OnX must've watched this video and listen to this guy. All cons that he has expressed for OnX are now changed, fantastic app. You made a B- App and made it in to a A. Thanks! FYI still very simple to use still.
Not sure what version you got. My OnX doesn’t do sh!t on CarPlay. Basically just a paper map on your dash. That’s it. Nothing more. No route info. No waypoint info. No navigation. Not even a scale!! How far away is that unnamed trail? If OnX knows, it ain’t sayin. Just a map with a bunch of lines on it that you can zoom in/out. That’s it. Definitely would NOT recommend
@@figmojustfigmo3820 we’ve been making our own maps for over a year now. We use it off line when we’re out on the trails never had any problems. Whats good for some may not be good for others. You may want to look into how to create your own maps for off-line mode. Best of luck.
@@busybody4427 You make it sound like creating your own maps is some “value added feature” when really it’s the ONLY way to even use the OnX system with CarPlay. In fact - there is no other way to plan routes using OnX with CarPlay. So everybody MUST create your own map in advance to even get the piss poor use out of it that they have to offer. the problem is that the maps you create are useless. No scale. No way to tell how far away anything is. Is your next turn a mile away? 10 miles away? 100 miles away? You can’t know. No names. Even when you give your waypoints and routes names during the map creation process - all that info is stripped from the CarPlay screen. Oh look - there’s a road on your right. Is it FS road #24? Is that waypoint on the screen for “Naked Hot Springs”? You can’t know. So all you’ve got on your screen is a topo map with a bunch of squiggly lines on it and no way to know what they are, how long they are or how far away they are. Worse than using a paper topo map. At least that has scale and names. Any value that OnX normally brings to the table is stripped away by their CarPlay interface. Someday in the future, if they ever invest the money into improving the CarPlay interface to where it is even HALF as useful as their web interface then I’d say “buy OnX”. Until then? Well…unless you’re one of those guys who pisses away money on subscriptions you never use and really can’t use even if you wanted to - AVOID OnX!!! (I bought a year and got f’d)
I use mainly On X Hunt vs the Off Road because it shows land area ownership. note; once you save an off line map in On X, You can zoom in on the area within that map and get the fine detail of the area same as it would be online. I have and pay for both services Gaia and On X, as sometimes I like the simple interface of On X when out in the field, it is also a lot easier to follow for a new navigator. sometimes less is more. Thanks for the comparison.
Gaia is like Android. You can do all kinds of customization you just have to take the time to learn. While Onyx is like Apple, simple with a couple things to shine.
We're in Texas and i just got Gaia and this is all new to us, so this was super helpful! we spend a lot of time in the Ozarks, i think i've seen your Jeep!
Great summary. I have been out of the Onx loop for awhile so I was curious. To me Gaia has tons they can improve on in an incredibly powerful tool and Onx has almost nothing except simplicity. For serious open ended exploring of large areas off grid it's not even close. Gaia is clearly better. I also fail to understand the people that complain about subscription fees and then spend 10-16 years worth of sub fees on a device like a Garmin Overlander running hardware that is low spec and obsolete from the moment you buy it.
Thanks! I was considering Onx Offroad. Very helpful comparison. I agree that the Gaia user interface can be intimidating, but your previous Gaia tutorials were very helpful; I highly recommend those to your viewers.
Points are all great. I am a ONx user because they actually have updated STATE forest roads listed in Michigan. Gaia has struggled with this. National is listed fine, but Michigan has a ton of state land too. But the ONx frustrations you mentioned I have too. I feel like those are all items that will improve with time as they continue to grow.
Thanks for doing this comparison, I never looked at OnX (did hear about it) but after watching this I now know I don't need to bother. I will stick with Gaia.
Really great comparison, thanks. I have found at times it’s easy to get bogged down in the complexity of Gaia, but it’s a really powerful planning tool. I’ve been using Gaia for maybe 5-10 years.
Got the Onx hunt for Arizona and Love it, No Hassle and My time is Free. Time to Move on to The Outdoors, Plug and Play Vs a Life time of Desk work. $50 brand new on Ebay Later Dude.
Thanks for the review of both. I have been using Gaia. What I would like one of these companies to do would be to give us the ability to magnify the view so as to enlarge the trail lines and names instead of having them shrink back down to their default size as you zoom in. Riding off road and bouncing around I am unable to get a good view of the information. All that I can see is if I am still on track. I am 65 and wear glasses for distance and that doesn’t help seeing the map. I would buy a iPad instead of using my iPhone 14 MAX if I thought it would help but it’s still the same size when it comes to the trails and names.
An area might be useful for organizating from a visual perspective. You draw an area and call it "Weekend fun" and all the lines within are what you have planned for the weekend. Just a thought.
Nice job! The area draw is mainly used to draw out the boundary for and area and it will measure said area. Kinda like measuring square miles if you will.
I need to watch more of your videos on gaia, as I can't seem to fully figure it out, at least from my phone, not sure if a tablet or actual computer would make it easier, as it seems there are more options than what I can find on my phone, and I do have the paid subscription.
Appreciate the review. Well done! If you do enter new route information, please include a comment re: if it's appropriate for a full size truck vs. Jeep (e.g. width/wheelbase concerns). All high clearance vehicles not created equal. Had some issues with this finding routes in Moab area and needed to rely on locals (good thing anyway).
Great review and comparison. I love Gaia and you've convinced me that its working just fine. I love the huge array of layers for different needs. I use it for hiking, mountain biking, and dual sport / atv riding and find myself using different maps depending on the activity. Not sure if OnX is as widely used internationally or is just USA centric, but I know Gaia has many different map layers available for the Globe. The Backroad Mapbooks layer for Canada is amazing and offline is a must since cell service is limited away from major highways so download of maps is a major priority.
31:20 - no. You NEVER pay for freaking MAPS dude. What's WITH you people? Are you being paid to market this swill? You encourage PIRATING and FREE alternatives - you NEVER, EVER entertain even a THOUGHT of paying for MAPS ON THE INTERNET. Oh man let me talk to these guys. I want to interview every single one of you marketers who came to the internet with dollar signs in your freaking eyeballs. (This dumb youtuber keeps deleting my comment.)
