app can serve data to other apps or desktop/laptop GIS mapping software on the network. ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro can access it via OGC WMTS. Other mapping clients can use the Standard XYZ Tile Server URL (like : http://ipaddress:8080/getGPKGRasterTile/name/{z}/{x}/{y}.png or http://ipaddress:8080/getMBTilesRasterTile/name/{z}/{x}/{y}.png) The Map is accessible on the same device (phone/tablet) or from any device/computer on the network. The Map supports digitizing/drawing, has OSM vector tile basemaps with a style picker, raster basemap selector, supports adding mapping service URL's like Raster Tiles, Vector Tiles, WMS and others.The map offers in-app dynamic vector tiling of loaded vector data for optimized handling of large data. Digitize and Draw/Create data and perform Analysis. Tools like Measure distance and area, show coordinates in multiple formats. The app is perfect for sharing data among devices so one device loads all the map tiles and nearby devices can stream it. This could be in response to a natural disaster or other event and a mobile command center is setup and this becomes the map server for sharing data. Notes: GeoPackage Raster Tiles should only be 3857 Spherical Web Mercator /Auxillary Web Sphere Spatial Reference System/Projection. Test at your own risk support for others. MBTILES must have the required tiles table or view and metadata table and should follow 1.2 or 1.3 specification. Encrypted SQLite Databases (SQLCipher or other approaches ) are NOT supported. more information can be found at: http://techmaven.net/portabletileserver For Support Please visit http://support.techmaven.net

Screenshots

Paper Maps3 screens
Tile Server2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Paper Maps at Free against Tile Server's $4.99. Paper Maps also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 41 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). Tile Server's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 8). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Paper Maps is free to download; Tile Server costs $4.99 up front. Paper Maps sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Tile Server asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paper Maps ships an update every 3 weeks, Tile Server every 41 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and August 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Paper Maps versus Tile Server: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaper MapsTile Server
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating3.9 (13 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews42.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings13 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 41 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB87 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperAbbro IncTech Maven GeoSpatial LLC

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Paper Maps

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time6
  • Map$0.99
  • Map$1.99
  • Map$2.99
Show 3 more
  • Map$3.99
  • Map$4.99
  • Unlock data export$4.99
None

Tile Server

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Paper Maps free?
Paper Maps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tile Server free?
Tile Server costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Paper Maps or Tile Server have ads?
Neither Paper Maps nor Tile Server shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paper Maps or Tile Server?
Paper Maps ships an update every 3 weeks, and Tile Server every 41 months. Most recently, Paper Maps was updated on October 1, 2026 and Tile Server on August 26, 2026.

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