Comparison

Scenic Map vs Maptrails

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

Head to head
About

Scenic Map

Explore the world with detailed 3D topographic maps, accessible even offline. Stream and cache global maps for use without cell service. Features include satellite overlays, customizable map styles, and GPS tracking for navigation and route replay.

Highlights
  • Global 3D topographic maps
  • Offline map caching
  • Satellite image overlays
  • Customizable map styles
  • GPS tracking and route replay
  • GPX track import/export
Features
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A 3D topo map with coverage of the entire world. The map is streamed directly from Apple's servers and cached on your device for use when there is no cell coverage. Use Scenic Map in a car, a boat, a plane or while hiking. It is like having the entire Earth in your pocket. Satellite image overlays add breathtaking detail and realism to the maps (tap preset 2 or 4). You can use them as you travel to see what is hidden from view at ground level. This takes moving maps to a whole new level. To get started, tap the arrow button in the toolbar to begin GPS tracking and center the map at your current location. The spinner in the status bar shows that the map is being loaded. The spinner stops when the map is fully cached at that location. You can scroll around the map or tilt the map with a two finger vertical swipe to see it in 3D. Use the two finger vertical swipe gesture to tilt the map for a 3D view. Scroll like a map or fly like a flight simulator. Enable Joystick Gestures in the Settings menu and then fly around the terrain using a virtual joystick. Prefer only 2D maps? Enable the 2D Map option in the Settings menu. Scenic Map is simply the best 3D topo map available for a mobile device. You will see incredible detail while scrolling, rotating and zooming perfectly smoothly. You will see every road even if you zoom out to the altitude of a satellite. As you zoom in, you will see every small bump and hollow of the Earth and terrain features as small as ten meters. Unlike old fashioned topo maps, Scenic Map’s roads and trails are up to date thanks to OpenStreetMap.org. It contains polygons for urban areas, shopping malls, an ever growing number of buildings and many other features, The best lake, pond, stream and rivers from the USGS and Canadian public databases are also included. Your tracks can be replayed with video like controls to speed up, slow down, pause, restart or skip to the end. You can display existing tracks while recording another if you want to retrace your route. When online, you can automatically create a route from your current GPS location to any other point on the map. Tracks can be received from or sent to other apps in GPX format. GPS recording stops automatically after you have remained stationary for some time or you can choose to manually stop tracking by tapping on the top track in the Tracks view. Never before have maps been this customizable. For example, you can turn on or off the roads. You can change the lighting direction or remove terrain shading entirely. You can display contour lines even over satellite images. There are five presets which let you quickly switch between map styles. Use Metric, English or Nautical units and choose one of four different coordinate displays including UTM. Want to learn more about a map feature? Tap the target icon and center the feature under the compass rose to display its name, type, urban area, county, state, elevation and coordinates. You will also see a bearing line back to your current GPS location or from your location to a selected waypoint. The status bar shows the bearing direction and distance along with the map and GPS elevation, the track length, and your current speed and direction of travel. In-app documentation is provided in the Help section at the top of the Settings menu. Links are provided in the documentation to detailed coverage maps, tutorial videos, installation guide and blog at ScenicMap.com Map data © OpenStreetMap and contributors under the Open Database License Scenic Map supports GPS tracking while the app is in the background. Caution: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

Maptrails

Navigate the outdoors with a feature-rich map browser for hiking, hunting, and orienteering. Plan routes, measure distances, draw paths, and access various map styles. Offline map downloads and weather forecasts enhance your adventures.

Highlights
  • Offline map downloads
  • Distance measurement and path drawing
  • Topographic, nautical, and aerial maps
  • Map marker syncing via iCloud
  • Weather forecasts
  • GPX file import/export
  • Health app integration
Features
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Maptrails is a modern map browser that packs an amazing experience for hiking, hunting, orienteering, or just enjoying your time outdoors. Only Maptrails offers full featured apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. The app comes preconfigured with a large selection of built-in maps in topographic, nautical, and aerial imagery styles. Save places as map markers that sync between your devices over iCloud. It is easy and fun to measure distances and draw paths on the map, or use Look Around to see street level imagery at any address. Maptrails Pro one-time purchase unlocks a professional grade feature set. Add your own maps and data layers from standard APIs, and bring in GeoJSON, GPX, IMG, KML or Shapefile data. You can even draw notes directly on the map using touch or pencil! Maptrails makes it easy to plan your upcoming hike by letting you download map tiles for offline use, view up-to-date weather forecasts, or draw tracks on the map and save them to GPX files. During your hike, record the route to a GPX track or workout in Health app, and graph out its speed and altitude data. For hunters, integration with Oma Riista lets you import hunting areas using area code. Share your current GPS location with a private group of other Maptrails users. Build your own dog tracker by installing separate Beacon app to another device and pairing it with Maptrails. Its position can then be tracked on the map in Maptrails. Maptrails Pro one-time purchase unlocks full functionality • Use folders to organize tracks and markers • Attach images to markers from photo library • Track other devices with Beacon app installed • Import hunting areas from Oma Riista service • Get weather forecast for targeted location • Draw notes on map using touch or pencil • Import tile maps from web using browser • Download map areas for offline use • Share your GPS location with groups • Draw tracks on map and save as GPX files • Import GPX files and view them on map • View workout routes from Health app • Record workouts and export to GPX • Add Vector Tile, Tile Map, WMTS and WMS maps • Add GeoJSON, GPX, IMG, KML and Shapefile map layers • Get new features in future versions If some map available via open data APIs is not yet included, or you want to make your maps available in Maptrails, please email me at feedback@freshbits.fi. Also follow on Instagram at @KartastoApp. This app has been built by one developer as a hobby project during many evenings and weekends. Please be nice and take this into account when giving feedback. Icon symbol credit to Wolf Böse (Creative Commons).

Screenshots

Scenic Map4 screens
Maptrails4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Maptrails at every 9 days against Scenic Map's every 3 months. Maptrails also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (85% vs 67%). Scenic Map's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Scenic Map sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Maptrails sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Maptrails holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Scenic Map's written reviews are positive against 85% of Maptrails's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scenic Map ships an update every 3 months, Maptrails every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Scenic Map versus Maptrails: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScenic MapMaptrails
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews84.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings38 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGrangerFXPasi Salenius

Customer experience

Scenic Map

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Maptrails

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative15.4%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Scenic Map

One-time1
  • Scenic Map Features$4.99
1 purchases

Maptrails

One-time1
  • Maptrails Pro$24.99

Questions

Is Scenic Map free?
Scenic Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Maptrails free?
Maptrails is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Scenic Map or Maptrails?
Maptrails is rated higher. Scenic Map averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Maptrails averages 5.0 from 8 ratings.
Do Scenic Map or Maptrails have ads?
Neither Scenic Map nor Maptrails shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scenic Map or Maptrails?
Scenic Map ships an update every 3 months, and Maptrails every 9 days. Most recently, Scenic Map was updated on October 18, 2026 and Maptrails on October 20, 2026.

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