Comparison

Firesource vs Wildfire Map Tracker

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

Head to head
About

Firesource

Track live wildfires with real-time data on a map and in a feed. Access detailed fire perimeters, news updates, and air quality measurements. Users can also report nearby fires with photos and location data.

Highlights
  • Live fire map and feed
  • Real-time fire perimeters
  • Air quality measurements (AQI)
  • User-reported fire alerts
  • Satellite fire detections
  • News updates and reports
Features
Read full description

Firesource’s features: ◦ Live fire feed - both on map and in scrollable menu ◦ Local and national fire incidents - news updates and reports ◦ Fire perimeters - access all realtime fire perimeters at once with information about fire growth and progress, including acreage, containment, personnel, fire cause, and fire behavior ◦ Report a fire - instantly inform other users of a nearby fire by pressing the + button, taking a picture of the fire, and submitting ◦ Air quality - see the effects of recent fires by viewing realtime air quality measurements across the country ◦ Satellite fire detections can indicate new fires and how current fires are spreading National Fires (InciWeb, Cal Fire, IRWIN): InciWeb is an interagency incident management system run by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. InciWeb collects wildfire incident data from several agencies across the United States and provides all of this data together in several feeds. Firesource presents wildfire incidents reported by InciWeb in real time, providing the fire’s location and detailed status. Learn more about InciWeb at their website: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/. Learn more about Cal Fire, which also provides incident information, at their website: https://www.fire.ca.gov. Learn more about IRWIN, the data hub of fire reports, at https://www.forestsandrangelands.gov/WFIT/applications/IRWIN/. National Fires (Perimeters): Perimeter data is provided by the Wildland Fire Interagency Geospatial Services (WFIGS) Group and hosted in the National Interagency Fire Center ArcGIS Online Organization (The NIFC Org). Firesource displays fire perimeters and descriptions of their progress in the ‘National Fires’ tab of the menu, with this information updated on a regular basis. Learn more about the NIFC at their website: https://www.nifc.gov User-Reported Fires: Allowing app users to report a fire and immediately inform other users is an essential aspect of Firesource. To report a fire, press the yellow + button in the top right corner of the map, select the type of fire (vehicle fire, forest fire, terrain fire, structure fire), take a photo of the fire, and press submit. To ensure the validity of fire reports, the user must take a photo of the fire and cannot access Camera Roll to select a picture. Please note that submitting a fire report automatically creates the report at the user’s location, to further ensure that the fire is local and valid. When viewing user-reported fires in the feed, other users can ‘rate’ the fire report by confirming that it is active, contained, or a spam reporting. Air Quality: Air quality measurements from across the United States are collected from AirNow.gov, which provides national air quality data using the Air Quality Index (AQI). This data is color-coded to provide information about health concerns due to PM2.5 pollutants. Satellite-Detected Fires: Thermal hotspot detections are displayed and collected from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), which is an instrument on the Terra and Aqua satellites. Information provided from MODIS about each detection includes brightness (brightness temperature in Kelvin of a fire pixel) and confidence (quality of fire pixel). These fire detections are extremely useful, as they can indicate new fires and fire spread. Learn more about MODIS at their website: https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov Firesource is not affiliated with any government agencies. Firesource is only available for iPhone and iPad in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Privacy Policy: https://firesourceapp.weebly.com/privacy-policy.html Learn more and contact us at https://firesourceapp.weebly.com/

About

Wildfire Map Tracker

This app provides an interactive map to monitor active wildfires in the US, alongside global volcanic activity and hurricane storms. It's designed for educational purposes, offering real-time and historical data visualization.

Highlights
  • Wildfire monitoring (US)
  • Volcanic activity tracking
  • Hurricane storm alerts
  • Interactive global map
  • Historical data visualization
  • Educational purposes
Features
Read full description

Wildfire Map: Real-time monitoring of fires, smoke, AQI, and weather conditions in North America and Europe. The Wildfire Map helps you monitor wildfire activity in real time across North America and Europe using satellite data from hotspots. Visualize active fires on an interactive map, check nearby smoke risk, the Air Quality Index (AQI), wind, humidity, temperature, and other weather conditions that favor fire spread—all from one easy-to-use app. Use the Wildfire Map to explore hotspots, monitor selected fire areas, and review environmental conditions that can affect smoke and fire behavior. You can save important locations for easier monitoring. The Wildfire Map is designed for wildfire awareness, fire tracking, smoke monitoring, air quality updates, and weather hazard information. The Wildfire Map provides informative data on wildfires, smoke, weather and air quality, and does not replace official emergency alerts or evacuation recommendations... Terms os Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://scannercalorieios2024.web.app/

Screenshots

Firesource4 screens
Wildfire Map Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Firesource at 39% against Wildfire Map Tracker's 0%. Firesource also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). Wildfire Map Tracker's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price 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

Both are free to download. Wildfire Map Tracker sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Firesource asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Wildfire Map Tracker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Firesource has 2.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 39% of Firesource's written reviews are positive against 0% of Wildfire Map Tracker's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Firesource ships an update every 2 months, Wildfire Map Tracker daily. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Firesource versus Wildfire Map Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFiresourceWildfire Map Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.5K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews38.6% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2.5K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHemal doshiLuz Ochoa

Customer experience

Firesource

All ratings2,536 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive38.6%
Neutral13.6%
Negative47.7%

Wildfire Map Tracker

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Firesource

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Fires not showing up on the map
  • Air quality data not updating
  • App keeps logging users out

Requested features

3 requests
  • Horizontal view for iPad
  • Notifications for nearby fires
  • More detailed fire information (size, direction, containment)

Wildfire Map Tracker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Firesource

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Wildfire Map Tracker

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Premium Subscription$2.997 Days
  • Monthly Premium Subscription$9.991 Month
  • Annual Premium Subscription$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium Subscription$49.99

Questions

Is Firesource free?
Firesource is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Wildfire Map Tracker free?
Wildfire Map Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Firesource or Wildfire Map Tracker?
Wildfire Map Tracker is rated higher. Firesource averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.5K ratings, while Wildfire Map Tracker averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Firesource or Wildfire Map Tracker have ads?
Wildfire Map Tracker shows ads; Firesource does not.
Which is updated more often, Firesource or Wildfire Map Tracker?
Firesource ships an update every 2 months, and Wildfire Map Tracker daily. Most recently, Firesource was updated on September 29, 2026 and Wildfire Map Tracker on September 26, 2026.

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