Gaia GPS vs Garmin Explore™
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gaia GPS
Discover trails, campsites, and routes with detailed topographic maps and GPS navigation. Plan your adventures with offline maps, weather updates, and distance tracking. Explore hiking, off-roading, camping, and skiing with this comprehensive outdoor companion.
- Topographic maps
- GPS navigation
- Offline maps
- Route planning
- Distance tracking
- Weather updates
- Camping site discovery
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Welcome the warm weather with the ultimate collection of hiking trails and camping sites around you – Gaia GPS. Find amazing adventures with topographic maps while spending less time looking at your phone. Explore with map layers, weather condition updates, GPS navigation, hill-shading and hiking maps. Discover local routes or map your own trail and share online. Whether you’re looking for hiking trails, off-roading routes, backpacking, or public land, discover with Gaia GPS. Find backpacker trails or offroad routes with the help of Gaia GPS. Make the wilderness your backyard with the best hiking, backpacking, and backcountry navigator – all in one. Navigate routes with offline navigation, weather reports, GPS coordinates, camping sites and distance tracking features to help you explore. Cruise through a popular backpacking route, hiking trail, or walking map with GPS navigation tools to guide you. Download the premier outdoor activity app featured in publications like the New York Times, Washington Post, and GearJunkie. BACKPACK OR HIKE • Hike the largest collection of trails and routes available on Gaia Topo, the ultimate backcountry navigator. • National parks or scenic hiking trails – Discover new outdoor routes waiting to be explored • Backpacking from base camp all along offroad hiking trails and back again is easy with breadcrumbs • Distance tracker with altitude and elevation monitoring for every activity • Travel easily to trailheads with connections to directions CAMPING COMPANION • Explore different camping sites and navigate to them conveniently using GPS coordinates • Discover campgrounds across national parks, forests, and scenic landscapes ROAD TRIP PLANNER MADE FOR YOU • Offline maps: RV travel is easy with offline maps that track your location, even when far from cell service • Discover camping sites, parks and route conditions seamlessly to help you prepare OFFROAD ACTIVITY PLANNING • 4x4 & overlanding adventures are easy to record on Gaia GPS • Activity tracker and route planner make trekking, hiking, and backpacking offroad trails simple • Maps, routes, and waypoints displayed on Apple CarPlay SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING • Discover ski slopes and cross country skiing trails around you with best-in-class topographic maps • Know weather conditions with ski resort information and Nordic trails from OnTheSnow EXPLORE THE WORLD LIKE A PROFESSIONAL • GPS coordinates help explore while creating routes and tracking progress • Share your data with clients to improve Gaia GPS • Access the full NatGeo map collection ELEVATE YOUR OUTDOOR ADVENTURES WITH GAIA GPS PREMIUM WITH OUTSIDE+ • Access 300+ maps including NatGeo Trails Illustrated, Private Lands, weather forecasts, and more • Offline maps to download anytime • Weather, terrain, and safety features • Access the Trailforks GPS biking app • Expert-led online courses on Outside Learn • Premium access to award-winning films, shows, and live TV on Outside Watch • Unlimited digital access to Outside Network's 15 iconic brands including Outside, Backpacker and National Park Trips Explore the world with Gaia GPS to guide all of your adventures. Enjoy GPS navigation, countless hike trails, and more with Gaia GPS – your perfect outdoor companion. SIGNUP • Gaia GPS is part of the Outside Network. Create an Outside account to access the app. TO MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION: • TURN OFF auto-renewal: https://support.apple.com/kb/ht4098 • Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period. • Your Apple App Store Account will be charged at confirmation of purchase. • Privacy Policy: https://www.gaiagps.com/company/privacy • Terms of use: https://www.gaiagps.com/company/terms_of_use
Garmin Explore™
Navigate off-grid with this app, which pairs with a compatible Garmin device for trip planning, mapping, and navigation even without Wi-Fi or cellular service. Plan routes, download maps for offline use, and sync data to the cloud.