Gaia has public tracks in app. Click layers then map overlay and toggle public tracks. Also at the bottom of the app there is a discover icon which list a more curated list of tracks, hikes etc.
thank you for doing this, my son and I are planning our first overland trip from OK to NM first of May and intend to be on off road trails in southern NM. We will be using the Gaia GPS. We faithfully watch your videos and really enjoy all the trails you explore. I am excited to make the trip, I am using a walker so my son drives, I get to run the photography side. I had the same idea of using a topo skin on my gecko JKU, where did you get yours? I have a zillion questions but will close. Enjoy your day, its a gift.
The area shapes function is especially useful, as Eddy Gray points out, for creating boundaries. This is useful for marking, as Eddie points out, restricted areas, but also for marking out an area you have specific permission to be located in. For example: If I where wheeling (or more likely hiking or hunting) on a portion of private land with permission, I could mark the boundary area and easily at a glance know where I was in relation to those borders, such as if a land owner said "Yeah. You can hunt east of (fictional) Buzzards Creek" I would go in and set a boundary along his property line and following the creek, then I would know the difference between buzzards creek and beaver creek instantly while following a trail. It could also be used to mark areas that have known dangers. This year I hunted in a WMA that the local warden warned me of mountain lion sightings in one area of the WMA, which since I was ground hunting with a blind was good to know, but the best we could do was draw the area out on my paper map of the area. Likewise it can be used say for example if you where going to be wheeling in an area that someone you knew was familiar with, they could sent you a map marked with areas where you could get some great drone footage by marking an area you would want to fly your drone so you did not miss the incredible view/footage that could not be seen from the trail. Or if I where to go canoeing in the Adirondacks this summer as I hope to, someone could point me to good clusters of lakes easily allowing me to focus my search and planning. In theory one could even use a function like the area shapes to mark "the map is wrong in this area, the area is not meadows, it is muskegs".
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures July 2022 release notes- has the same weather forecasting functionality you mentioned as a pro for On X. Click any area on the map for current and 3 day
Just attempted to transition from combining Gaia & Trails Offroad for planning, hoping to just have one subscription with OnX having trail info like Trails Offroad (so everything I need in one app, instead of bouncing between two). I do like the simplicity of OnX, but the deal breaker for me is routing. I love how Gaia snaps a route instantly between two waypoints, where I have to manually draw a line to make an entire route in OnX. That’s a major pain, and time consuming, for longer trips. If OnX eventually integrates better routing features like that, and refined its trail filtering/organization as you mentioned it would be a contender. For now, Gaia is for me.
Also on the OnX if you go to “rides” and uncheck the ATV/UTV it should filter those trails off the map. I agree it’s nice to just see them in GaiaGPS, but this will help remove those.
Hi. I am a new Premium GAIA user. I am having trouble. I started a new track. At one point I "paused" the hike since I was picking up something at the store. Once I went back outside I restarted it (technically speaking I unpaused it}. Once I finished I saved it to the GAIA cloud since I am a new PREMIUM user. So, on my phone it appears complete with total mileage and time. When I go to view the route on my PC it only shows the route up to the point I set it to "Paused"?? What happened here?? TIA everyone.
Area tool... This is useful setting up zones to stay out of. For those that play in the sand down in the Glamis Dunes, there are areas that are nature preserves that carry big fines for violating. You can set up exclusion zones on your maps to avoid these areas.
do either of them have the ability to adjust "on the fly" for road closures? Especially when you're somewhere with no signal and need to adjust the route?
Question, OnXoffroad came as part of my purchase w/ my Sahara. It does a few of the things you said it didn't do (like landowners info). Have you done any recent comparisons? BTW, so appreciate all the different videos and viewpoints you and Cara produce! :)
Question: @29:18 you were saying Gaia GPS only had (Public Tracks) in the web browser but not the app version. Could one export a public track from web browser to the app, in advance of their trip for offline viewing?
I just did part of the WBDR with ONX. Even though it technically worked, I can’t say I like it. It felt rough and under developed with clunky features. I think it has potential but needs some polishing and some extra features like an easier to use offline map download function. If you want a high definition map section it forces you to use a very small viewing window which makes downloading multiple parts of a large map section difficult and frustrating.
Thoughts? I just got a Jeep and moved to Denver, so I don't really know what's available/where to go offroading. So far i have been using the Funtreks books and TrailDamage website. My Jeep has AppleCar play so Gaia has been great to display a track on the Jeep screen. But with Gaia as you pointed out its not great at discovering/looking for new tracks.... What about doing an OnX subscription to "discover trails", then exporting to Gaia to display via CarPlay when actually out on the trails? I did note that Onx does not let you export from the iOS app, so it would have to be all done at home. (this past weekend the trail we planned to do was closed, trying to find/discover an alternative on the Gaia app was useless... so we gave up and went home). Thx!
The FunTrek books are awesome and you can download the GPX files from their website. I would look into a subscription to Trailsoffroad.com over an OnX subscription. They have a lot of trail and you can easily add them to your Gaia account.
I have and use both. But ON-X does not work in portrait mode on my iPad… it does but a lot of the controls disappear. Been talking to them for a year about this and they don’t seem interested in fixing it,… so Gaia it is… Seeing your version of on-x on your iPad (the same) in landscape mode, I have never seen (to this day) that lower tool bar… are you using some beta, because that’s not there on mine (latest as of this writing)
31:20 - no. You NEVER pay for freaking MAPS dude. What's WITH you people? Are you being paid to market this swill? You encourage PIRATING and FREE alternatives - you NEVER, EVER entertain even a THOUGHT of paying for MAPS ON THE INTERNET. Oh man let me talk to these guys. I want to interview every single one of you marketers who came to the internet with dollar signs in your freaking eyeballs. (This dumb youtuber keeps deleting my comment.)
I teach Gaia classes at a couple different overlanding rallies and expos. I taught 2 classes on Gaia at the MOORE expo this weekend. I recorded one of those classes and will be uploading it here soon.
