If you are here, then you are probably wondering what the best MapQuest alternatives are.
MapQuest is widely known for its unique abilities such as route direction, turn-by-turn voice GPS navigation, local weather reporting, and many other features. However, in recent years, some unavailable features have not gone unnoticed.
For example, you can’t use the software offline nor can you download the maps when you’re within network coverage. This makes it worthless in many situations where navigation is of utmost importance – like when you are hitch-hiking out in countryside locations with no internet.
I even recently discovered that the MapQuest Android app has been taken down. Thus, millions of Android users have been excluded from using the service.
These and several other complaints constitute major roadblocks that prompt users to seek suitable alternatives for MapQuest.
If you are such a user, relax because I’ve got you covered by going out of my way to find the best MapQuest alternatives that the web has to offer. Here they are:
Best MapQuest Alternatives
1. Google Maps
Google Maps is, by far, the first option that comes to mind when talking about the best alternatives to MapQuest.
First, the two services are similar in many respects. For instance, both of them are free for everyone to use.
The two also offer similar navigation functionalities, but, there are a couple more reasons why I consider Google Maps as an apt alternative to MapQuest:
- Apart from its open web version, Google Maps also has a mobile app version for both Android and iOS devices. As for MapQuest, it has an open web version and also an iOS version, however, its Android version has been taken down.
- Google Maps also covers more locations and website categories than MapQuest. For example, according to SimilarTech stats, Google Maps covers 102,107 websites in the science and education category while MapQuest covers only 53 websites in the same category. Google Maps maintains such a leaping lead over MapQuest across other categories.
- That SimilarTech source also shows that Google Maps maintains its lead ahead of MapQuest in points of interest coverage across all the countries in view.
2. Waze
Waze is more than just a mapping service. It is more of a community of real people looking out for one another regarding the situation of things across the landscapes.
Here is what I mean:
Waze blends a digital live map tool with a social media-like platform which can’t be said about MapQuest.
As it is with any other mapping tool, you can use Waze to search for locations, plan your routes, drop pins, and more.
Even beyond those typical bot-powered functionalities, you have human Waze members (known as Wazers) sharing live reports from their locations with real-time photos taken from their cameras.
With this, you can know exactly what is happening anywhere, so you are better off planning your routes. For instance,
- Wazers can report exactly where traffic workers have blocked the road due to a car crash, so you are saved the time and headache of having to find it out yourself.
- A fellow Wazer can let you know where the temperature has suddenly gone bad.
- There can also be police and traffic alerts.
- You can interact with real people in your location of interest and find out exactly how things are going.
I can say that its social atmosphere is my main reason for considering Waze as a great possible replacement for MapQuest. However, it must be noted that the Waze Map tool is not as detailed as its MapQuest counterpart.
3. Apple Maps
If you use an Apple-made smart device, Apple Maps is one of the best alternatives to MapQuest that you can consider.
To start with, Apple Maps has a lot of features that square up to MapQuest. Here are some of them:
- With Apple Maps, you can easily get directions and alerts about your routes and destinations when you are driving, commuting, or cycling.
- As with MapQuest, Apple Maps’ point of interest reporting also includes restaurants, shops, offices, and monuments.
- It features real-time, turn-by-turn functionality and traffic information just like MapQuest.
- It also offers voice guidance for when you can’t read the maps (like when you are driving or cycling).
- Like MapQuest, Apple Maps enables you to see how far you have traveled as well as the distance ahead of you en route to your destination.
- Again, it features an ETA (expected time of arrival) feature just like MapQuest.
Apple Maps also has its edge over MapQuest. For example,
- Unlike MapQuest, Apple Maps reporting takes consideration of the elevations along your routes, including the steepness of those elevations.
- Apple Maps provides special reporting for electric vehicles including tracking your current charge, notifying you about charging stops along your route, charging time, and more.
However, you should remember that Apple Maps is available only on Apple devices.
4. Avenza Maps
One of the deepest downsides of MapQuest is that it doesn’t work outside WiFi coverage. Even worse is that it doesn’t allow you to download or print the maps or navigation details while you’re still within network coverage.
This offline navigation is the mainstay of Avenza Maps, which is my main reason for listing the mapping service as one of the best alternatives to MapQuest.
Here are other unique features of Avenza Maps that could make it your best option for replacing MapQuest in your navigation toolbox:
- Unlike MapQuest, Avenza Maps can connect with your device’s built-in GPS software. That’s why it works beyond internet coverage.
- Avenza Maps can be downloaded to your local storage, which is so far impossible with MapQuest. Indeed, Avenza Maps is essentially a collection of over 1 million geospatial PDF and TIFF files from independent map publishers across the world.
- Unlike MapQuest that’s no longer active as an Android app, Avenza Maps’ Android and iOS apps are both active and top-rated as I write this.
- Because Avenza Maps was made with outdoor activities in mind, it has robust features for recording your GPS tracks. For instance, you can mark your favorite points of interest, attach photos just where and when the snapshots took place, attach notes, and more. These features are not available with MapQuest because, unlike Avenza Maps, it was made with city-based driving navigation in mind.
