{"id":996,"date":"2021-12-04T18:17:46","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T18:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/?p=996"},"modified":"2021-12-16T00:13:24","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T00:13:24","slug":"gaia-gps-vs-onx-for-hunting-and-outdoor-navigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publiclandsjournal.com\/gaia-gps-vs-onx-for-hunting-and-outdoor-navigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaia GPS vs OnX for Hunting and Outdoor Navigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Navigation tools are essential for planning and performing outdoor activities. This is especially true for hunters or those venturing into the backcountry. Traditionally, these tools were a map and compass. Later GPS units were included. Now, technology gives us the fusion of GPS, maps, and satellite images directly on mobile devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many mobile apps that allow you to use the GPS antenna in your device to view your location on maps and imagery. They all have slightly different pricing structures, feature sets, and functionality. Some mobile GPS apps are better for hunters, some for backpackers, and some for winter users. I do some of all these things and want a GPS mapping app that will be useful for many outdoor activities in many areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to outdoor recreation activities, I frequently use, extend, and develop GPS-based technology in my professional life so I’m a little picky (and nerdy) about finding exactly what I want in a mapping app. After lots of research into different mobile mapping options, I recently purchased subscriptions to OnX and Gaia GPS to test side-by-side and find which one works best for the outdoor generalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To start, I’ll give a quick breakdown of the pricing structure for OnX and Gaia GPS. I’ll cover the features, functionality, and map layers for each app in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OnX (also referred to as OnX Hunt) has two pricing tiers. The Premium membership (lower tier) is $29.99\/year and gives you access to most map layers you’ll want for a single state. The Elite membership (upper tier) is $99.99\/year and gives you access to the same map layers and functionality as the Premium membership, but for the entire United States. The Elite membership can also be purchased for $14.99\/month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only difference between the OnX memberships is the areas for which you have maps. The more expensive membership gives you national coverage and the cheaper membership gives coverage for just one state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OnX has other options\/add-ons for offroad and backcountry (hiking and skiing) users that are similarly priced or can be tacked on the OnX Hunt membership. There are also additional map layers that are available for purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaia GPS has two pricing tiers. The Free membership gives you online access to Gaia GPS and a selected set of maps for free. With the free membership, you will be able to mark points and see your location on maps but you won’t be able to download maps for offline use and won’t have access to premium map layers like satellite imagery and property boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gaia GPS Premium membership gives you access to the entire Gaia GPS map catalog and lets you download offline maps for $39.99\/year. There is no geographic restriction. You have access to all the maps layer provided by Gaia GPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you can see, Gaia GPS costs significantly less than OnX for the upper-tier pricing ($39,99 vs $99.99). Next, let’s compare features between the two mapping applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Features are quite similar between Gaia GPS and OnX. The table below lists features that most users will be interested in. Overall, Gaia GPS has a larger feature and map set that covers a larger geographic area but OnX has done extra work to enhance some of the most important and most used features and map layers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ll go through specific considerations for each mapping app in the sections below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n OnX and Gaia GPS both give you essential navigation tools. These include the ability to mark waypoints (at your current location or other select any location) and the ability to track your movements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaia GPS includes the ability to plan routes. This is a nice feature where you can plot a route along trails or any terrain to follow at a later time. You can also get statistics (distance, elevation) of a planned route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both mapping apps will sync your waypoints and tracks (also routes for Gaia GPS) to the cloud so that you can access them from both the web\/online and mobile platforms. The online platform is nice because you can view maps and mark waypoints on a larger screen while planning then sync to a phone (or other mobile devices) for use in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Navigation features are basically a toss-up between Gaia GPS and OnX but I would give a slight edge to Gaia for the inclusion of route planning. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFeature<\/strong><\/td> Gaia GPS<\/strong><\/td> OnX Hunt<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Mark Waypoint<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Track Travel Path<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Online Browser View<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Offline Access<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Route Planning<\/td> Yes<\/td> No<\/td><\/tr> Track and Route Statistics<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Basemaps (satellite, topography, etc)<\/td> 10+<\/td> 3<\/td><\/tr> Land Ownership and Property Boundaries<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes (enhanced)<\/td><\/tr> Trails and Roads Layer<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes (enhanced for extra $$)<\/td><\/tr> Hunt Units<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Public Access Easements<\/td> No<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Burned Areas Layer<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Logged Areas Layer<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Species Habitat Maps<\/td> No<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Weather<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Specialty Maps (National Park, NatGeo, Shaded Relief, etc)<\/td> Yes<\/td> No<\/td><\/tr> 3D View<\/td> Yes<\/td> Yes<\/td><\/tr> Coverage Outside of USA<\/td> Yes<\/td> No<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Navigation and Functionality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n