Question…..Just found your channel btw. Great Content. I just checked my Gaia MVUM map on my iOS App and it shows the public FS roads. Did Gaia do an update? So my MVUM works on the app and on a desktop!
I believe OnX has a different tier paid version that will show the private land owner info. Think it was 99. Bucks you get all features plus the private land and something else. Looking at this and Gaia at the moment
On Gaia my GPS location seems to float or wander and is rarely over my actual position. OnX seems to be right on when it comes to GPS. I use Android systems, is there an issue on my end or is this common?
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures That is really my only major complaint. You hit on a lot of my pros and cons for each. I just hate recording tracks every time I am on the trail because of the floating GPS but I think Gaia is the better option. I do wish, like you said, that they would evolve the interface and data from public tracks, I like the detail and rating for populated public tracks on OnX
In android go to settings, location, improve accuracy and turn off WI-FI scanning and Bluetooth scanning. This will allow Gaia to have a direct GPS feed and stop the floating.
Your video is specific to the PC view. When downloaded off grid OnX resolution really falls short. There’s a major difference on a iPad or phone when on 4/5G or wifi compared to a cleared cache download. The comparison is not really close at all, Gaia take it all day long.
For those comparing Gaia vs OnX, don't bother with Gaia. They have their comments turned off. Which, makes me not trust that company. I have used OnX as a premium member. Even though it wasn't perfect, I have to learn more about it. You can reach out to them at any time and they will respond to you.
@@moez1774 I just went to their TH-cam channel and randomly clicked on 3 videos. All of them had comments enabled. No clue what you're talking about. Gaia is always very quick to respond through their help desk, facebook and instagram messages.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures okay, here's two of them. Now, assuming their TH-cam channel is called Gaia GPS. 1. Gaia GPS - Download Maps for Offline Use (Android). 2. Gaia GPS - Explore the Main Map. >>>>> So check those out and let me know if you have the same view. And I only came across those videos because I have an Android and so I'm trying to find Android related videos.
Gaia also supports Apple CarPlay so I can run it directly on my Tacoma's infotainment screen. Wish they could support Android Auto but I guess Google won't open the map feature to 3rd party apps.
Im using a Samsung Galaxy tab A with only 16G of memory and 2G of RAM. The tablet just doesnt have enough for onX. Would it be a problem with Gaia? Just bought the tablet and figured this out.
Excellent overview of both apps, thank you for sharing. I do have a question, I’ve been using Gaia for many years, I am finding the app to be somewhat unstable, crashes , and extremely slow, even locking up often, when downloading offline maps. I basically download 5 map layers (Gaia topo, MVUM, Private and Public Lands, and USFS Roads and Trails). My devices are the iPhone 13 Pro and iPad mini gen 5. Because of this issue, I have been dabbling with OnX but, like you pointed out, it is very simple and very limited. I have reached out to Gaia a few times but have not really received any help. Do you have any wisdom regarding my Gaia issues? I do plan the rewatch your Gaia tutorials again to see if I missed something. Thanks much!
I have used GaiaGps for years. The only thing that is a complete pain in the rear is the downloading. It takes forever. I’m talking up to a week, if not longer. And I keep the app open during all this. And if an update comes out for one of my downloaded maps, it never completes. I have deleted maps many times and started over. Very frustrating. People have complained about this in their comment section with little or no resolution.
any better alternatives? I've done some good multi day routes with gaia but holy shit trying to manage files and find downloads made me cancel my premium subscription. I got onx premium and there doesn't seem to be very much you can do.
I like GAIA better because I can store waypoints in a hierarchy of folders, ONX has only one base level of folders. I like GAIA because I can add my own text to waypoint as labels, ONX does not have that feature. Also GAIA has hundreds of waypoint symbols the user can select while ONX symbology is limited for waypoints. High resolution imagery in GAIA is clearer compared to the same high resolution imagery displayed in ONX.
Trails Offroad would be the best once they add more trails that are included on Gaia and OnX. For now, I have to use OnX for finding trails and their rate, and Gaia to navigate. Gaia is loaded with awesome information, more than we typically use, but they miss the most useful and important features, such as trail rates by vehicle type, user reviews, and pictures, and if the trail is closed or open. Once Gaia does add these features, I will drop OnX.
I don't know if it's fixed long term and it still depends on the servers of the data owners to some extent, but Gaia Topo downloads are really fast now. Even the other layers seem to be better. I downloaded 80GB over two relatively short download sessions recently.
You published one or two videos from one of your Colorado trips that included 3D animations. The animations (maybe 20 seconds each) showed the route from start to finish for that day. Did you use Gaia for this purpose or another application? (I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall that your Taylor and or Pearl Pass routes were illustrated in this fashion.) Thank you for your great content!
can you actually navigate with OnX? I'm wanting to use it for single track dirt bike riding. mark a spot and find my way out of a big area. On areas that don't actually have official trails. In your opinion would this be a good dirt bike single trail app for finding trails and for navigating? I went to a big ohv park the other day and got lost. I used my phone to find my way back but that got me to thinkng about an app like these and of corse thought of OnX because they are like you said advertising like crazy. Thanks for the video.
You sold me on the Gaia just for the land owner info… OnX off-road offers that map if you pay for their elite version, but it is $99 ! (I don’t own ether, still shopping around)
I have been looking at Gaia for about two months. Honestly there is nothing that I like about it. Maby I don't know how to use it yet, but there isn't a thing intuitive about it. at the 30,000 foot view nothing is labeled and once I zoom down on it to get labels, you can't see where you are in relation to anything else.
Thanks for such a great review. I started with Gaia, and I am just planning my first "easy~moderate" trip and found it to be very powerful except that it did not tell me about trail complexity. A fellow in a community recommended onX and I subscribed only to find this very difficult user interface with all those thick lines, and I have to zoom in very close to click on the right track to get information about it. I found onX to be very much featureless compared with Gaia except for the trail complexity information. Can you please point me to a reliable source for that one? Thanks a lot.
