Comparison

Garmin Explore™ vs CourseSpeed

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Off-grid navigation
  • Trip planning
  • Offline map downloads
  • Pair and sync with Garmin device
  • Activity library
  • Cloud storage
  • LiveTrack location sharing
Currently charting
Read full description

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.

About

CourseSpeed

This navigation app provides real-time course, speed, and position data on a clear display. It offers turn-by-turn navigation with voice prompts, map overlays, and the ability to save tracks and points of interest. Additional features include sunrise/sunset times, horizon distance calculation, and specialized functions for sailing and geocaching.

Highlights
  • Real-time course, speed, and position display
  • Turn-by-turn navigation with voice prompts
  • Map view with track history and waypoints
  • Save and load track history and points of interest
  • GPX file export for computer viewing
  • Sunrise/sunset times and horizon distance calculator
  • Anchor watch and geocaching search functions
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App Summary: Although the CourseSpeed App was developed for boating, the App can be used anywhere, for example Boating, Hiking, Bike Riding, and Geocaching. The app was developed to conveniently have Course, Speed, and Position available on one screen in sufficiently large fields to be seen several feet away from the iPhone as well as to show the current position on a map. However, it also provides other views that perform the following, additional useful functions: 1. Allows the current position to be followed on any of three map types and, from the map, get Turn-by-turn navigation directions with voice prompts to anywhere. The current track history can be displayed along with user entered waypoints along the track line. Both the track history and waypoints can be saved to a history file. Saved history files can be loaded to the map later for reference. 2. Allows Point-Of-Interest map pins to be added to the map. These are also saved to a file and displayed whenever the App is started and are independent of the track history Waypoints. The Map Point-Of-Interest pins can be edited or deleted. 3. Saving track points in a GPS Exchange Format (GPX) file which can be moved to a computer. The GPX track may then be viewed on any mapping program/web site that reads GPX files. 4. For the current location, displays the times of sunrise and sunset as well as the current Sun azimuth and elevation for the current day, or any other day with user date input. 5. Provides a Horizon Distance Calculator that calculates the distance an observer can see for any height of an observer and any height of an object. 6. Provides the capability to add a Mark point on the Map to which Speed-Made-Good and bearing is displayed. (Useful for sailors, geocachers, hikers) 7. Provides a Speed-Made-Good-To-Windward indication for sailers. 8. Provides an "Anchor Watch" function for boaters to determine if their anchor is "dragging". 9. Provides a Geocaching search function to use a user entered "Mark" as a geocache location. 10. Allows the management of track history files, and GPX files; i.e. renaming or deleting them. 11. Allows the following settings to be saved automatically whenever the user changes them. The settings are selectable from either the "Settings" view or other views. All are saved to a file on the iPhone and restored when the App is restarted: 1 Speed smoothing enabled 2 Course smoothing enabled 3 Course smoothing type 4 Use fractional speeds when speed less than 10 enabled 5 Enabling the recording of a GPX format track file. 6 Latitude/Longitude display format 7 Elevation Display Mode 8 Course display format 9 Speed display format 10 Map type 11 Horizon Distance units 12 Enabling/disabling Speed-Made-Good function 13 Wind Direction 14 Anchor Distance The CourseSpeed iPhone App supports Apple's "Light" and "Dark" modes. The CourseSpeedWatch App is also available for use with a paired iPhone running the CourseSpeed App. The CourseSpeedWatch App functionality is a subset of the iPhone App functionality and contains only data fields and buttons but no mapping capability. The following data fields/buttons are visible on a single, scrolling, screen: 1 Position (Latitude & Longitude) 2 GPS receiver Accuracy (Horizontal & Vertical) 3 Course 4 Speed 5 Altitude 6 Trip 1 Odometer value 7 Trip 1 Odometer Start/Pause/Resume button 8 Trip 1 Odometer Reset button 9 Trip 2 Odometer value 10 Trip 2 Odometer Start/Pause/Resume button 11 Trip 2 Odometer Reset button 12 Distance to a user entered Mark 13 Bearing to a user entered Mark 14 Start/Stop/Clear track button 15 Save track button 16 Current track distance 17 Sunrise time 18 Sunset time The CourseSpeedWatch App supports one watch face "complication" called "Sun Rise/Set". A detailed description of all the functions and options is available from the App's "About" page and also on the web at santuit-sw.weebly.com (Then click on the CourseSpeed App and CourseSpeedWatch App)

Screenshots

Garmin Explore™4 screens
CourseSpeed4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CourseSpeed at 5.0 against Garmin Explore™'s 4.2. CourseSpeed also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.4). Garmin Explore™'s advantage is ratings volume (1.1K vs 3) and chart position (#108 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CourseSpeed holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Garmin Explore™ has 1.1K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Garmin Explore™ ships an update monthly, CourseSpeed every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Garmin Explore™ versus CourseSpeed: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGarmin Explore™CourseSpeed
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (1.1K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.1K — better3
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#108 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS18.412.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size452 MB12 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperGarminDavid Jennings

Customer experience

Garmin Explore™

All ratings1,046 ratings
Positive77.5%
Neutral5.8%
Negative16.6%
Written reviews958 reviews
Positive45.8%
Neutral11.3%
Negative42.9%

CourseSpeed

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

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

CourseSpeed

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Garmin Explore™

No in-app purchases

None

CourseSpeed

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Garmin Explore™ free?
Garmin Explore™ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CourseSpeed free?
CourseSpeed is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Garmin Explore™ or CourseSpeed?
CourseSpeed is rated higher. Garmin Explore™ averages 4.2 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while CourseSpeed averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Garmin Explore™ or CourseSpeed have ads?
Neither Garmin Explore™ nor CourseSpeed shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Garmin Explore™ or CourseSpeed?
Garmin Explore™ ships an update monthly, and CourseSpeed every 4 weeks. Most recently, Garmin Explore™ was updated on November 2, 2026 and CourseSpeed on October 29, 2026.

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