- Avenza Maps maps also exist in detailed categories such as topographic, hiking, fishing, or skiing map categories. Not so with MapQuest.
5. Maps.me
Maps.me is another navigation tool that fills the major area of need lacking in MapQuest, namely offline navigation. This is to say that you can use the maps where there is no internet coverage. You can also download the maps ahead of time.
Meanwhile, here are my other reasons for listing Maps.me as one of the best alternatives to MapQuest right now:
- The mapping tool is currently active as a web version and also as an Android/iOS app. This is unlike MapQuest that is no longer available as an Android app.
- Maps.me looks far more elegant and readable than MapQuest.
- Maps.me is also far easier to use than MapQuest. For instance, at the first glance, it is categorized into the various continents and then in categories such as entertainment attractions, business, lodging, shops, health, finance, and more.
6. OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap is an editable digital world map. Like Waze, this is yet another navigation tool that thrives heavily on user collaboration. However, OpenStreetMap’s style of collaboration is open-source and therefore gets to the level of the source code.
For example, users can upload public GPS traces to the maps. They can also upload diary entries and make on-the-spot changes to location names.
Apart from the collaborative approach of OpenStreetMap, here are other reasons why I think it is one of the best alternatives to MapQuest that you can consider right now:
- It is free just like MapQuest.
- It is presented in six layers that include standard, CyclOSM, cycle map, transport map, OPNVKarte, and humanitarian.
- OpenStreetMap renders place names far more accurately than MapQuest since users can edit them on the spot.
- OpenStreetMap is also more detailed than MapQuest.
So far, I haven’t seen any user complaining about wrong location entries on the platform or anything like that.
7. Google Earth
Depending on what you are looking for, Google Earth is yet another navigation tool that could replace MapQuest in your navigation arsenal. For me, Google Earth is more like a version of Google Maps that puts a premium on 3D realistic navigation.
It allows you to view cityscapes and landscapes as they are through the lens of aerial photos and satellite images and GIS-generated data. These are pasted to a 3D globe to make for remote but realistic navigation experiences.
Why do I think that Google Earth could be one of the best alternatives to consider as a replacement for MapQuest? Here are my reasons:
- Google Earth enables you to explore locations more deeply by viewing places, structures, and things from various angles.
- You can use Google Earth to measure distances that would nearly always correspond to the facts on the ground.
- Unlike MapQuest that is available on the open web and iOS only, Google Earth is available to a huge variety of desktop and mobile operating systems that include Android, iOS, Google Chrome, Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Google Earth is also collaborative – somewhat like OpenStreetMap. So, users can add their data.
- Google Earth has far more coverage than MapQuest. I learned that it has mapped up to 98% of the entire planet.
8. 2GIS Maps
If you are located in any of the countries covered by 2GIS, it could be one of your best alternatives to MapQuest. See why:
- 2GIS maps are as free as MapQuest.
- The 2GIS maps are available on the open web as well as for personal computers and mobile apps on both Android and iOS. Remember that MapQuest is now available as a mobile app only for iOS users.
- 2GIS does as well as MapQuest (or even better) in suggesting the right driving and commuting routes.
- 2GIS maps are clearer than MapQuest maps and so, easier to read.
However, note that 2GIS so far covers fewer locations than MapQuest. It covers only about 350 cities in 11 countries (Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Italy, and Chile).
A relatively unknown app so far, Maps & Navigation focuses on reporting on the locations around you. For Android users only, I recommend this mobile app as a possible replacement for MapQuest. See why:
- It is free to use and quite simple.
- It is clearer to read than MapQuest.
- Many recent user reviews show that this app’s reporting is more accurate than that of MapQuest.
10. Google Street View
Google Street View is another Google navigation tool that could be one of the best alternatives to MapQuest that you can consider.
The software works between Google Maps and Google Earth to help you in getting panoramic views of streets and places across the earth through virtual reality photography.
Some of the features of Google Street View that makes me think that it can be a cute alternative to MapQuest are:
- It further helps with making your navigation a realistic experience.
- It shares the coverage of Google Maps and Google Earth. So, it covers more locations than MapQuest.
- It is available on the open web as well as on Android and iOS as mobile apps.
11. Citymapper
Citymapper is focused on assisting travelers to make smart travel decisions by comparing available transportation options.
I think that this service is one of the best possible alternatives to MapQuest for the following reasons:
- It is as free as MapQuest.
- It is available for both Android and iOS devices while MapQuest is available to mobile users only on IOS devices currently.
- So far, users report that Citymapper is more accurate in its reporting than MapQuest.
12. Rome2rio
As the name sounds, Rome2rio is used for planning a trip from one location to another. You can search for your location and get information on train lines, bus routes, flight paths, etc. This way, you can discover the best options for getting to your destination.
Here are some of its features that make me think that Rome2rio can be a good alternative to MapQuest:
- Rome2rio is free to use just like MapQuest.