Do either or both of these GPS apps allow others to see where you are in real time? I ride alone 50%+ and my fam would like to be able to know where I’m at... Thanks Chris
Area shapes would ve great for highlighting an area boundary for hunt units for new hunters to an area or to even let others in your hunting party the area you will shoot anything that moves. Lol
You can share anything you want in Gaia. There is a share section if you click on the details of tracks, routes, waypoints or folders. Or you can download things as GPS files and send that way.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures Is there a source to find others trips & trails? For example, do you share the trails in the Ozarks? I would like to see some of your trips on my Gaia app. TNX
OnX is garbage for the reasons you listed and the price is an insult. For Gaia you get the whole country for the price approx $40 but for Onx , unless they have updated pricing, you have to pay for each state or about $100 for the whole country. Gaia is always updating and making their experience and features better. The combination of Gaia and Google Maps for both online and offline is a huge win.
I like gaia but the fact that the map doesn't follow you and they can't do any type or turn by turn just bugs me. I honestly use Google maps and just down load the area I'm going to be around and it works offline just fine
One thing that is a big annoyance with Gaia when working with folders is the ridiculously tedious repetition such as the example you gave making the 3 routes and the waypoint in one of your past videos. You had to one at a time manually select then enter each item in a folder. When creating a new route or waypoint, Gaia should have an option to immediately add it to a folder of your choice when you create it. Also, same thing when uploading tracks or waypoints you might find on the internet. Gaia does not allow you to tell it where to put the track. Instead you have to go find the track or waypoint that is now downloaded and once again manually add it to a folder. Secondly, Gaia makes an additional folder with the name of the track(s) you just downloaded. After entering the track into a folder of your choice you now have to track down the empty useless folder with the original name that Gaia created and delete each and every one.
This! One of the last big glaring issues for Gaia is folder and file manipulation. It should be just like a computer. I didn't think early on and my tracks and points are mixed with thousands of stuff I have downloaded. Subfolders are pointless if you cant batch move things into them. I have hundreds of things in a folder I need to move but can only move ONE thing at a time.
I'm just starting to get into this, and this video did not answer a single question. For example, how does one actually navigate using one if these apps? Is it ourselves by visual, thus having to read an impossible see phone display in full sun? Or do they, like Google Maps, give turn by turn instructions. I learned from this video that I can print maps from one of these apps. WTF am I going to do with a printed map? Duct tape it to my motorcycle handlebars??? No: this video assumes pre existing familiarity with off-road GPS navigation, and launches directly into the secondary and tertiary features, which at the moment I care for not at all, whatsoever. First, show me how you use it to get around. I'll worry about exporting files, and printing maps, a couple years later.
"...Gaia GPS Vs OnX Offroad - which is the best ..." Oops, it should read "which is better." Recall your grammar school grammar class, they taught the proper use on good, better, best. When comparing two item always use better, you are comparing two the Gaia GPS Vs OnX, Only when comparing three or more items use best.
OnX doesn’t do sh!t on CarPlay. Basically just a paper map on your dash. That’s it. Nothing more. Actually worse! Paper maps have names and a scale so you at least use your fingers to estimate distance OnX ? No route info. No waypoint info. No navigation. Not even a scale!! What’s the name of that trail or waypoint? Is it a mile away? 100 miles away? If OnX knows, it ain’t tellin ya!! Just a map with a bunch of lines on it that you can zoom in/out with no clue to the scale. Definitely would NOT recommend
OnX must've watched this video and listen to this guy. All cons that he has expressed for OnX are now changed, fantastic app. You made a B- App and made it in to a A. Thanks! FYI still very simple to use still.
I'll have to check it out again. Thanks!
Not sure what version you got. My OnX doesn’t do sh!t on CarPlay. Basically just a paper map on your dash. That’s it. Nothing more.
No route info. No waypoint info. No navigation. Not even a scale!! How far away is that unnamed trail? If OnX knows, it ain’t sayin.
Just a map with a bunch of lines on it that you can zoom in/out. That’s it.
Definitely would NOT recommend
@@figmojustfigmo3820 we’ve been making our own maps for over a year now. We use it off line when we’re out on the trails never had any problems. Whats good for some may not be good for others. You may want to look into how to create your own maps for off-line mode. Best of luck.
@@busybody4427 You make it sound like creating your own maps is some “value added feature” when really it’s the ONLY way to even use the OnX system with CarPlay.
In fact - there is no other way to plan routes using OnX with CarPlay. So everybody MUST create your own map in advance to even get the piss poor use out of it that they have to offer.
the problem is that the maps you create are useless.
No scale. No way to tell how far away anything is. Is your next turn a mile away? 10 miles away? 100 miles away? You can’t know.
No names. Even when you give your waypoints and routes names during the map creation process - all that info is stripped from the CarPlay screen. Oh look - there’s a road on your right. Is it FS road #24? Is that waypoint on the screen for “Naked Hot Springs”? You can’t know.
So all you’ve got on your screen is a topo map with a bunch of squiggly lines on it and no way to know what they are, how long they are or how far away they are.
Worse than using a paper topo map. At least that has scale and names.
Any value that OnX normally brings to the table is stripped away by their CarPlay interface.
Someday in the future, if they ever invest the money into improving the CarPlay interface to where it is even HALF as useful as their web interface then I’d say “buy OnX”. Until then? Well…unless you’re one of those guys who pisses away money on subscriptions you never use and really can’t use even if you wanted to - AVOID OnX!!!
(I bought a year and got f’d)
I use mainly On X Hunt vs the Off Road because it shows land area ownership. note; once you save an off line map in On X, You can zoom in on the area within that map and get the fine detail of the area same as it would be online. I have and pay for both services Gaia and On X, as sometimes I like the simple interface of On X when out in the field, it is also a lot easier to follow for a new navigator. sometimes less is more. Thanks for the comparison.
You can see land ownership with Off Road now but it does cost a higher premium per year. $100.
Gaia is like Android. You can do all kinds of customization you just have to take the time to learn. While Onyx is like Apple, simple with a couple things to shine.
We're in Texas and i just got Gaia and this is all new to us, so this was super helpful! we spend a lot of time in the Ozarks, i think i've seen your Jeep!
