NomadTracks vs. Wikiloc
Wikiloc, from Girona in Spain, has been collecting trails since 2006 and is the giant of community route libraries — over 60 million member-recorded trails, with its deepest coverage in Spain and Latin America. Recording and browsing are free; the catch is that following someone else's trail with in-app navigation is a Premium feature. NomadTracks plays a different game: a privacy-first recorder with no community feed at all, where the special maps are the ones you bring yourself. Which half you need decides this one.
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Side by side
| NomadTracks | Wikiloc | |
|---|---|---|
| Community trail library | No | Yes — 60M+ trails worldwide, its core strength (especially Spain & Latin America) |
| Record your own tracks | Full recorder: elevation/speed/pace charts, photo waypoints, Live Activities | Yes — free |
| Follow other people's trails in-app | Follow any imported GPX on the live map — free | Premium feature (navigation, off-track alerts) |
| Your own georeferenced paper/PDF maps | Yes — free, unlimited, in-app georeferencing | No |
| Offline maps | Custom maps fully offline, free; basemap areas cached | Free offline maps |
| Live tracking for safety | No | Yes (Premium) |
| Route planner | Yes (Pro) — waypoint routing on real trails | Yes (Premium) — built from popular community stretches |
| Apple Watch standalone recording | Yes — GPS + heart rate without the iPhone | Watch app companion |
| Account required | No — none exists | Yes |
| Where your data lives | Your device + your own iCloud/Dropbox/NAS | Wikiloc account; trails are public by default in the community model |
| Price model | Free core; optional Pro subscription | Free recording/browsing; Premium subscription (quarterly/annual) for following & extras |
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 Wikiloc if …
you want to discover routes: Wikiloc's library is unmatched in sheer volume — 60 million trails, with especially deep coverage in Spain and Latin America — and the community photos and waypoints tell you what a route is really like.
Choose NomadTracks if …
you record more than you browse, want your tracks private by default (no account, no public feed), follow routes from GPX files without a subscription, or your best maps are paper and PDF — the georeferencing workflow has no counterpart in Wikiloc.
The honest pairing
Plenty of hikers would sensibly use both: find the route on Wikiloc, where the community has already walked it — then record your own private track in NomadTracks, on the official park map you georeferenced, with everything staying in your own iCloud. If you have a route as a GPX file, NomadTracks imports and follows it on the live map for free; there is no subscription between you and a track you already have.
Privacy is the real fork in the road
Wikiloc is a community: sharing is the point, and an account is the price of entry. NomadTracks is the opposite by design — no account, no servers, nothing public unless you export and share it yourself. Neither is wrong; they're different answers to what a GPS app is for.
FAQ
Is NomadTracks a free Wikiloc alternative?
For recording privately, following GPX routes and using your own offline maps — yes, free with no account. It is not a replacement for Wikiloc's trail library: NomadTracks has no community routes to browse. If discovery is why you use Wikiloc, keep it for that.
Can I follow a Wikiloc trail in NomadTracks?
If you have the trail as a GPX file, yes — import it into NomadTracks and follow the line on the live map while recording your own track, no subscription needed. Getting the GPX out of Wikiloc depends on Wikiloc's own terms and features for the trail in question.
Does Wikiloc charge for following trails?
Following other members' trails with in-app navigation (direction arrow, off-track alerts) is part of Wikiloc Premium, a quarterly or annual subscription. Recording your own trails and browsing the library are free.
Which has better maps?
Different philosophies: Wikiloc ships good basemaps with free offline downloads; NomadTracks lets you bring any map on earth — official park handouts, national topo GeoPDFs, or a photographed paper sheet, georeferenced in-app with an accuracy readout — and use it offline, free and unlimited.