Alternatives to OnX maps

[FreeRange]

I’ve had a lot of issues with the onx iPhone app but had notably less issues last year in the second half of my season than ever before and started to be able to rely on it. In September it had miserably failed me in an area where it was pretty critical and that really soured me. I have always used and loved Gaia, aside from private land layers I think Gaia is pretty superior. 75% of my hunts are nowhere near private land and for those I use Gaia exclusively. For the other 25% I really only use onx for e scouting. Gaia is much easier to cage high resolution sat imagery for large areas and I really like the fact that it gives you elevation profiles for tracks you create, but that only works with a data connection. It also seems that when viewing on a computer you get higher resolution in Gaia than in onx, onx imagery does not seem to be as clear at high zoom levels. Also a lot of areas on onx have clouds covering the terrain.

 

[onX Hunt]

I’ve had a lot of issues with the onx iPhone app but had notably less issues last year in the second half of my season than ever before and started to be able to rely on it. In September it had miserably failed me in an area where it was pretty critical and that really soured me. I have always used and loved Gaia, aside from private land layers I think Gaia is pretty superior. 75% of my hunts are nowhere near private land and for those I use Gaia exclusively. For the other 25% I really only use onx for e scouting. Gaia is much easier to cage high resolution sat imagery for large areas and I really like the fact that it gives you elevation profiles for tracks you create, but that only works with a data connection. It also seems that when viewing on a computer you get higher resolution in Gaia than in onx, onx imagery does not seem to be as clear at high zoom levels. Also a lot of areas on onx have clouds covering the terrain.

I hope you have stuck with the app since last fall as the overall functionality and stability of the app is all good to go now. There has not been any issues with the offline maps that may have occurred last year. Please make sure you have the most up to date version of the app and as for the satellite imagery, we have some things in the works that will greatly improve that as well since our current satellite image provider kind of shot themselves in the foot when they "updated" a couple months ago and some areas when down in quality and have clouds. So be on the lookout for that!

 

[Joelweb]

I have the onX app and love it. Keep it up!

 

[Brendan]

Hey Brendan, did you end up being able to compare these 2 last season? Looking at Gaia Premium for this coming year and wondering how it worked out for you.

So - I prefer Gaia to OnX. Here are my reasons. (Paying subscriber for both, and I got neither for free or any of that....)

This one *might* be resolved - but when I used them, OnX could not export all waypoints, tracks, and areas as GPX / KML so I could manage them in Google Earth and export into other devices. This is an absolute deal killer for me as I refuse to be locked into a proprietary service, but I'd heard that OnX was working to resolve this. With Gaia - I do all my e-scouting using Google Earth, including layers from Caltopo in GE, and then load the waypoints, tracks, areas into Gaia when I download all the off-line imagery I need.

Gaia was $60 less expensive for Premium as compared to OnX. Pretty good argument there when functionality was close to equal...

I personally prefer the Gaia Interface. OnX wasn't nearly as easy to use.

A lot of hunters got screwed over last season due to OnX launch issues. Glad I wasn't in that group...

Private land ownership was the same between the two for every area that I personally checked. OnX was a little better in interface for land ownership, but the functionality was the same. (Limited areas that I checked, but that's my experience)

The only functionality I noticed that OnX had that Gaia did not was the Heat Map for roadless areas / distance from roads. That was helpful for looking at areas for the first time, but actually wasn't always that accurate when looking at actual roads...

 

[NDGuy]

TRAX GPS Maps | Kirsch's Outdoor Products

I use Trax Maps over OnX. He's a local guy in ND but delivers a great product. Great customer service and the maps have been great so far.

He does not have a phone app however just GPS chips.

 

[onX Hunt]

So - I prefer Gaia to OnX. Here are my reasons. (Paying subscriber for both, and I got neither for free or any of that....)

This one *might* be resolved - but when I used them, OnX could not export all waypoints, tracks, and areas as GPX / KML so I could manage them in Google Earth and export into other devices. This is an absolute deal killer for me as I refuse to be locked into a proprietary service, but I'd heard that OnX was working to resolve this. With Gaia - I do all my e-scouting using Google Earth, including layers from Caltopo in GE, and then load the waypoints, tracks, areas into Gaia when I download all the off-line imagery I need.

Gaia was $60 less expensive for Premium as compared to OnX. Pretty good argument there when functionality was close to equal...

I personally prefer the Gaia Interface. OnX wasn't nearly as easy to use.

A lot of hunters got screwed over last season due to OnX launch issues. Glad I wasn't in that group...