Glad it was helpful!
I have been debating this for like 6 months...thank you for the video
Thanks for the rundown and feedback! I go back and forth between the two for my needs and what OS to use.
Hopefully this helped. Thanks!
Great summary. I have been out of the Onx loop for awhile so I was curious. To me Gaia has tons they can improve on in an incredibly powerful tool and Onx has almost nothing except simplicity. For serious open ended exploring of large areas off grid it's not even close. Gaia is clearly better. I also fail to understand the people that complain about subscription fees and then spend 10-16 years worth of sub fees on a device like a Garmin Overlander running hardware that is low spec and obsolete from the moment you buy it.
100% agree!!!
Thanks! I was considering Onx Offroad. Very helpful comparison. I agree that the Gaia user interface can be intimidating, but your previous Gaia tutorials were very helpful; I highly recommend those to your viewers.
Thanks so much for that!!
Points are all great. I am a ONx user because they actually have updated STATE forest roads listed in Michigan. Gaia has struggled with this. National is listed fine, but Michigan has a ton of state land too. But the ONx frustrations you mentioned I have too. I feel like those are all items that will improve with time as they continue to grow.
Hopefully both companies can learn from each other.
What do you think now? I think it's even better yet now..
Thanks for doing this comparison, I never looked at OnX (did hear about it) but after watching this I now know I don't need to bother. I will stick with Gaia.
Nice review. As a CAD user I can really appreciate Gaia, but there is also something to be said for simplicity. I use them both.
Excellent comparison. I am a Gaia user primarily for the map choices and your video answered all my questions about On X Off-road. Thank you.
Really great comparison, thanks. I have found at times it’s easy to get bogged down in the complexity of Gaia, but it’s a really powerful planning tool. I’ve been using Gaia for maybe 5-10 years.
And to add, I agree that the icons leave something to be desired in Gaia. The search can be sketchy at times also.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks!!
Great overview. We use Gaia with Apple Car play in our Jeep so we do have to have any dash mounts.
Thanks. I forgot to mention CarPlay.
That’s the reason I’m not using OnX
Got the Onx hunt for Arizona and Love it, No Hassle and My time is Free. Time to Move on to The Outdoors, Plug and Play Vs a Life time of Desk work. $50 brand new on Ebay Later Dude.
Thanks for the review of both. I have been using Gaia. What I would like one of these companies to do would be to give us the ability to magnify the view so as to enlarge the trail lines and names instead of having them shrink back down to their default size as you zoom in. Riding off road and bouncing around I am unable to get a good view of the information. All that I can see is if I am still on track. I am 65 and wear glasses for distance and that doesn’t help seeing the map. I would buy a iPad instead of using my iPhone 14 MAX if I thought it would help but it’s still the same size when it comes to the trails and names.
This helped me make my mind up! Thanks for the great video buddy
Glad I could help!
An area might be useful for organizating from a visual perspective. You draw an area and call it "Weekend fun" and all the lines within are what you have planned for the weekend. Just a thought.
Nice job! The area draw is mainly used to draw out the boundary for and area and it will measure said area. Kinda like measuring square miles if you will.
That makes sense. Gaia has an area feature too but they do it different.
I need to watch more of your videos on gaia, as I can't seem to fully figure it out, at least from my phone, not sure if a tablet or actual computer would make it easier, as it seems there are more options than what I can find on my phone, and I do have the paid subscription.
Gaia definitely has somethings the mobile app can do better and some things the web browser can do better.
Public Tracks are on the web and mobile versions of Gaia
Correct. But they weren't at the time of this video being recorded.
Appreciate the review. Well done! If you do enter new route information, please include a comment re: if it's appropriate for a full size truck vs. Jeep (e.g. width/wheelbase concerns). All high clearance vehicles not created equal. Had some issues with this finding routes in Moab area and needed to rely on locals (good thing anyway).
Good advice. I need to get batter at this.
Great review and comparison. I love Gaia and you've convinced me that its working just fine. I love the huge array of layers for different needs. I use it for hiking, mountain biking, and dual sport / atv riding and find myself using different maps depending on the activity. Not sure if OnX is as widely used internationally or is just USA centric, but I know Gaia has many different map layers available for the Globe. The Backroad Mapbooks layer for Canada is amazing and offline is a must since cell service is limited away from major highways so download of maps is a major priority.
31:20 - no. You NEVER pay for freaking MAPS dude. What's WITH you people? Are you being paid to market this swill? You encourage PIRATING and FREE alternatives - you NEVER, EVER entertain even a THOUGHT of paying for MAPS ON THE INTERNET.
Oh man let me talk to these guys. I want to interview every single one of you marketers who came to the internet with dollar signs in your freaking eyeballs.
(This dumb youtuber keeps deleting my comment.)
Another big advantage to Gaia is CarPlay, which I use all the time.
Gaia has public tracks in app. Click layers then map overlay and toggle public tracks. Also at the bottom of the app there is a discover icon which list a more curated list of tracks, hikes etc.
Yep. That's a new feature since this video was made.
Thank you. I am all about simple and easy to use. OnX it is. Thanks!
thank you for doing this, my son and I are planning our first overland trip from OK to NM first of May and intend to be on off road trails in southern NM. We will be using the Gaia GPS. We faithfully watch your videos and really enjoy all the trails you explore. I am excited to make the trip, I am using a walker so my son drives, I get to run the photography side. I had the same idea of using a topo skin on my gecko JKU, where did you get yours? I have a zillion questions but will close. Enjoy your day, its a gift.
The area shapes function is especially useful, as Eddy Gray points out, for creating boundaries. This is useful for marking, as Eddie points out, restricted areas, but also for marking out an area you have specific permission to be located in. For example: If I where wheeling (or more likely hiking or hunting) on a portion of private land with permission, I could mark the boundary area and easily at a glance know where I was in relation to those borders, such as if a land owner said "Yeah. You can hunt east of (fictional) Buzzards Creek" I would go in and set a boundary along his property line and following the creek, then I would know the difference between buzzards creek and beaver creek instantly while following a trail.
