Comparison

Pathify vs Ascend Maps

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

Head to head
About

Pathify

This navigation app prioritizes user privacy by keeping all location history secure on the device. It offers a real-time map with customizable views and a unique timeline feature to visualize past activities chronologically.

Highlights
  • On-device location history storage
  • Real-time map with customizable views
  • Chronological activity timeline
  • Power-efficient activity tracking
  • Minimalist, translucent controls
  • Satellite, topographic, and trail maps
Read full description

Pathify reinvents the running app, and takes off running in a new direction. First, privacy: Everything you do in Pathify stays in Pathify. Your location history stays secure on your device, not entrusted to a shared remote server. There are no subscriptions, accounts, signups, or ads to distract you. Pathify lets you focus on navigating the real world, not the app. The map is always visible, overlaid with minimal, translucent controls. Two taps and you are tracking your own activity, in a power-efficient way, without being tracked by anyone else. View your path, see your pace, and find your way in real time using beautiful, customizable maps from Mapbox. Move fluidly between satellite, topographic and trail maps that help you discover new places to get away from the crowds close to home. The magic is the way Pathify lets you navigate through the domains of time, space, and data all at once. Visualize your activities as a chronological sequence on a continuously scrollable, zoomable timeline. Spin an analog clock back and forth, like an old-fashioned time machine, to review your location history on the map. Watch the numbers spin as a marker follows your former track. Choose your own adventure UI at any time by sliding a bar down to see more activities and more details. Or slide the bar up to maximize the map. Visualize a sequence of activities on the map and the timeline simultaneously, as a continuous spectrum of paths. We hope this app is as much fun to use as it was to build, and helps you get greater value from your own data, without sacrificing your privacy in any way. This is only the start of a journey we're excited to be taking with you!

About

Ascend Maps

This app provides customizable outdoor maps with offline capabilities. It features 3D terrain, track recording, saved places management, and the ability to save map tiles for offline use. Explore the outdoors with detailed, personalized navigation tools.

Highlights
  • Offline search
  • 3D terrain
  • Track recording and editing
  • Saved places management
  • Customizable map styles
  • Offline map tile saving
Features
Read full description

Ascend is an open source app for vector and raster maps. Features include 3D terrain, offline search, track recording and editing, managing saved places, saving map tiles for offline use, and more. CUSTOMIZABLE * Includes a simple, customizable style for OpenStreetMap vector tiles with modes for hiking, biking, and transit. * Overlay customizable hillshading, shaded relief, contour lines, and slope angle shading calculated in real-time over any base map. * Supports plugins for search, routing, map sources and more. * Add new online map sources and combine layers to create new maps. * Generate and import your own vector tiles. COMPREHENSIVE * Offline search * Wikipedia search * Manage saved places * Show geotagged photos from your Photo Library. * Create and edit routes * Record and edit tracks for hiking, fitness, and more * Save map tiles for offline use Learn more at https://github.com/styluslabs/maps

Screenshots

Pathify3 screens
Ascend Maps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Ascend Maps at 12.0 against Pathify's 14.1. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Pathify against 5.0 for Ascend Maps. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pathify ships an update every 9 months, Ascend Maps every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Pathify versus Ascend Maps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPathifyAscend Maps
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.112.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJonathan DubmanMatthew White

Customer experience

Pathify

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Ascend Maps

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pathify

No in-app purchases

None

Ascend Maps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pathify free?
Pathify is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ascend Maps free?
Ascend Maps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pathify or Ascend Maps?
Pathify and Ascend Maps are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Pathify or Ascend Maps have ads?
Neither Pathify nor Ascend Maps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pathify or Ascend Maps?
Pathify ships an update every 9 months, and Ascend Maps every 6 months. Most recently, Pathify was updated on June 1, 2026 and Ascend Maps on September 24, 2026.

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