Comparison

Map Diary vs Waylist

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

Head to head
About

Map Diary

This app allows you to privately save and organize locations on an interactive map with photos and notes. It works completely offline, requiring no account or internet connection, making it ideal for travel and documenting personal memories.

Highlights
  • Save locations on interactive map
  • Add photos and timestamped notes
  • Organize locations into custom lists
  • Fully offline and private functionality
  • Personalize pins with icons and colors
  • Automatic address lookup
  • Multiple map styles
Features
Read full description

Save every place that matters — private and available offline. Free to download. No ads. No tracking — ever. Map Diary lets you pin locations on an interactive map, add photos and notes, and organize everything into custom lists. No account, no internet required for your saved archive. Just you and your memories. ▸ INTERACTIVE MAP Long-press to save places anywhere. Filter pins by list. Get directions and Look Around via Apple Maps. Plan a walking or driving route from your own stops, including a round trip — routes and past journeys are Pro. Standard map style included free; Hybrid and Satellite are Pro. ▸ CAPTURE EVERY DETAIL Add up to 2 photos and 2 notes per location on Free. Set a cover photo. Address lookup, place search, and directions send your search text or map coordinates to Apple. Pro unlocks unlimited photos and notes. ▸ PERSONALIZE YOUR PINS 12 colors and a starter set of map pin icons free. Pro unlocks the full library of 116 activity icons — hiking, camping, food, museums, beaches, and more. ▸ ORGANIZE IN LISTS Group trips, favorites, restaurants, and to-visit spots. Free includes up to 2 lists; Pro adds unlimited lists and list filtering at any scale. ▸ SEARCH YOUR LIBRARY — OR DISCOVER NEW PLACES Search your own saved locations and lists free. Pro adds Apple Maps place search to discover new spots to save. ▸ OFFLINE SAVED ARCHIVE & PRIVATE Your saved journal works without internet — perfect for travel, road trips, and remote areas. Address lookup, place search, and directions send your search text or map coordinates to Apple. Your saved data stays on your device. No tracking, no analytics. ▸ TRY FREE Pin up to 16 locations, manage 2 lists, add up to 2 photos and 2 notes per place, browse and edit your map, and search your saved library — no watermarks. ▸ PRO UNLOCKS THE FULL ARCHIVE Unlimited locations and lists, unlimited photos and notes, Apple Maps search, Hybrid and Satellite map styles, the full icon library, routes and past journeys, and .mapdiary backup and restore. Monthly, annual, or lifetime. Whether you're documenting a weekend getaway or a lifetime of travel — Map Diary is the private travel journal with an offline saved archive that goes wherever you go. Have feedback? Reach us at support@can.bi Privacy Policy: https://canbi.notion.site/Privacy-Policy-4916cac95bdb82778b040144667297db Terms of Use (EULA): https://canbi.notion.site/Terms-of-Service-de96cac95bdb82d2a1f801dfb47e579d

About

Waylist

Plan your perfect trips by creating custom itineraries and collections of locations. Organize your travel plans, discover new destinations, and gather inspiration from starter guides. Seamlessly integrate with Apple Maps to build comprehensive travel guides.

Highlights
  • Create custom trip collections
  • Organize daily itineraries
  • Import from Apple Maps
  • Interactive location map
  • Discover starter guides
  • Collect web and social media content
Features
Read full description

Create collections in Waylist and start planning the perfect itineraries for your trips. If you like working from a list, you can dump it all from Apple Maps into Waylist or take it further and turn on Itinerary View to organise every day of your trip. Find Waylist in the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro. Discover other locations and explore your guide on an interactive map or browse the Gallery to find inspiration for future trips with our starter guides for locations like London, Paris, New York, Dubai, Hawaii and the modern Wonders of the World. Use the Gallery and Location scrapbooks to collect related information together for easy access. Bring content from all over the web and social media together so it's where it matters. Waylist is the perfect companion for Apple Maps and it's what Guides should be and to get started, create a Collection and share a location from Apple Maps. It's really that simple. Great trips start with somewhere special. Maybe you've heard of a hidden cafe, been given a museum recommendation from a friend or there's a landmark you've always dreamed of seeing. Find them and then add them to Waylist and use it as a way to make sure you hit all the must-see sights. We use Waylist not just for holiday planning but for bucket lists too! Create a guide for all the places you want to see and start ticking them off as you do. You can export Guides created as PDFs to share with others or as JSON files which can be used by AI models such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini to summarise the information and to help you plan your trip or manage your itinerary.

Screenshots

Map Diary4 screens
Waylist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Map Diary at Free against Waylist's $1.99. Map Diary also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). Waylist's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Map Diary is free to download; Waylist costs $1.99 up front. Map Diary sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Waylist asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Map Diary against 5.0 for Waylist. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Map Diary ships an update weekly, Waylist every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Map Diary versus Waylist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMap DiaryWaylist
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCan BiCharanjit Chana

Customer experience

Map Diary

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Waylist

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Map Diary

Subscriptions2
  • Map Diary Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Map Diary Annual3 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time5
  • Support Tip - Map Pin$1.99
  • Support Tip - Trail Marker$4.99
  • Support Tip - Compass Rose$12.99
Show 2 more
  • Map Diary Lifetime$19.99
  • Support Tip - World Explorer$24.99
None

Waylist

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Map Diary free?
Map Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Waylist free?
Waylist costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Map Diary or Waylist?
Map Diary and Waylist are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Map Diary or Waylist have ads?
Neither Map Diary nor Waylist shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Map Diary or Waylist?
Map Diary ships an update weekly, and Waylist every 4 days. Most recently, Map Diary was updated on October 22, 2026 and Waylist on October 11, 2026.

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