It could also be used to mark areas that have known dangers. This year I hunted in a WMA that the local warden warned me of mountain lion sightings in one area of the WMA, which since I was ground hunting with a blind was good to know, but the best we could do was draw the area out on my paper map of the area.
Likewise it can be used say for example if you where going to be wheeling in an area that someone you knew was familiar with, they could sent you a map marked with areas where you could get some great drone footage by marking an area you would want to fly your drone so you did not miss the incredible view/footage that could not be seen from the trail. Or if I where to go canoeing in the Adirondacks this summer as I hope to, someone could point me to good clusters of lakes easily allowing me to focus my search and planning. In theory one could even use a function like the area shapes to mark "the map is wrong in this area, the area is not meadows, it is muskegs".
Thats when I would have the private land layer active so I could see those boundaries and even have info about the land owner.
Thank you for this comparison video
New release of Gaia has weather. pretty nice!
Gaia has had weather layers for a while now.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures
July 2022 release notes- has the same weather forecasting functionality you mentioned as a pro for On X. Click any area on the map for current and 3 day
@@billt2352 Yes it has definitely gotten better!
Are any of these apps really effective and detailed for canada?
Are both of these systems as good in Canada?
So what your saying is to use both.
Just attempted to transition from combining Gaia & Trails Offroad for planning, hoping to just have one subscription with OnX having trail info like Trails Offroad (so everything I need in one app, instead of bouncing between two).
I do like the simplicity of OnX, but the deal breaker for me is routing. I love how Gaia snaps a route instantly between two waypoints, where I have to manually draw a line to make an entire route in OnX. That’s a major pain, and time consuming, for longer trips.
If OnX eventually integrates better routing features like that, and refined its trail filtering/organization as you mentioned it would be a contender. For now, Gaia is for me.
I do believe ONX has snap able routing as well as long as the trail is there.
Also on the OnX if you go to “rides” and uncheck the ATV/UTV it should filter those trails off the map. I agree it’s nice to just see them in GaiaGPS, but this will help remove those.
True. I didn't mention that in the video.
Where can I find that hoodie?
Hi. I am a new Premium GAIA user. I am having trouble.
I started a new track. At one point I "paused" the hike since I was picking up something at the store. Once I went back outside I restarted it (technically speaking I unpaused it}. Once I finished I saved it to the GAIA cloud since I am a new PREMIUM user.
So, on my phone it appears complete with total mileage and time. When I go to view the route on my PC it only shows the route up to the point I set it to "Paused"?? What happened here??
TIA everyone.
Hi sorry to say it get your money back Ozark off road is sold out it's for hiking not for offroading.
Area tool... This is useful setting up zones to stay out of. For those that play in the sand down in the Glamis Dunes, there are areas that are nature preserves that carry big fines for violating. You can set up exclusion zones on your maps to avoid these areas.
Thanks for the great comparison! Have you used or have any thoughts/opinons on All Trails or Trails Offroad?
for a newbie, what is a "public track"? Are all the other routes/tracks/dirt roads "private tracks" on private property?
do either of them have the ability to adjust "on the fly" for road closures? Especially when you're somewhere with no signal and need to adjust the route?
Question, OnXoffroad came as part of my purchase w/ my Sahara. It does a few of the things you said it didn't do (like landowners info). Have you done any recent comparisons? BTW, so appreciate all the different videos and viewpoints you and Cara produce! :)
You can get the private land info now with the higher priced subscription. thanks!
Question: @29:18 you were saying Gaia GPS only had (Public Tracks) in the web browser but not the app version.
Could one export a public track from web browser to the app, in advance of their trip for offline viewing?
Yes.
If you click in the details of a public track you can actually add it your routes from there. No need to download it and then upload it.
How do I get that sweatshirt?
I just did part of the WBDR with ONX. Even though it technically worked, I can’t say I like it. It felt rough and under developed with clunky features. I think it has potential but needs some polishing and some extra features like an easier to use offline map download function. If you want a high definition map section it forces you to use a very small viewing window which makes downloading multiple parts of a large map section difficult and frustrating.
Thoughts? I just got a Jeep and moved to Denver, so I don't really know what's available/where to go offroading. So far i have been using the Funtreks books and TrailDamage website. My Jeep has AppleCar play so Gaia has been great to display a track on the Jeep screen. But with Gaia as you pointed out its not great at discovering/looking for new tracks.... What about doing an OnX subscription to "discover trails", then exporting to Gaia to display via CarPlay when actually out on the trails? I did note that Onx does not let you export from the iOS app, so it would have to be all done at home. (this past weekend the trail we planned to do was closed, trying to find/discover an alternative on the Gaia app was useless... so we gave up and went home). Thx!
The FunTrek books are awesome and you can download the GPX files from their website. I would look into a subscription to Trailsoffroad.com over an OnX subscription. They have a lot of trail and you can easily add them to your Gaia account.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures Thx! I did find Trailsoffroad.com after your video, great resource!
I have and use both. But ON-X does not work in portrait mode on my iPad… it does but a lot of the controls disappear. Been talking to them for a year about this and they don’t seem interested in fixing it,… so Gaia it is…
Seeing your version of on-x on your iPad (the same) in landscape mode, I have never seen (to this day) that lower tool bar… are you using some beta, because that’s not there on mine (latest as of this writing)
31:20 - no. You NEVER pay for freaking MAPS dude. What's WITH you people? Are you being paid to market this swill? You encourage PIRATING and FREE alternatives - you NEVER, EVER entertain even a THOUGHT of paying for MAPS ON THE INTERNET.
Oh man let me talk to these guys. I want to interview every single one of you marketers who came to the internet with dollar signs in your freaking eyeballs.
(This dumb youtuber keeps deleting my comment.)
I'm not very tech savvy but I will give Gaia a best effort and watch your previous tutorials. You mention you teach Gaia? Online classes?
I teach Gaia classes at a couple different overlanding rallies and expos. I taught 2 classes on Gaia at the MOORE expo this weekend. I recorded one of those classes and will be uploading it here soon.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures OK I will be ready for that one too! I see you use an Ipad, is that the way to go?