Private land ownership was the same between the two for every area that I personally checked. OnX was a little better in interface for land ownership, but the functionality was the same. (Limited areas that I checked, but that's my experience)

The only functionality I noticed that OnX had that Gaia did not was the Heat Map for roadless areas / distance from roads. That was helpful for looking at areas for the first time, but actually wasn't always that accurate when looking at actual roads...

Appreciate the feedback Brendan! Great news, import and export is available within the onX system and has been for the last few months so you can transfer between your GPS, Google Earth, Cell phone, and other systems as well. We are continuing to add more information that you won't find anywhere else such as that Roadless Areas, our Trail slopes (difficulty), wildfire and timber cut data, and partnerships with conservation organizations such as NWTF and RMEF. Any issues from the relaunch back in August affected a small number of users and while it would have been ideal if no one had any issues unfortunately it did happen and we've done everything we can to make it right with those users, the app is running smoothly now and there haven't been any issues now. Again, thanks for the feedback and let me know if you have any other questions

 

[Brendan]

We are continuing to add more information that you won't find anywhere else such as that Roadless Areas, our Trail slopes (difficulty), wildfire and timber cut data, and partnerships with conservation organizations such as NWTF and RMEF.

Correction on your statement above: Wildfires, Timber Cut Data, Shaded Relief Overlays, Slope overlays, as well as over 200 state hunt maps / overlays are all available in Gaia Premium as well.

The roadless areas is a difference between the two. And, the interface for private land ownership was still in OnX's favor...

 

[dotman]

I only had issues with OnX when it didn’t have all the private in KS but Gaia did, OnX did work very well in CO for me last year. That said I will not pay the premium for OnX, if they ever drop their price to an actual reality price like Gaia I would consider it again. It’s crazy that I paid $29.99 for all states with 98% of what OnX has for Gaia. All the special hot spots from RMEF, Eastman’s etc do nothing for me.

The price of the OnX app just isn’t cost effective over their chip or the Gaia app.

 

[Pelagic]

So - I prefer Gaia to OnX. Here are my reasons. (Paying subscriber for both, and I got neither for free or any of that....)

This one *might* be resolved - but when I used them, OnX could not export all waypoints, tracks, and areas as GPX / KML so I could manage them in Google Earth and export into other devices. This is an absolute deal killer for me as I refuse to be locked into a proprietary service, but I'd heard that OnX was working to resolve this. With Gaia - I do all my e-scouting using Google Earth, including layers from Caltopo in GE, and then load the waypoints, tracks, areas into Gaia when I download all the off-line imagery I need.

Gaia was $60 less expensive for Premium as compared to OnX. Pretty good argument there when functionality was close to equal...

I personally prefer the Gaia Interface. OnX wasn't nearly as easy to use.

A lot of hunters got screwed over last season due to OnX launch issues. Glad I wasn't in that group...

Private land ownership was the same between the two for every area that I personally checked. OnX was a little better in interface for land ownership, but the functionality was the same. (Limited areas that I checked, but that's my experience)

The only functionality I noticed that OnX had that Gaia did not was the Heat Map for roadless areas / distance from roads. That was helpful for looking at areas for the first time, but actually wasn't always that accurate when looking at actual roads...

Glad to hear the real world feedback on Gaia. Thanks for sharing. I've got OnX for a single state right now, and will most likely need it for another state for this coming season. At that jump in price, I might as well give Gaia Premium a try for what could end up being a comparatively cheaper option, with much more state coverage (2 states for $60 in my case vs. all of them for $40). From there it will be a process of comparing 1 to the other for my use and seeing if the price difference is justified.

 

[Matt W.]

For those that have used both... If price was the same on Gaia or onX which would you prefer? Thanks!

 

[Brendan]

For those that have used both... If price was the same on Gaia or onX which would you prefer? Thanks!

Personally - I'd use Gaia. Overall I like the interface and the app better. The only one gripe I have about Gaia is that the satellite imagery isn't as detailed as what you get on Google Earth. But, it's plenty adequate for use in the field. (Although, I don't think OnX is any different than Gaia in this regard)

Roadless areas in OnX is nice, but not really needed because you have all the roads on the maps in both.

And, if one of them gave me a way to view a private land overlay / land ownership overlay in Google Earth - that would be really nice. I personally primarily use Google for my scouting / planning, not Gaia, not OnX. Caltopo gives you access to a lot of those layers, but not land ownership.

 

[dotman]

For those that have used both... If price was the same on Gaia or onX which would you prefer? Thanks!

Gaia, I have more trust in it.

 

[MHWASH]

I down loaded the trial versions of OnX and Gaia for a scouting trip for spring bear. The main purpose for the scouting trip was to check out public and private timber company land.

