Comparison

Footpath Route Planner vs what3words

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Snap to roads and trails
  • Measure distance and elevation
  • Turn-by-turn navigation
  • Offline map downloads
  • Route sharing
  • GPX/TCX/FIT export
Features
Read full description

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

About

what3words

This app assigns a unique three-word address to every 10-foot square on Earth. Easily find, share, and navigate to precise locations worldwide using simple word combinations. It's ideal for pinpointing exact meeting spots, deliveries, or even emergency services.

Highlights
  • Navigate using three-word addresses
  • Share precise locations
  • Find current address offline
  • Compatible with navigation apps
  • Save and categorize favorite locations
  • Offline navigation with compass mode
  • Supports over 60 languages
Features
Read full description

what3words is an easy way to identify precise locations. Every 10 foot square has been given a unique combination of three words: a what3words address. Now you can find, share and navigate to precise locations using three simple words. Use what3words to: - Find your way anywhere in the world using just three words - Plan exact meet-up locations - Help people find your apartment, business or Airbnb - Always find your way back to your parking space - Save key locations, from incident reporting to delivery entrances - Save your favorite memorable spots – a sunset, a waterfall, proposal location - Guide people to accessible entrances - Help emergency services find you You can find what3words addresses in travel guides, website contact pages, invitations, travel booking confirmations and more – anywhere you would normally find location information. If you’re invited to a friend’s home, ask them to share their what3words address. Popular features: - Find your current what3words address offline - Compatible with navigation apps, including Apple Maps and Google Maps - Save your favourite locations, categorise and share them as lists - AutoSuggest prompts you with intelligent suggestions - Available in over 60 languages - Navigate offline with compass mode - Add a what3words address to a photo If you experience any problems or have any questions, email us at support@what3words.com EULA: https://what3words.com/terms

Screenshots

Footpath Route Planner4 screens
what3words4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Footpath Route Planner at none against what3words's shown. Footpath Route Planner also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 55%). what3words's advantage is iOS requirement (16.1 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Footpath Route Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and what3words sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.69 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Footpath Route Planner against 4.8 for what3words. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 22K and 44K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Footpath Route Planner's written reviews are positive against 55% of what3words's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on November 4, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Footpath Route Planner versus what3words: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFootpath Route Plannerwhat3words
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (22K ratings) — better4.8 (44K ratings)
Positive reviews78.5% of reviews — better55.5% of reviews
Number of ratings22K44K — better
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#80 — better#117
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.016.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size155 MB315 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHalf Mile Labs LLCwhat3words Ltd.

Customer experience

Footpath Route Planner

All ratings22,237 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral2.2%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews852 reviews
Positive78.5%
Neutral7.7%
Negative13.7%

what3words

All ratings44,032 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral3.1%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews885 reviews
Positive55.5%
Neutral6.3%
Negative38.2%

User reviews

Footpath Route Planner

From 22K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Full-featured outdoors app
  • 👍 Nice app
  • 👍 Excellent for discovering routes
  • 👍 Useful for run planning
  • 👍 Great mapping and graphics

Room to improve

  • 🐛 No more free turn by turn
  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
  • 🐛 Seems to no longer recognize footpaths
  • 🐛 Offline maps fail
  • 🐛 Only selects roads

what3words

From 44K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate location tracking
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚑 Potentially life-saving in emergencies
  • 🗺️ Precise location sharing
  • 🤝 Helpful for meeting up with friends/family

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent location accuracy
  • 🤔 Confusing/not well-explained
  • 📱 Requires data/cellular connectivity
  • 🗺️ Outdated map data
  • 🔍 Difficult to find/search saved locations

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 more
  • 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 more
  • 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

what3words

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Location changes unexpectedly
  • App crashes on launch
  • Unable to select country/language

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add ability to sort/organize saved locations
  • Integrate with contacts/address book
  • Provide voice output for location names
  • Offer offline map downloads
  • Develop a version for seniors/accessibility
Show 1 more
  • Integrate with popular navigation apps

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Footpath Route Planner

Subscriptions2
  • Footpath Elite (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Footpath Elite (Yearly)7 Days trial$23.491 Year
One-time1
  • Single Route Pass$1.99
2 purchases

what3words

Subscriptions2
  • what3words Pro$4.691 Month
  • what3words Pro7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Footpath Route Planner free?
Footpath Route Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is what3words free?
what3words is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Footpath Route Planner or what3words?
Footpath Route Planner is rated higher. Footpath Route Planner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 22K ratings, while what3words averages 4.8 from 44K ratings.
Do Footpath Route Planner or what3words have ads?
what3words shows ads; Footpath Route Planner does not.
Which is updated more often, Footpath Route Planner or what3words?
Footpath Route Planner ships an update weekly, and what3words weekly. Most recently, Footpath Route Planner was updated on November 4, 2026 and what3words on November 4, 2026.
Which is more popular, Footpath Route Planner or what3words?
Footpath Route Planner currently peaks at #80 in the App Store charts, and what3words at #117. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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