Comparison

Detector Maps vs Gold Prospector App

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

Head to head
About

Detector Maps

This app provides advanced geological data and GPS tools for gold prospecting in Australia, the US, and New Zealand. It offers offline map access, breadcrumb tracking, and waypoint marking to help users explore efficiently and locate potential gold-bearing areas.

Highlights
  • Advanced geological and gold-focused data
  • Offline map and data layer downloads
  • Breadcrumb trail tracking (background GPS)
  • Waypoint marking with field notes
  • Real-time GPS navigation
  • Historic gold mines and workings layers
Features
Read full description

Detector Maps is the field tool that keeps you on the gold - and on the relics. Built by geologists for prospectors, relic hunters and metal detectorists across the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, it pairs geological data and historical maps with rock-solid GPS so you spend your time on high-potential ground, not guessing. Whether you are swinging a detector for gold nuggets, coin shooting an old homestead, hunting Civil War relics or panning a creek, it puts serious research intelligence in your pocket - and it works offline, where the finds actually are. COIN & RELIC HUNTING - NATIONWIDE Research old towns, ghost towns, homesteads, schoolhouses and long-forgotten gathering places - the ground where old coins, buttons, buckles and relics are still waiting. - Historical map overlays: hunt the buildings, roads and fields the modern map forgot - Historic USGS Topo maps, coast to coast - LiDAR that reveals cellar holes, old roads and house sites hiding under the trees - Plan permissions with confidence before you knock GOLD PROSPECTING - 15 STATES Serious geology for nugget hunting, from California to the Carolinas. Detect where gold has already been found, then find what the old-timers missed. - Historic gold mines, diggings and workings - proven gold ground - Surface geochemistry with pathfinder-element filtering - Current and expired mining claims, updated every weekday - 1-metre LiDAR hillshade that reveals old workings worth a closer swing DETECTOR ACADEMY A built-in crash course: 34 short video lessons, most under a minute - layers, LiDAR, waypoints, trails, offline maps and Pro tools. DETECTOR GRIDS Plan complete, methodical coverage of a site with adjustable search lanes you follow while recording your trail - never grid the same ground twice. BREADCRUMB TRAIL TRACKING (BACKGROUND GPS) Record your exact trail even with the app in the background or the screen off. See where you have walked and save paths for the next trip. WHY WE REQUEST "ALLOW ALL THE TIME" LOCATION ACCESS Detector Maps only uses background location when you switch breadcrumb tracking ON, keeping an unbroken log while your phone is idle. Disable it anytime in the app or device settings. WAYPOINT MARKING AND FIND LOGGING Drop waypoints on coins, relics, gold finds and old workings. Add names, notes and photos, then sync securely between your phone and the web app so your finds are never lost. REAL-TIME GPS NAVIGATION Watch boundaries, geology, historical maps and terrain update around you as you move - a GPS built for prospecting, coin shooting and relic hunting. COVERAGE USA COIN & RELIC: Nationwide USA GOLD: CA, AL, NC, AZ, NV, ID, OR, UT, CO, MT, WA, SC, VA, GA, NM AUSTRALIA: QLD, NSW, VIC, WA, SA, TAS, NT NEW ZEALAND: historic goldfields, geology and offline maps CANADA: British Columbia SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION All plans include every map, standard data layers, offline downloads, and access to Australia, USA, New Zealand, Canada (BC) and the UK. USA Pricing - Explorer Monthly: $7.99 USD; Explorer Yearly: $59.99; Pro Monthly: $11.99 USD; Pro Yearly: $99.99 USD. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Pricing may vary by region. PRIVACY AND DATA Your location, trails and waypoints are used only for core app functionality. Delete your account anytime: Profile > Delete Account > type "confirm" > tap Delete. Privacy Policy: https://app.detectormaps.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use (EULA): https://app.detectormaps.com/license-agreement Whether you swing a GPX 6000, an Equinox, a Manticore, a Deus or a Gold Monster - or a sluice or a pan - Detector Maps helps you cover more ground, log your best finds, and read productive terrain like a professional.

About

Gold Prospector App

This app uses AI and LiDAR to analyze terrain for gold potential, offering detailed maps, prospecting guides, and a community forum. It helps users identify promising locations and track their finds.

Highlights
  • AI terrain analysis for gold potential
  • AI prospecting guide (GoldBot)
  • 1-meter LiDAR hillshade mapping
  • Customizable maps with data layers
  • GPS trail tracking and find logging
  • In-app guides and community forum
Features
Read full description