Like the simplicity of oNx. How reliable is it?
Seems to be really stabile
Question: Gaia seems to allow seeing public tracks on the tablet (not just web browser). Can you or anyone confirm? Thank you.
I see them on my phone now they might’ve updated it
Question…..Just found your channel btw. Great Content. I just checked my Gaia MVUM map on my iOS App and it shows the public FS roads. Did Gaia do an update? So my MVUM works on the app and on a desktop!
Yes, Gaia has updated the mobile app to show public tracks. Your MVUM layer has always worked.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures thank you for the reply. I must’ve miss understood your video. Subscribed
@@aaronchandler152 Feel free to ask any questions you have. I have other Gaia tutorials as well.
I believe OnX has a different tier paid version that will show the private land owner info.
Think it was 99. Bucks you get all features plus the private land and something else. Looking at this and Gaia at the moment
On Gaia my GPS location seems to float or wander and is rarely over my actual position. OnX seems to be right on when it comes to GPS. I use Android systems, is there an issue on my end or is this common?
That's not uncommon for android users. I've seen that complaint before. Those of us on iOS don't have that issue.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures That is really my only major complaint. You hit on a lot of my pros and cons for each. I just hate recording tracks every time I am on the trail because of the floating GPS but I think Gaia is the better option. I do wish, like you said, that they would evolve the interface and data from public tracks, I like the detail and rating for populated public tracks on OnX
In android go to settings, location, improve accuracy and turn off WI-FI scanning and Bluetooth scanning. This will allow Gaia to have a direct GPS feed and stop the floating.
@@pparnell7385 thank you!
What about your navigation system, such as Glo 2, Dual, Bad Elf… what are you using ?
iPhone
They both have pros and cons..I had to go with oNx bc of the user friendly .
Yes they do.
My version (purchased) of onX Offroad does give you private land information. Land owner, property size
They may have updated that since this video was made.
So, Once you "plot" a route and waypoints, how do you follow it?????
How do you show the mvum overlay on the Gaia mobile app?
Click the layers button then click add layer. You'll find it in the weather and features overlay section. Make sure it's on top.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures ok. On mobile you press on the tab sign to the right of the overlay and drag it to the top.
Your video is specific to the PC view. When downloaded off grid OnX resolution really falls short. There’s a major difference on a iPad or phone when on 4/5G or wifi compared to a cleared cache download. The comparison is not really close at all, Gaia take it all day long.
I hate OnX’s maps!! They are horrible.
Looks like this video was made 2+ years ago now. In that time have there been any changes to either app that would change your pro/con list?
Gaia released a new layer called the Gaia Overland Layer that is the best map I've ever used. It pushes Gaia even further ahead.
For those comparing Gaia vs OnX, don't bother with Gaia. They have their comments turned off. Which, makes me not trust that company. I have used OnX as a premium member. Even though it wasn't perfect, I have to learn more about it. You can reach out to them at any time and they will respond to you.
comments turned off where?
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures I'm taking about the Gaia channel videos on their TH-cam channel. Most of their videos have the comments turned off.
@@moez1774 I just went to their TH-cam channel and randomly clicked on 3 videos. All of them had comments enabled. No clue what you're talking about. Gaia is always very quick to respond through their help desk, facebook and instagram messages.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures okay, here's two of them. Now, assuming their TH-cam channel is called Gaia GPS. 1. Gaia GPS - Download Maps for Offline Use (Android).
2. Gaia GPS - Explore the Main Map.
>>>>> So check those out and let me know if you have the same view. And I only came across those videos because I have an Android and so I'm trying to find Android related videos.
@@moez1774 Those videos are 4 years old.
Gaia also supports Apple CarPlay so I can run it directly on my Tacoma's infotainment screen.
Wish they could support Android Auto but I guess Google won't open the map feature to 3rd party apps.
Yeah I totally forgot to mention Car Play since my Jeep doesn’t have it. My wife’s grand Cherokee does and it is very handy!
Came here to say same. Gaia supports CarPlay and it appears X-road does not.
Im using a Samsung Galaxy tab A with only 16G of memory and 2G of RAM. The tablet just doesnt have enough for onX. Would it be a problem with Gaia? Just bought the tablet and figured this out.
It will probably depend on how many layers you are trying to use in Gaia.
Excellent overview of both apps, thank you for sharing. I do have a question, I’ve been using Gaia for many years, I am finding the app to be somewhat unstable, crashes , and extremely slow, even locking up often, when downloading offline maps. I basically download 5 map layers (Gaia topo, MVUM, Private and Public Lands, and USFS Roads and Trails). My devices are the iPhone 13 Pro and iPad mini gen 5. Because of this issue, I have been dabbling with OnX but, like you pointed out, it is very simple and very limited. I have reached out to Gaia a few times but have not really received any help. Do you have any wisdom regarding my Gaia issues? I do plan the rewatch your Gaia tutorials again to see if I missed something. Thanks much!
I have used GaiaGps for years. The only thing that is a complete pain in the rear is the downloading. It takes forever. I’m talking up to a week, if not longer. And I keep the app open during all this. And if an update comes out for one of my downloaded maps, it never completes. I have deleted maps many times and started over. Very frustrating. People have complained about this in their comment section with little or no resolution.
Great video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks Bret
any better alternatives? I've done some good multi day routes with gaia but holy shit trying to manage files and find downloads made me cancel my premium subscription. I got onx premium and there doesn't seem to be very much you can do.
I like GAIA better because I can store waypoints in a hierarchy of folders, ONX has only one base level of folders. I like GAIA because I can add my own text to waypoint as labels, ONX does not have that feature. Also GAIA has hundreds of waypoint symbols the user can select while ONX symbology is limited for waypoints. High resolution imagery in GAIA is clearer compared to the same high resolution imagery displayed in ONX.
Anything like this for a galaxy watch 4
Trails Offroad would be the best once they add more trails that are included on Gaia and OnX. For now, I have to use OnX for finding trails and their rate, and Gaia to navigate. Gaia is loaded with awesome information, more than we typically use, but they miss the most useful and important features, such as trail rates by vehicle type, user reviews, and pictures, and if the trail is closed or open. Once Gaia does add these features, I will drop OnX.
