# Mancos vs Soil Explorer

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mancos at 70% against Soil Explorer's 0%. Mancos also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.1) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 11 months). Soil Explorer's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and iOS requirement (14.7 vs 26.0). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Soil Explorer is free to download; Mancos costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Mancos holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Mancos's written reviews are positive against 0% of Soil Explorer's.

Mancos ships an update every 4 months, Soil Explorer every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on August 31, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Mancos | Soil Explorer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[5.0 (13 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mancos/id541570878/reviews)** | [4.1 (9 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soil-explorer/id996159565/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **13** | 9 |
| Positive reviews | **70.0% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 months** | Every 11 months |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#178** | — |
| Size | 10 MB | 172 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **14.7** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Hunt Mountain Software](https://appshunter.io/developer/328710008) | [Purdue University](https://appshunter.io/developer/371741257) |

## What reviewers say

### Mancos

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mancos/id541570878)

**Currently charting:** #178 Top Paid · Education (US App Store)

Explore the geology of the United States and other regions with this app. Access state geological maps, formation data, and stratigraphic columns. Discover local fossil collections directly from your device.

**Highlights:** Interactive geological maps, Searchable by name or GPS, State-level geological data, Geological formation information, Regional stratigraphic columns, Fossil collection discovery

**Features:** Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Soil Explorer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/soil-explorer/id996159565)

Discover detailed soil property and landscape maps for U.S. states and global soil distributions. Understand how map features relate to real-world observations. This educational tool uses data from USDA and USGS to illustrate complex soil-landscape relationships.

**Highlights:** Detailed soil property maps, Landscape visualizations, Global soil distribution maps, Field observation correlation, USDA NRCS data integration, USGS data integration

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Mancos free?

Mancos costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Soil Explorer free?

Soil Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Mancos or Soil Explorer?

Mancos is rated higher. Mancos averages 5.0 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while Soil Explorer averages 4.1 from 9 ratings.

### Do Mancos or Soil Explorer have ads?

Neither Mancos nor Soil Explorer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Mancos or Soil Explorer?

Mancos ships an update every 4 months, and Soil Explorer every 11 months. Most recently, Mancos was updated on August 31, 2026 and Soil Explorer on September 19, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*