Read the land. Strike gold. Gold Prospector is the all-in-one app for recreational gold prospectors and metal detectorists. Built by a lifelong prospector, it brings together AI, GIS mapping, LiDAR, historic topos and more! — FEATURES — OFFLINE MAPS Download areas before you go and use them with no service, even in airplane mode. LiDAR, historic topo, roads and trails, claims, public lands, property lines, 3D terrain, and all the other layers come with it. Log finds and record tracks with no signal. NATIVE LIDAR™ Our newest addition to the map. Custom half-meter LiDAR with six looks built for different ground: Polaris, Polaris Ridge, Nova, Eclipse, Zenith and Horizon. Adjust each one to your eye, tilt it in 3D, and take it offline. Available in California now, with more states coming. SITESCAN™ Place a square on any spot and scan it into a 3D model. Four analyses read the ground: Workings finds old pits, trenches and tailings; Flow Path shows where runoff carries gold and where it settles; Drift traces where material moves downhill; Traps ranks the spots where moving water drops its load. Tap a result to see why, drop pins, and save scans to come back to. Available where Native LiDAR™ exists. 1-METER LIDAR HILLSHADE USGS 3DEP shading that reveals what the ground remembers: placer cuts, hydraulic pits, tailings, benches, and old water races, even under a century of brush. Ultra 1m covers California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, with more states coming. PAY STREAK ZONES Modeled gold potential zones built from stream geochemistry, geology, and the density of historic mines, so the best ground stands out. HISTORIC MINES & RAILROADS Every recorded mine, prospect, and placer working nationwide, plus pre-1911 rail grades and the stops that served the camps. GOLD TRAPS Creek bends and steep gullies near known gold occurrences. The places moving water slows down and drops what it was carrying. STREAMS, RIVERS & LAKES Every waterway in the lower 48. Line weight follows actual flow, and the map tells you which run year-round and which only after rain. HISTORIC TOPO MAPS Scanned USGS topos from 1879 to 1940, overlaid on the modern world with an opacity slider. HISTORIC MAP BUILDER Over 350,000 town and city maps from the late 1800s through 1930, placed on the modern map. GHOST TOWNS 43,000+ abandoned towns, camps, and forts. Tap one to research its history. COIN & RELIC ID Photograph a coin, button, buckle, or nail for an instant ID — type, mint years, material, and history. AI TERRAIN ANALYSIS Snap a photo of any creek or hillside and let the AI score its gold potential. DATA LAYERS, 2D AND 3D Each layer has its own opacity control and info button. Native LiDAR™ Ultra 1m LiDAR Historic Topo, 1879 to 1940 Historic Maps, 350,000+ sheets Historic Sites — battlefields, mills, camps, towns Historic Railroads Historic Mines Ghost Towns Recent Burns, with severity Streams & Rivers, with flow and seasonality Lakes & Ponds Gold Traps Pay Streak Zones Active Mining Claims — updated daily Closed Mining Claims Public Lands, with unit names and access Designations & Wilderness State & Local Lands Property Lines, with owner names where available Geochemistry Rock Types Mineral Deposits Magnetic Anomaly Modern USGS Topo Roads & Trails My Pins & Find Log Basemaps: Satellite, Outdoors, Topo, and Dark. TRACK EVERY TRIP & FIND Record tracks colored by pace with distance, elevation gain, and finds along the way. Log finds with photos, weight, date, and notes, and drop pins for relics, coins, camps, and waypoints. TIPS & GUIDES Guides covering geology, equipment, technique, and history, plus prospecting news and live gold prices. — FREE & PRO — Free forever: the map and basemaps, 3D terrain, GPS, pins and find log, trail tracking, tips and guides, and the community feed. Pro unlocks: every data layer above. https://goldprospector.app https://goldprospector.app/privacy https://goldprospector.app/terms

Screenshots

Detector Maps4 screens
Gold Prospector App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Gold Prospector App at freemium against Detector Maps's subscription. Gold Prospector App also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (100% vs 73%). Detector Maps's advantage is ratings volume (263 vs 6) and chart position (#77 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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. Detector Maps sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Gold Prospector App sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Gold Prospector App holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Detector Maps has 263 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Detector Maps's written reviews are positive against 100% of Gold Prospector App's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Detector Maps ships an update every 6 days, Gold Prospector App weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Detector Maps versus Gold Prospector App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDetector MapsGold Prospector App
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (263 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings263 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
Best chart rank#77 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size115 MB84 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperGOLD DISCOVERY SOLUTIONS PTY LTDJordan Setnor

Customer experience

Detector Maps

All ratings254 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative5.5%
Written reviews74 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral2.7%
Negative24.3%

Gold Prospector App

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Detector Maps

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Issues with subscription and login
  • LiDAR not working in certain areas

Requested features

2 requests
  • Expand coverage to more areas
  • Improve data accuracy and consistency

Gold Prospector App

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Detector Maps

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Explorer Plan$7.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan$11.991 Month
  • Yearly Explorer Plan7 Days trial$59.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly Plan7 Days trial$99.991 Year
2 purchases

Gold Prospector App

Subscriptions2
  • Gold Prospector Pro$8.991 Month
  • Gold Prospector Pro$89.991 Year

Questions

Is Detector Maps free?
Detector Maps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Gold Prospector App free?
Gold Prospector App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Detector Maps or Gold Prospector App?
Gold Prospector App is rated higher. Detector Maps averages 4.7 out of 5 from 263 ratings, while Gold Prospector App averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Detector Maps or Gold Prospector App have ads?
Detector Maps shows ads; Gold Prospector App does not.
Which is updated more often, Detector Maps or Gold Prospector App?
Detector Maps ships an update every 6 days, and Gold Prospector App weekly. Most recently, Detector Maps was updated on October 25, 2026 and Gold Prospector App on October 24, 2026.

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