Comparison

Scenic Map vs maps.earth

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
Read full description

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

maps.earth

Discover the world with low-stress directions powered by OpenStreetMap. This open-source application prioritizes user privacy by not displaying ads or selling data, focusing solely on providing a pleasant mapping experience.

Highlights
  • World exploration
  • Low-stress directions
  • OpenStreetMap powered
  • Ad-free experience
  • Data privacy focused
  • Open source
Features
Read full description

Explore the world and get low stress directions powered by OpenStreetMap. maps.earth is built on open source. We never show you ads or sell your data. We just want a nice map.

Screenshots

Scenic Map4 screens
maps.earth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Scenic Map at 4.7 against maps.earth's 3.2. Scenic Map also leads on review sentiment (67% vs 33%). maps.earth's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and monetization model 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. maps.earth asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Scenic Map holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Scenic Map's written reviews are positive against 33% of maps.earth's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scenic Map ships an update every 3 months, maps.earth monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Scenic Map versus maps.earth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScenic Mapmaps.earth
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3 ratings) — better3.2 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings35 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.1 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGrangerFXMichael Kirk

Customer experience

Scenic Map

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

maps.earth

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Scenic Map

One-time1
  • Scenic Map Features$4.99
None

maps.earth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scenic Map free?
Scenic Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is maps.earth free?
maps.earth is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Scenic Map or maps.earth?
Scenic Map is rated higher. Scenic Map averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while maps.earth averages 3.2 from 5 ratings.
Do Scenic Map or maps.earth have ads?
Neither Scenic Map nor maps.earth shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scenic Map or maps.earth?
Scenic Map ships an update every 3 months, and maps.earth monthly. Most recently, Scenic Map was updated on October 23, 2026 and maps.earth on October 24, 2026.

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