Comparison

Create Own Map vs CartoLake

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

Head to head
About

Create Own Map

Create custom offline maps of your surroundings to navigate easily. Mark important locations like home, parking, or favorite spots with custom icons. Ideal for those with poor direction or who dislike reading complex maps.

Highlights
  • Create custom offline maps
  • Navigate without internet
  • Drop and name location pins
  • Assign custom icons to pins
  • Track and draw routes
  • Save and open created maps
  • View street address with internet
Features
Read full description

This app helps you create a custom map of your neighborhood and navigate without the need for internet connection or any pre-downloaded map. This app is particularly useful for anybody who has a poor sense of direction, or who can not read maps with so many uninteresting street names and directions. Let's assume you have just moved into a new home and you don't want to get lost when traveling around. This app helps you find your way back home easily. Another practical use of this app is to find where you have parked your car, find your favorite restaurant, store, hotel, or a particular building in a neighborhood. What the app does is that it tracks you and draws your route constantly. You can drop a pin on any location that you are interested in. You can give the pin a name and assign it an icon using a variety of image options. In this way, you will have a clear view of the region you are interested in. You can follow the route to take you back to the departing point. You can save the created map. The next time you can open it and follow the route to take you to the location pins. If the internet connection is available too, then tapping the current location will show you the street address and the address is also saved with the location pins. In order to delete or rename a saved map, swipe the desired row in your map book and select the appropriate action. The premium version enables the save and open features.

About

CartoLake

Create and georeference maps with various file formats. Supports imagery, scanned maps, and export options. Ideal for generating custom mapping content.

Highlights
  • Georeference imagery and scanned maps
  • Import Shapefile, KML, mbtiles, GeoJSON, PNG
  • Create simple maps
  • Export maps to various formats
  • Create ForeFlight Content Packs
  • Publish georeferenced imagery
Features
Read full description

CartoLake is a general purpose mapping for creating maps and georeferencing files. Features include: * GeoReference imagery and scanned maps * Importing and viewing various file formats: Shapefile, KML, mbtiles, GeoJSON and PNG Images * Creation of simple maps * Maps can be exported to various formats * Ability to create ForeFlight Content Packs * Publish Georef imagery End User License Agreement: https://www.cartolake.com/about/terms

Screenshots

Create Own Map4 screens
CartoLake4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CartoLake at 5.0 against Create Own Map's 1.3. CartoLake also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 17 months). Create Own Map's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Create Own Map sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and CartoLake sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CartoLake holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Create Own Map ships an update every 17 months, CartoLake weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and June 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Create Own Map versus CartoLake: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCreate Own MapCartoLake
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.3 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 17 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBita SobhaniCartoLake, LLC

Customer experience

Create Own Map

All ratings4 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral33.3%
Negative66.7%

CartoLake

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

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Create Own Map

One-time1
  • Premium$1.99
3 purchases

CartoLake

Subscriptions3
  • FAA Sectionals7 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Basic Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Topographic Base Map7 Days trial$9.991 Month

Questions

Is Create Own Map free?
Create Own Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CartoLake free?
CartoLake is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Create Own Map or CartoLake?
CartoLake is rated higher. Create Own Map averages 1.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while CartoLake averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Create Own Map or CartoLake have ads?
CartoLake shows ads; Create Own Map does not.
Which is updated more often, Create Own Map or CartoLake?
Create Own Map ships an update every 17 months, and CartoLake weekly. Most recently, Create Own Map was updated on September 7, 2026 and CartoLake on June 4, 2026.

Other comparisons