Good vid Matt. Thanks
Very welcome! Thanks!
Oklahoma wildlife management is offering 20% off on x
Area shapes may help you stay out of restricted zones or state line boundaries where your cargo could be illegal
I love GAIA, but my biggest con is the slow downloads when I am downloading maps for off line use.
Yeah that’s gonna depend on what layers you have selected for your download.
I don't know if it's fixed long term and it still depends on the servers of the data owners to some extent, but Gaia Topo downloads are really fast now. Even the other layers seem to be better. I downloaded 80GB over two relatively short download sessions recently.
@@jeep6242 that’s awesome!!
Haven't tried OnX yet but Gaia is just too manual for me. I don't want to spend hours ahead of time drawing out a route.
You published one or two videos from one of your Colorado trips that included 3D animations. The animations (maybe 20 seconds each) showed the route from start to finish for that day. Did you use Gaia for this purpose or another application? (I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall that your Taylor and or Pearl Pass routes were illustrated in this fashion.) Thank you for your great content!
That's an app called Relive. It's pretty cool.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures Thanks. Just downloaded it.
Update with dyrt pro? 🤷♂️😁
Dyrt is for finding campsites. Not offroad navigation
can you actually navigate with OnX? I'm wanting to use it for single track dirt bike riding. mark a spot and find my way out of a big area. On areas that don't actually have official trails. In your opinion would this be a good dirt bike single trail app for finding trails and for navigating? I went to a big ohv park the other day and got lost. I used my phone to find my way back but that got me to thinkng about an app like these and of corse thought of OnX because they are like you said advertising like crazy. Thanks for the video.
You can definitely navigate with OnX.
Can you import and export between GAIA and OnX?
Yes since both will import and export GPX files.
Do people use .gpx or .kml more often? Any reason to choose one file type over the other?
GPX seems to be the most popular. I don't see people sharing KML files much.
You sold me on the Gaia just for the land owner info…
OnX off-road offers that map if you pay for their elite version, but it is $99 !
(I don’t own ether, still shopping around)
I have been looking at Gaia for about two months. Honestly there is nothing that I like about it. Maby I don't know how to use it yet, but there isn't a thing intuitive about it. at the 30,000 foot view nothing is labeled and once I zoom down on it to get labels, you can't see where you are in relation to anything else.
OnX may be a good option for you.
Thanks for such a great review. I started with Gaia, and I am just planning my first "easy~moderate" trip and found it to be very powerful except that it did not tell me about trail complexity. A fellow in a community recommended onX and I subscribed only to find this very difficult user interface with all those thick lines, and I have to zoom in very close to click on the right track to get information about it. I found onX to be very much featureless compared with Gaia except for the trail complexity information. Can you please point me to a reliable source for that one? Thanks a lot.
I wish I was paid to say this. 😂
Nice presentation
Thanks a lot!!
how do i see your Ozark adventure map?
You download it from the video descriptions on TH-cam then upload it to Gaia.
Do either or both of these GPS apps allow others to see where you are in real time? I ride alone 50%+ and my fam would like to be able to know where I’m at...
Thanks
Chris
No they don't. For that you need something like a Garmin InReach.
An option would be to get your basic ham radio license, then a vehicle APRS setup.
Avena app
If you are only using gia mobile apps is it worth it for premium?
Definitely!! It's worth it to have all the map options.
Area shapes would ve great for highlighting an area boundary for hunt units for new hunters to an area or to even let others in your hunting party the area you will shoot anything that moves. Lol
Is there a place on the Interenet to share Gaia trips with other users? TNX
You can share anything you want in Gaia. There is a share section if you click on the details of tracks, routes, waypoints or folders. Or you can download things as GPS files and send that way.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures Is there a source to find others trips & trails? For example, do you share the trails in the Ozarks? I would like to see some of your trips on my Gaia app. TNX
@@BretChilcott I share all my trips and waypoints through Patreon to our supporters.
@@OzarkOverlandAdventures OK This is great to know! I will support you through Patreon to access the waypoints. Keep up the great videos!
OnX is garbage for the reasons you listed and the price is an insult. For Gaia you get the whole country for the price approx $40 but for Onx , unless they have updated pricing, you have to pay for each state or about $100 for the whole country. Gaia is always updating and making their experience and features better. The combination of Gaia and Google Maps for both online and offline is a huge win.
Totally agree!
I like gaia but the fact that the map doesn't follow you and they can't do any type or turn by turn just bugs me. I honestly use Google maps and just down load the area I'm going to be around and it works offline just fine
The map can follow you in Gaia. And Google doesn't have a lot of the trails.
I like OnX, but you have me sold on Gaia
Glad I could help.
One thing that is a big annoyance with Gaia when working with folders is the ridiculously tedious repetition such as the example you gave making the 3 routes and the waypoint in one of your past videos. You had to one at a time manually select then enter each item in a folder. When creating a new route or waypoint, Gaia should have an option to immediately add it to a folder of your choice when you create it. Also, same thing when uploading tracks or waypoints you might find on the internet. Gaia does not allow you to tell it where to put the track. Instead you have to go find the track or waypoint that is now downloaded and once again manually add it to a folder. Secondly, Gaia makes an additional folder with the name of the track(s) you just downloaded. After entering the track into a folder of your choice you now have to track down the empty useless folder with the original name that Gaia created and delete each and every one.
It would be handy to be able to select multiple things to add them to a folder.
This! One of the last big glaring issues for Gaia is folder and file manipulation. It should be just like a computer. I didn't think early on and my tracks and points are mixed with thousands of stuff I have downloaded. Subfolders are pointless if you cant batch move things into them. I have hundreds of things in a folder I need to move but can only move ONE thing at a time.
onX now has public lands info for $100 a year.
WHOA!!! That's crazy.
I'm just starting to get into this, and this video did not answer a single question. For example, how does one actually navigate using one if these apps? Is it ourselves by visual, thus having to read an impossible see phone display in full sun? