maps.earth vs OSM Maps
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- World exploration
- Low-stress directions
- OpenStreetMap powered
- Ad-free experience
- Data privacy focused
- Open source
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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.
OSM Maps
View OSM maps from various sources, create notes, and add multimedia like photos, audio, and video. Record and manage routes and tracks in GPX format, with iCloud synchronization and desktop backup options.
- View OSM maps from multiple sources
- Create and edit notes with multimedia
- Record and manage GPX routes and tracks
- iCloud synchronization
- Desktop backup functionality
- Open Source
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This app shows OSM maps from a various sources (OSM, Elbe5, etc). You can create notes add and edit photos, audios, videos, routes and tracks in GPX format, take photos, add record own audios, videos, routes and tracks. It has list views of all attached items. It can synchronize all of this via iCloud or backup files with the desktop app. This app is the successor of 'Maps for OSM' by this author. It has a different data structure and different features, so it had to become a new app. But you can import data from older backup files. This app is not affiliated with OpenStreetMap, but the use of this name has been approved. This app is Open Source, the code is published at https://github.com/mr-elbe5/OSM-Maps. If you find any problems or missing features, please let me know!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: OSM Maps at 100% against maps.earth's 33%. OSM Maps also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 11 days vs monthly). maps.earth's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, ads, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
OSM Maps holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: maps.earth has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of maps.earth's written reviews are positive against 100% of OSM Maps's.
maps.earth ships an update monthly, OSM Maps every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | maps.earth | OSM Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Kirk | Michael Roennau |
Customer experience
maps.earth
OSM Maps
In-app purchases
maps.earth
No in-app purchases
OSM Maps
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is maps.earth free?
Is OSM Maps free?
Which has better reviews, maps.earth or OSM Maps?
Do maps.earth or OSM Maps have ads?
Which is updated more often, maps.earth or OSM Maps?
Other comparisons