- Unlike MapQuest that is available to mobile users only on iOS, Rome2rio is available to both Android and iOS users.
- Rome2rio’s reporting is more accurate than that of MapQuest according to recent user reviews.
Sygic Car Connected Navigation is an Android app for displaying your driving routes on your car’s screen.
Why do I think that this app is worthy of mention as an alternative to MapQuest?
- It is free to use. There is also a paid version.
- It enables you to see your navigation while driving. MapQuest tries to solve this with their voice navigation which is good. But, voice navigation could confuse the place names unlike when you are reading the navigation directly.
- Based on recent user views, I discovered that Sygic Car Connected Navigation is much more accurate in its reporting than MapQuest.
14. Bing Maps
Bing Maps is a part of Microsoft’s Bing search engine. See why I think that Bing Maps can be a worthy alternative to MapQuest:
- You can search for locations and get various views of them including aerial views, street sceneries, and more. Well, it’s so with MapQuest too. But, MapQuest views are not as detailed as Bing Map views.
- You can use Bing Maps to get driving, walking, as well as transit directions.
- The software also allows you to get traffic information from major highways and roads.
- As a user, you can add details to Bing maps and you can also share the maps with those in your network.
15. Here WeGo Maps
Here WeGo Maps is one of the best options that you can consider as an alternative to MapQuest and here are the top reasons why:
- Here WeGo Maps is available offline unlike MapQuest.
- The maps are also downloadable. Again, this is an edge that this software has over MapQuest.
- While MapQuest is currently available as a mobile app only on iOS devices, Here WeGo Maps is equally available for Android and iOS devices.
- Here WeGo Maps also includes voice direction just like MapQuest.
16. OsmAnd
OsmAnd is yet another navigation software that focuses strongly on offline navigation, a major missing link in MapQuest. Some user opinions that I sampled show that offline reporting works well.
Here are my other reasons for considering this software as a worthy alternative to MapQuest:
- It is free to use just like MapQuest.
- But, the maps are generally more detailed than MapQuest maps.
- OsmAnd allows users to make input to the maps.
- It is available for both Android and iOS users.
- From user views, I can see that OsmAnd reporting is more accurate than MapQuest.
MapFactor Navigator is another free GPS navigation tool.
Here are my reasons for including this software in this list of the best alternatives to MapQuest out there:
- It’s free. It also has a pro version.
- But unlike MapQuest, MapFactor Navigator can be downloaded and used offline.
- MapFactor Navigator is also available for Android and iOS devices as well as Windows while MapQuest is only available for iOS devices and on the open web.
- Recent user reviews show that MapFactor Navigator is more accurate in its reporting than MapQuest.
18. Komoot
Komoot is a navigation software that is built with cycling, hiking, and mountain biking in mind. I consider it as one of the best alternatives to MapQuest for the following reasons:
- It is free to use just like MapQuest.
- It is available for both Android and iOS devices, unlike MapQuest that is available only for iOS devices.
- You can generate your route and download it for offline use. This is positively unlike MapQuest.
19. Circuit Route Planner
Circuit Route Planner is a navigation tool that is built specifically for delivery drivers. I think that this software can serve as a great alternative to MapQuest, especially for delivery drivers. Here are my reasons for thinking so:
- It is free to use.
- It is available for both Android and iOS devices.
- Its directions are far more accurate than that of MapQuest according to recent user reviews.
20. Windy Maps
Windy Maps is a navigation software that focuses on weather reporting across various locations. So as long as weather reporting goes, this is one of the software programs you can consider as a valid replacement for MapQuest. My reasons for arriving at this conclusion are:
- Windy Maps is free to use.
- It is available for both Android and iOS users.
- Users upon users report a high accuracy level for Windy Maps – far more than MapQuest.
- The Windy Maps interface is more elegant than that of MapQuest.
21. Save Location GPS
Save Location GPS is a software program that does the job of saving your current coordinates so that you can share them with friends and also navigate with them. It can be very helpful when you are traveling to a new or unfamiliar territory.
I included this on this list of the best alternatives to MapQuest for these reasons:
- Most users of the software report that it is very accurate in identifying your location and saving it.
- Users also report that the software is easy to use.
- It is also free to use.
- It gives direction in both audio and video formats.
- You can use the software to search for addresses either by name or by number.
Conclusion
Each of the mapping and navigation software programs shared in the list above has its unique feature set, focus, and capacity. So, you can choose based on what would serve your best interest at any time.
If it comes to a single choice, then my best overall pick would be Waze. This is because of its real-life social atmosphere above all else.
Communicating with bots can help a lot, but the accuracy of bot-generated information can hardly ever be comparable with real-life real-time human-to-human communication. It’s especially so when we are talking about practical situations like traffic and weather.
Tom loves to write on technology, e-commerce & internet marketing.
Tom has been a full-time internet marketer for two decades now, earning millions of dollars while living life on his own terms. Along the way, he’s also coached thousands of other people to success.