Footpath Route Planner vs DistanceCalculator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Footpath Route Planner
Easily plan and navigate custom routes for any outdoor activity. Draw your path with a finger and the app snaps to roads and trails. Measure distances, elevations, and get turn-by-turn directions, even offline.
- Snap to roads and trails
- Measure distance and elevation
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Offline map downloads
- Route sharing
- GPX/TCX/FIT export
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Map routes with your finger and Footpath will snap to roads and trails. Measure distances and elevations in seconds, then navigate along with turn-by-turn directions. Footpath is the ultimate companion for planning and navigating custom routes. Join millions of adventurers and plan out your perfect route. SNAP TO MAP Quickly measure distances by tracing a map with your finger or Apple Pencil. Footpath will snap to roads and trails on the map. MEASURE DISTANCE AND ELEVATION Know exactly how far and how high you'll travel with elevation profiles. Plan routes that match your goals. SAVE ROUTES FOR LATER Plan out your week or trip. Keep up to 5 routes on hand for reference, or save unlimited routes with Footpath Elite. SHARE ROUTES Send your routes to friends or workout partners to open on their device. Footpath is designed to work for pretty much any activity or adventure, in any country: • Running • Cycling and mountain biking • Hiking and mountaineering • Walking • Motorcycling and driving • Backcountry skiing • Kayaking and standup paddleboarding • Sailing • And many more! FOOTPATH ELITE Ready to go the extra mile? Upgrading to Footpath Elite unlocks the following powerful features: TURN-BY-TURN NAVIGATION - Footpath will tell you when to turn with turn-by-turn audio cues on your iPhone and Apple Watch - Save your route and cues in advance for voice guidance that works completely offline - Double tap your AirPods or use the playback controls button on your headphones to replay your next cue PREMIUM OFFLINE MAPS - 3D and topographic maps including Footpath Outdoors (Worldwide), USGS Topo Maps (U.S. and Canada), OpenCycleMap (Worldwide), and many more - Cycling lanes, avalanche slope shading, and elevation contour lines - Download maps for use offline - Save places as favorites to customize your maps ORGANIZE - Create and edit unlimited saved routes - Duplicate, merge, and split routes - Organize and sort routes into custom lists ANALYZE - Record GPS tracks of your activities - Use HealthKit display and log extra health and fitness metrics such as heart rate during a GPS activity - View a calendar log and weekly summary of your activities - Analyze splits, speed, elevation, and heart rate - View a heatmap of your speed during your activity EXPORT - GPX import and export - TCX and FIT course export for turn-by-turn navigation on Garmin and Wahoo GPS devices - Export cue sheets to a spreadsheet app for customization and printing - Export your routes and workouts to Apple Health You can purchase a Footpath Elite monthly or yearly subscription through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Auto-renew can be turned off anytime by going to the Manage Subscriptions page in settings after purchase, and your features will remain active until the end of the subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period at the same cost as your original purchase. TIPS FOR MAPPING ROUTES • For longer routes, try zooming in and mapping your route in multiple segments. • Tap and hold the map to quickly route between waypoints and POIs. • Did Footpath snap to the wrong roads? Trace over the incorrect segment to edit, or use the eraser tool. • Turn off snap to roads (magnet icon) and zoom in to manually trace the map. (Try switching to a satellite layer). • Displaying maps and continuously running GPS in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Navigate without maps or with the screen off for all day battery life. CONTACT US We've got a lot planned for Footpath. If you have any suggestions or feedback, or if you run into any issues, please contact us at support@footpathapp.com Terms of Service: https://footpathapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://footpathapp.com/privacy
DistanceCalculator
Measure distances and areas directly on a map with high accuracy, accounting for Earth's curvature. Features include hands-free tracking, path editing, and coordinate list management. Share your measurements or export them to GPX files.
- Accurate distance measurement
- Hands-free tracking mode
- Direct path editing
- Coordinate list editor
- Export to GPX
- Share measurements
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This app made it easy to measure distance on the map. Useful for route planning, finding shortest distance, traveling, and much more. Distance is accurately calculated base on the earth curvature. Tracking mode allows user to measure distance handed-free. The app will auto follow current device's location to keep measuring distance. Edit path directly by keep holding points on the map. or you could make change to it's value with in-app editor. Extra Features: - Share to X, Facebook, Email, and much more - Coordinates list editor - Export coordinates list to GPX file Apple Watch Version: - Track total distance of your watch location ## Subscriptions ## "DistanceCalculator - Map tool" is completely free to use with all features. You can subscribe to this application to remove ads. Device subscriptions are available in these plan and will renew automatically each month, six months or year, unless cancelled. - (Per month) - $1.99 - (Per six-months) - $9.99 - (Per year) - $17.99 Pricing shown is for the United States store. Pricing in other stores will vary. Payment for subscriptions will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by going to your iTunes Account Settings after purchase or by clicking the “Purchase / Manage Subscription. Auto-renewal may be turned off by going to Account Settings after purchase. Subscription cannot be cancelled during the active subscription period More information: https://mapnitude.com/distance Privacy policy: https://mapnitude.com/privacy-policy Terms of use: https://mapnitude.com/terms-of-service
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Footpath Route Planner at none against DistanceCalculator's shown. Footpath Route Planner also leads on ratings volume (22K vs 206) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). DistanceCalculator's advantage is iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Footpath Route Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and DistanceCalculator sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Footpath Route Planner holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Footpath Route Planner has 22K ratings behind it against 206, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Footpath Route Planner's written reviews are positive against 73% of DistanceCalculator's.
Footpath Route Planner ships an update every 2 weeks, DistanceCalculator monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Footpath Route Planner | DistanceCalculator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (22K ratings) — better | 4.6 (206 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.5% of reviews — better | 72.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 22K — better | 206 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #85 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 155 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Half Mile Labs LLC | Mapnitude Company Limited |
Customer experience
Footpath Route Planner
DistanceCalculator
Bugs and requests
Footpath Route Planner
Reported bugs
14 issues- No more free turn by turn
- Buggy and unreliable
- Seems to no longer recognize footpaths
- Offline maps fail
- Only selects roads
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- GPS not helpful at all
- Confusing and difficult to use
- Useless without paying
- Degraded my paid for membership
- Crashes and loses data
- Doesn't map footpaths well
- Inaccurate and not reliable
- Difficult to edit routes
- Double counting steps
Requested features
11 requests- Add ability to make notes on routes
- Add ability to create folders within folders
- Add ability to change alerts to be earlier
- Add ability to display more run data
- Add ability to store notes against a route
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Add ability to search/view good walks
- Add ability to import existing GPX files
- Add ability to easily move start/mid points
- Add ability to automatically snap imported GPX
- Add ability to share routes
- Add ability to track steps
DistanceCalculator
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Footpath Route Planner
- Footpath Elite (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Footpath Elite (Yearly)7 Days trial$23.491 Year
- Single Route Pass$1.99
DistanceCalculator
- Plus Upgrade$1.991 Month
- Plus Upgrade$9.996 Months
- Plus Upgrade$17.991 Year
Questions
Is Footpath Route Planner free?
Is DistanceCalculator free?
Which has better reviews, Footpath Route Planner or DistanceCalculator?
Do Footpath Route Planner or DistanceCalculator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Footpath Route Planner or DistanceCalculator?
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