NomadTracks vs. onX Backcountry
onX Backcountry grew out of onX Hunt and carries that DNA: an American layer stack — guidebook-quality trail 'Adventures', land ownership and property boundaries (Elite), recent aerial imagery — behind a subscription (Premium $29.99/yr, Elite $99.99/yr). NomadTracks comes from the opposite direction: a private, account-free recorder where the special maps are the ones you bring, free. Where you hike — and whether landowner data matters to you — largely decides this one.
Get NomadTracks free on the App Store
Side by side
| NomadTracks | onX Backcountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Curated trail guides ('Adventures') | No | Yes — guidebook-quality routes with photos and beta |
| Land ownership / property boundaries | No | Yes (Elite) — parcels and landowner names, US-wide |
| Recent aerial imagery | No | Yes (Elite) — updated every 1–2 weeks |
| Coverage outside the USA | Anywhere — bring any map on earth | US-focused |
| Your own georeferenced paper/PDF maps | Yes — free, unlimited, in-app georeferencing | No |
| Offline maps | Custom maps fully offline, free | Offline downloads with subscription |
| GPS track recording | Full recorder: elevation/speed/pace charts, photo waypoints, Live Activities | Recording with its layers |
| Apple Watch standalone recording | Yes — GPS + heart rate without the iPhone | Companion features |
| Account required | No — none exists | Yes |
| Price model | Free core; optional Pro subscription | Premium $29.99/yr; Elite $99.99/yr |
Feature overview as of June 2026, written by the NomadTracks team in good faith — products evolve, so please verify current features and pricing with each vendor. All product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Choose onX Backcountry if …
you hike, ski or hunt in the United States and want curated trail guides, property boundaries and fresh aerial imagery in one subscription — that data stack is onX's moat and NomadTracks has none of it.
Choose NomadTracks if …
you want a private recorder that works on any continent, costs nothing for the core, needs no account, and turns the maps you already have — park handouts, free USGS/BLM GeoPDFs, paper sheets — into live offline overlays.
FAQ
Is NomadTracks a free onX Backcountry alternative?
For recording and navigating on your own offline maps — yes, free with no account. It is not a replacement for onX's US data stack: there are no curated Adventures, no landowner parcels and no recent-imagery layer. If those drive your subscription, keep onX for them.
Does NomadTracks show land ownership like onX Elite?
No. Land-ownership parcels are licensed commercial data and a genuine onX strength. NomadTracks deliberately has no data subscriptions — it shows the maps you bring.
Can I use free US government maps in NomadTracks?
Yes — that's the signature move: USGS topo quads and thousands of BLM public-lands GeoPDFs are free downloads that import with automatic georeferencing, and they work fully offline.