- Off-grid navigation
- Trip planning
- Offline map downloads
- Pair and sync with Garmin device
- Activity library
- Cloud storage
- LiveTrack location sharing
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OFF-GRID NAVIGATION When paired with your compatible Garmin device(1), the Garmin Explore app lets you use your mobile device for outdoor navigation, trip planning, mapping and more — with or without Wi-Fi® connectivity or cellular service. SEARCH TOOL Easily locate geographic points — such as trailheads or mountain summits — associated with your adventure. STREAMING MAPS For pre-trip planning, you can use the Garmin Explore app to stream maps when you’re within cellular or Wi-Fi range — saving valuable time as well as storage space on your mobile device. Download maps for offline use when venturing outside cellular range. PAIR, SYNC AND SHARE With Garmin Explore, you can pair your smartphone or tablet with your compatible Garmin device to sync and share data for off-grid adventures. Use downloadable maps for navigation anywhere. EASY TRIP PLANNING Plan your next trip by downloading maps and creating courses. Specify your start and finish points, and automatically create a course you can sync with your compatible Garmin device. ACTIVITY LIBRARY Under the Saved tab, review and edit your organized data, including your saved waypoints, tracks, courses and activities. See map thumbnails to easily recognize your trips. SAVED COLLECTIONS The collections list allows you to quickly find all data related to any trip — making it easy to sort and locate the course or location you’re looking for. CLOUD STORAGE The waypoints, courses and activities you’ve created will automatically sync to your Garmin Explore web account when you’re within cellular or Wi-Fi range, preserving your activity data with cloud storage. A Garmin account is required for storing your data in the cloud. LIVETRACK™ With the use of the LiveTrack™ feature, loved ones can follow your location in real time(2) and see data such as distance, time and elevation. What You Get with Garmin Explore • Unlimited map downloads; access topographic maps, USGS quad sheets and more • Aerial imagery • Waypoints, tracking and route navigation • High-detail GPS trip logging and location sharing • Unlimited cloud storage of routes, waypoints, tracks, and activities • Online trip planning 1. https://explore.garmin.com/appcompatibility 2. When used with your compatible smartphone, the Garmin Explore® app and your compatible inReach® technology-enabled Garmin device. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Garmin is under license.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Gaia GPS at 4.8 against Garmin Explore™'s 4.2. Gaia GPS also leads on ratings volume (32K vs 1.1K) and chart position (#8 vs #120). Garmin Explore™'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and review sentiment (46% vs 38%). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Gaia GPS sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Garmin Explore™ asks for nothing beyond the download.
Gaia GPS holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gaia GPS has 32K ratings behind it against 1.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 38% of Gaia GPS's written reviews are positive against 46% of Garmin Explore™'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | Gaia GPS | Garmin Explore™ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (32K ratings) — better | 4.2 (1.1K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 37.7% of reviews | 45.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 32K — better | 1.1K |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #8 — better | #120 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 137 MB | 452 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | TrailBehind | Garmin |
Customer experience
Gaia GPS
Garmin Explore™
User reviews
Gaia GPS
From 32K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent offline functionality
- 🗺️ Detailed and customizable maps
- 🧭 Accurate GPS tracking and navigation
- 📸 Ability to add photos to tracks
- 🔍 Useful map overlays (e.g. property boundaries)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and unstable app performance
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🔍 Confusing map/feature management
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🇬🇧 Limited functionality for non-US users
Garmin Explore™
From 1.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Excellent for planning routes and activities
- 💡 Great for offline navigation with downloaded maps
- 👍 Seamless integration with Garmin devices
- 👍 Useful for tracking and sharing adventures
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues with Garmin devices
- 🔍 Lacking detailed map options in some regions
- 🔍 Confusing interface and terminology
- 🐛 Crashes and performance issues
- 🔒 Requires login and internet connection for full functionality
Bugs and requests
Gaia GPS
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes and freezes
- Unreliable offline map downloads
- GPS location inaccuracies
- Syncing issues between app and web portal
Requested features
4 requests- Improved route planning tools (e.g. distance/elevation between waypoints)
- Better organization and management of saved tracks/waypoints
- More map data coverage for international users
- Customizable map layers and display options
Garmin Explore™
Reported bugs
4 issues- Sync failures between app and Garmin devices
- Disappearing or corrupted user data
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS/Android versions
- Unreliable offline map downloads
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to edit waypoint coordinates
- More customization options for map layers and displays
- Improved route planning and navigation features
- Better syncing and data management between app and devices
- Support for more Garmin device models
In-app purchases
Gaia GPS
- No longer available - Member$19.991 Year
- Gaia GPS Premium14 Days trial$59.901 Year
- No Longer Available - Outside+$71.901 Year
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- Gaia GPS Premium with Outside+14 Days trial$89.901 Year
- Outside Plus Test Intro Offers14 Days trial$89.991 Year
- Gaia GPS Test Intro Offers7 Days trial$999.991 Year
Garmin Explore™
No in-app purchases






