Comparison

Mountain Project vs AvyPal

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

Head to head
About

Mountain Project

Discover and navigate to outdoor climbing areas, and find specific routes with detailed filters. Access route beta, photos, and topos offline, and view climbing area statistics. Connect with other climbers in the forum, track your progress, and create to-do lists.

Highlights
  • Find and navigate to climbing areas
  • Sort routes by discipline, difficulty, and rating
  • Search 155,000+ climbing routes offline
  • Download route beta, photos, and topos for offline use
  • View climbing area route statistics and critical info
  • Connect with climbers in the forum
  • Track attempts, sends, and create to-do lists
Features
Read full description

Beyond the Guidebook: The Definitive Rock Climbing Resource. • Find outdoor climbing areas near you, and navigate to them, using the map. This super-handy new feature is one of our personal faves. • The much requested route finder: Easily sort routes by discipline, difficulty, star ranking and more. If a 4-star M9 is your thing, we'll help you find it. • Search our entire database of 155,000+ climbing routes, even offline. • Download route beta, photos, and topos state by state for offline use — because the best crags often have the worst reception. • View a climbing area’s route stats (how many 5.11s are there?) and critical info (when is the raptor closure again?) in a single glance. • Chat, ask questions, or put out a call for partners in our forum. • Rate routes and photos, keep track of attempts & sends, or make a to-do list • It's free to download and free of advertising too. Everything you need, nothing you don't.

About

AvyPal

This app assists backcountry travelers in identifying avalanche terrain using their phone's camera. It offers three modes to assess slope angles and avalanche risk with color-coded indicators and audible alerts for dangerous areas.

Highlights
  • Camera-based terrain analysis
  • Fall Line Mode for ascents/descents
  • Slope Mode for crossing terrain
  • GPS Mode with audible alerts
  • Color-coded risk indicators
  • Route choice decision support
Read full description

AvyPal is an avalanche awareness safety app for the iPhone. The AvyPal phone app can assist backcountry travelers in identifying potential avalanche terrain. AvyPal is a simple "see through" app that uses the phone's camera view to let you view the terrain you are approaching. Three different modes are available to fit the backcountry situations you often encounter: Fall Line Mode - Shows the angle and avalanche risk of a slope you intend to descend, or ascend. Slope Mode - Shows the angle and avalanche risk of a slope you intend to cross. GPS Mode - Uses GPS data to audibly alert you if you are descending or ascending a slope angle that is associated with avalanche risk. Audible alerts are given every 5 seconds if in avalanche terrain. A graph is also shown in the mode so you can review if you have recently travelled in dangerous terrain. AvyPal uses color-coded indicators to indicate the avalanche risk of backcountry terrain. Red indicates a high probability avalanche slope (30-45 degrees). Yellow indicates a lower probability avalanche slope (25-30 degrees or 45-50 degrees). Green indicates slopes of less likely avalanche potential (less than 25 degrees or greater than 50 degrees). AvyPal is a backcountry tool for help in making route choice decisions. AvyPal does not replace professional avalanche safety training, experience or good judgement. Get avalanche awareness and safety training before traveling in the backcountry. Have fun in the backcountry. And if you have a question about the safety of the snow slope ahead ... don't hesitate to ask your AvyPal for advice!

Screenshots

Mountain Project4 screens
AvyPal3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: AvyPal at 100% against Mountain Project's 36%. AvyPal also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Mountain Project's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 17 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Mountain Project is free to download; AvyPal costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AvyPal holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mountain Project has 4.6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of Mountain Project's written reviews are positive against 100% of AvyPal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mountain Project ships an update every 3 weeks, AvyPal every 17 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Mountain Project versus AvyPal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMountain ProjectAvyPal
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.6 (4.6K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews35.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.6K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 17 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size79 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdventure Projects Inc.Timothy Kelley

Customer experience

Mountain Project

All ratings4,587 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral3.1%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews246 reviews
Positive35.8%
Neutral12.2%
Negative52.0%

AvyPal

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Mountain Project

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes when opening routes or areas
  • Map not showing all available climbs
  • Incorrect date recording for ticks
  • Inability to delete downloaded areas
  • Login issues and account sync problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to add/update routes and areas
  • Implement better offline map functionality
  • Improve search and filtering options
  • Add user profile and route tracking features
  • Enhance community engagement tools

AvyPal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Mountain Project

No in-app purchases

None

AvyPal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mountain Project free?
Mountain Project is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AvyPal free?
AvyPal costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Mountain Project or AvyPal?
AvyPal is rated higher. Mountain Project averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.6K ratings, while AvyPal averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Mountain Project or AvyPal have ads?
Neither Mountain Project nor AvyPal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mountain Project or AvyPal?
Mountain Project ships an update every 3 weeks, and AvyPal every 17 months. Most recently, Mountain Project was updated on October 16, 2026 and AvyPal on September 28, 2026.

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