I down loaded the Gaia app the previous day because I wanted to mess with it because it was a less common app so I thought it may be less user friendly. I was wrong and had no trouble navigating. It was easy to down load a map of the area I wanted for off line use. Took Mabey 5 minutes.

The next day I downloaded the onX app. The onX was just as simple as Gaia to navigate, and the graphics were nicer, almost cleaner. When I downloaded the map for offline use I was surprised that the map could only be three specific sizes. I may have been doing something wrong, but I could not move the map around to get a customized map of the unit I was scouting. It took forever to download the map as well. Maybe 30 minutes.

Once on the road both apps worked well. Both also showed the same landmarks and ownership boundaries. Once we were back in service, I switched to the "live" versions to further compare the apps. This is were I really noticed a difference. I could not get the onX map to come up. Then switched back to airplane mode, and could not get the saved onX map to come back up. I didn't have any trouble switching back and forth on the Gaia app.

The value of the Gaia app cannot be over looked. I will be hunting WA, ID and hopefully WY if I draw an antelope tag. With Gaia you get all 50 states for $40. With onX I'm looking at $100. I know in the long run $60 isn't much, but when you throw in all the other costs with out of state hunting, it all adds up.

 

[sneaky]

I down loaded the trial versions of OnX and Gaia for a scouting trip for spring bear. The main purpose for the scouting trip was to check out public and private timber company land.

I down loaded the Gaia app the previous day because I wanted to mess with it because it was a less common app so I thought it may be less user friendly. I was wrong and had no trouble navigating. It was easy to down load a map of the area I wanted for off line use. Took Mabey 5 minutes.

The next day I downloaded the onX app. The onX was just as simple as Gaia to navigate, and the graphics were nicer, almost cleaner. When I downloaded the map for offline use I was surprised that the map could only be three specific sizes. I may have been doing something wrong, but I could not move the map around to get a customized map of the unit I was scouting. It took forever to download the map as well. Maybe 30 minutes.

Once on the road both apps worked well. Both also showed the same landmarks and ownership boundaries. Once we were back in service, I switched to the "live" versions to further compare the apps. This is were I really noticed a difference. I could not get the onX map to come up. Then switched back to airplane mode, and could not get the saved onX map to come back up. I didn't have any trouble switching back and forth on the Gaia app.

The value of the Gaia app cannot be over looked. I will be hunting WA, ID and hopefully WY if I draw an antelope tag. With Gaia you get all 50 states for $40. With onX I'm looking at $100. I know in the long run $60 isn't much, but when you throw in all the other costs with out of state hunting, it all adds up.

You can definitely make a map of the specific area you want to hunt with OnX. You set the boundaries and then download it. Those three options it gave you were just guidelines per se.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[SW hunter]

First post here but I have some experience with this.
I have tried a DIY hunting gps chip. I thought it was ok, fair. I think $30 was about the appropriate price for what you get. It is not near what the onX gps chips are.
I have tried the onX download for phone or tablet and I had a terrible experience with it. It wasnt reliable at all and I needed it for an area I had no experience with. It crashed on me, I downloaded layers and then it wouldnt allow me to access them. Fortunately I had several decent paper maps to use and it didn’t turn my hunt upside down but it altered my plans.
I have been very satisfied with the onX chips but $100 a state adds up.
I have had good luck downloading free pdfs of USGS maps onto a tablet. Much cheaper than buying the paper maps at 15$ each.

 

[easychair]

I use AcmeMapper on my home computer and onX on my phone and iPad, is Gaia worth switching too? The overlays on Gaia look pretty nice, seems like a mix of both.

 

[camo_deerslayer]

Just downloaded GAIA to try, glad I stumbled across this thread.

Getting tired of my OnX app crashing my phone every other time I open it....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bz_711]

If I am interested in just having Private and GMU land boundaries for just 1 Colorado unit...available for offline GPS use...which apps offer that (and are reliable) and what is cost for each?
Onx cost?
BC Navigator cost?
Gaia cost?
Others?

I've used BC Nav free app for last couple years with great success...but I've always been in 2 different units that private or gmu boundaries were not a problem.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Brendan]

If I am interested in just having Private and GMU land boundaries for just 1 Colorado unit...available for offline GPS use...which apps offer that (and are reliable) and what is cost for each?
Onx cost?
BC Navigator cost?
Gaia cost?
Others?

I've used BC Nav free app for last couple years with great success...but I've always been in 2 different units that private or gmu boundaries were not a problem.

Thanks for any help!

Gaia can do it and is $40 a year for Premium subscription. I've used the land ownership as well as public/private at home (Mass) and in MT without any issue. Never used it in CO. They do list CO big game maps as a premium layer.

 

[tracker12]

I'm running GAIA premium along with OnX.