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Cartahaven vs Gaia GPS

Gaia GPS is a popular backcountry navigation app with hundreds of map layers. Cartahaven is built around a different job: opening the GeoPDF maps that parks, forests and publishers make, for free, and using them offline with GPS. If your maps come as PDFs, here is how the two compare.

Gaia GPS facts are from Gaia GPS’s own pages, checked November 1, 2026; numbers in brackets link to the source. Prices change: check Gaia GPS’s site for the latest. Something wrong? Email support@cartahaven.com and we’ll fix it.

Cartahaven vs Gaia GPS
Feature	Cartahaven	Gaia GPS
Open your own GeoPDF maps	CartahavenFree, as many as your device holds, with GPS on the map offline.	Gaia GPSGeoPDF import: not found in Gaia GPS’s documentation (PDF appears only as a print output^[5]). Premium imports MBTiles and GeoTIFF, GeoTIFF up to 104.9 MB on iPhone^[4].
Price	CartahavenMaps app, GPS and offline use free. Optional Cartahaven Plus: $9.99 a year or $2.49 a month, per account: one subscription works on every device you sign in on.	Gaia GPSPremium $59.90/year^[2]^[3]; Premium with Outside+ $89.90/year^[3]. One membership works on all your devices^[1].
Offline downloads	CartahavenFree: the maps you open or get from the store, plus a background map around each.	Gaia GPSPremium only: “You cannot download maps to use when offline… with a free membership.” If Premium lapses, downloaded maps are locked^[1].
Satellite imagery offline	CartahavenPlus: USGS aerial imagery (US) downloaded around each map. Viewing it online is free.	Gaia GPSPremium. Satellite layers have a total limit of 160,000 tiles per device; USDA aerial imagery has none^[7].
Map store for publishers	CartahavenYes: publishers sell their maps and keep 80% of each sale (the fee is at least $0.50 a sale). The store also has free USGS and Forest Service maps.	Gaia GPSSelling or buying other publishers’ maps: Not found in Gaia GPS’s documentation. National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps were removed on April 14, 2025^[8].
Public land and hunting units	CartahavenFree, offline: who manages the land (USGS PAD-US), game management units for 35 states and county lines elsewhere, legal shooting light, slope shading.	Gaia GPSPremium overlays^[11]: public land, and a catalog of US hunting layers (units, zones, walk-in areas)^[9].
Private land ownership	CartahavenNot offered.	Gaia GPSPremium: a US parcel layer with ownership; tap for the owner on iPhone^[10].
Weather	CartahavenFree: National Weather Service forecast and alerts (US), sun and moon times, kept for offline. Plus: live weather radar (US), rain and snow amounts for each day, and an hour-by-hour forecast for the next 48 hours.	Gaia GPSPrecipitation and snow forecast, smoke, air quality and wildfire overlays^[12], which cannot be downloaded for offline use^[13]. Radar: not found.
See where your group is	CartahavenFree while you have signal: start a group, share a code.	Gaia GPSNot offered: “nor is it possible to track someone’s location ‘live’”^[14].
Team plans	CartahavenTeam $199/year (10 seats) or $19/month; Organization $999/year (50 seats); Agency from $2,499/year. Extra seats $20/year. About $19.90 a seat on Team.	Gaia GPSGaia GPS for Teams: $40 per user per year “for a limited time”, 30-day trial^[15].
Import tracks and placemarks	CartahavenFree: GPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, CSV, shapefiles.	Gaia GPSGPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON and FIT, up to 1,000 features a file (web)^[16].
Print with your tracks on it	CartahavenFree: a PDF of the sheet with your tracks and placemarks drawn on; it stays a GeoPDF.	Gaia GPSPrint to PDF from gaiagps.com; “Printing is not currently available in the mobile app.”^[5]
GPS position averaging	CartahavenFree.	Gaia GPSNot found in Gaia GPS’s documentation.
Photos, rotation and routes	CartahavenFree: placemarks from geotagged photos, north up / course up / free rotation, a route planner that follows trails offline.	Gaia GPSPhoto waypoints^[17], compass and course modes^[18], snap-to-trail routing offline^[19] and turn-by-turn “Guide Me”^[20].
Devices	CartahavenAny phone, tablet or computer from the browser; it installs to the home screen and works offline. The Android app is built and coming to Google Play, and an iPhone app is on the way: neither is in the app stores yet.	Gaia GPSiPhone, iPad and Android apps, the web, Apple Watch^[21], CarPlay^[22], and external GPS receivers^[23].

Where Gaia GPS is ahead

Native apps in the App Store and Google Play today, plus Apple Watch, CarPlay and external GPS receivers^[21]^[22]^[23]. Cartahaven’s app store apps are on the way.
A large catalog of map layers, including private land ownership across the US^[10], which Cartahaven does not have.
Turn-by-turn directions for driving, cycling and hiking routes^[20].
It imports MBTiles and GeoTIFF tile sets^[4]; Cartahaven opens GeoTIFFs but not MBTiles.

Using both

You don’t have to choose: keep Gaia GPS for its layers and open your GeoPDFs in Cartahaven. Tracks move between them as GPX or KML: export from one, import into the other.

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Sources

All checked November 1, 2026.

Gaia GPS is a trademark of its owner. Cartahaven is not affiliated with Gaia GPS, Trailbehind or Outside Inc.