Comparison

ParkMate (NZ) vs Plan My Walk

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

Head to head
About

ParkMate (NZ)

Easily find, navigate to, and pay for parking across New Zealand. Save time and money with features like start-stop payment, session reminders, and favorite locations. Enjoy ticketless and contactless parking for a seamless experience.

Highlights
  • Find car parks near destination
  • Start-stop parking payment
  • Extend parking sessions
  • Parking session reminders
  • Save favorite car parks
  • Ticketless and contactless parking
  • Transaction history and receipts
Features
Read full description

Do more with ParkMate Parking woes? Say no more. ParkMate is here to help you find a car park, get directions, and pay for your parking, every time you need to park. Choose from over 400 car parks across New Zealand. How ParkMate helps you: · Convenient – search for car parks close to your destination to save time. · Cost effective – no need to guess your time, simply use the Start-Stop option when you park and end your Active session when you are finished. You can also Extend your session from the app if you’re using a prepaid option. · Reminders – set up reminders to notify you that you have a session running or if it’s about to expire. · Favourites – if you park in the same car park often, you can set up a specific car park or session as a favourite and start a parking session each day with only three touches. · Bundles and Promotions – save on parking all over New Zealand with promo codes and bundle purchases. · Ticketless - no need to display anything on your dashboard. It’s all monitored digitally. · Transaction history – keep track of when and where you have parked and get receipts resent through the Transaction History section in the main menu. · Contactless – to help keep you safe. ParkMate also caters to businesses: · Fleet Parking – we provide a simple, centralised platform to manage your fleets parking needs · Staff Parking - we can set your car park up for only your staff to use, pre-book and view occupancy before they arrive. · Customer Parking - providing parking for your customers is a breeze with ParkMate’s Customer parking solutions · Marketing - you can take advantage of our marketing tools and have customised messaging to your users via EDM, splash screens, push notifications or text. ParkMate. Do more. Visit www.parkmate.co.nz for more information.

About

Plan My Walk

Discover over 3,000 hiking tracks, huts, and campsites across New Zealand. Plan your adventures with detailed track information, weather forecasts, and safety alerts. Build custom routes and share trip details with emergency contacts for a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience.

Highlights
  • 3,000+ NZ tracks, huts, and campsites
  • Search and filter functions
  • Detailed track information
  • Multiple map views
  • Weather forecasts and alerts
  • Custom track builder
  • Emergency contact trip planner
Features
Read full description

The free Plan My Walk app makes it easy to find tracks, huts and campsites across Aotearoa New Zealand and plan a safe and successful trip • 3,500+ NZ tracks, huts and campsites • Easy search functions and filters • Essential track information • Three map views including LINZ Topo and satellite maps • Personalised map experience with your completed trips and those on your wishlist • Weather forecasts and warnings • Official track alerts, such as closures • Reviews and photos including star ratings, and tags for safety tips and points of interest • Customisable gear lists • Custom track builder for off-the-beaten-track adventures • Trip planner that sends key details to your emergency contact • Official safety videos and Virtual Track Guides for selected popular tracks • Highlights pages make it easier to explore with key information on top hiking and tramping destinations, including helpful resources and trip recommendations The free Plan My Walk app supports you to get out and enjoy your adventure safely.

Screenshots

ParkMate (NZ)4 screens
Plan My Walk4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Plan My Walk at 4.7 against ParkMate (NZ)'s 4.1. Plan My Walk also leads on review sentiment (43% vs 13%) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Plan My Walk holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 76 and 27 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 13% of ParkMate (NZ)'s written reviews are positive against 43% of Plan My Walk's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ParkMate (NZ) ships an update every 3 months, Plan My Walk every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ParkMate (NZ) versus Plan My Walk: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterParkMate (NZ)Plan My Walk
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (76 ratings)4.7 (27 ratings) — better
Positive reviews13.0% of reviews42.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings76 — better27
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdvam Pty LtdMountain Safety Council

Customer experience

ParkMate (NZ)

All ratings73 ratings
Positive78.1%
Neutral4.1%
Negative17.8%
Written reviews192 reviews
Positive13.0%
Neutral7.3%
Negative79.7%

Plan My Walk

All ratings27 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral7.4%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews47 reviews
Positive42.6%
Neutral12.8%
Negative44.7%

User reviews

ParkMate (NZ)

From 76 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Quick and easy parking sessions
  • 💡 Useful map feature to find nearby parking
  • 👍 Decent user interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unreliable license plate recognition
  • 💰 Exorbitant and unclear pricing
  • 🤯 Clunky and unintuitive user experience
  • 🕰️ Difficult to stop/end parking sessions
  • 🔒 Security concerns with payment information

Plan My Walk

From 27 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Very useful for planning walks/tramps
  • 🗺️ Great for mapping routes
  • ✅ Helps ensure things go to plan
  • 🌍 Well-informed, especially for NZ
  • 🆘 Includes emergency contacts and DOC notification

Room to improve

  • 👎 Doc website not easy to navigate
  • 🤔 Not user friendly, needs time to understand
  • ❓ Can't figure out how to start the trail
  • 📶 Doesn't load without internet connection
  • ⚠️ Constantly prompts to turn on notifications

Bugs and requests

ParkMate (NZ)

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Parking sessions not ending properly, leading to overcharges
  • App freezing and crashing issues
  • Login and account management problems
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow setting of end time or max duration for parking sessions
  • Provide regular parking session reminders
  • Improve GPS integration and street identification
  • Simplify the parking start/stop process

Plan My Walk

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • Login screen text and buttons are invisible
  • App no longer loads and is stuck on the opening screen
  • Authentication code not received
  • App restarts when viewing tracks on the map
  • App continuously restarts/reloads
Show 11 more
  • App crashes on the map
  • App restarts when filtering tracks
  • App restarts on the main page
  • App crashes every 10 seconds or restarts when interacting with map/tracks
  • App crashes and restarts when Location Services is enabled
  • App keeps refreshing every few seconds
  • App keeps backing out every 5 seconds
  • App constantly restarting when trying to download maps
  • App restarts when under strain (e.g., zooming map)
  • App not saving the date when planning a future walk
  • App reverts to the current day when trying to add a walk

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option to download tracks as .gpx
  • UI/UX update for custom route navigation
  • Include inclines and side elevation of tracks
  • Allow users to create their own routes

In-app purchases

None

ParkMate (NZ)

No in-app purchases

None

Plan My Walk

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ParkMate (NZ) free?
ParkMate (NZ) is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Plan My Walk free?
Plan My Walk is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ParkMate (NZ) or Plan My Walk?
Plan My Walk is rated higher. ParkMate (NZ) averages 4.1 out of 5 from 76 ratings, while Plan My Walk averages 4.7 from 27 ratings.
Do ParkMate (NZ) or Plan My Walk have ads?
Neither ParkMate (NZ) nor Plan My Walk shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ParkMate (NZ) or Plan My Walk?
ParkMate (NZ) ships an update every 3 months, and Plan My Walk every 2 months. Most recently, ParkMate (NZ) was updated on November 1, 2026 and Plan My Walk on October 22, 2026.

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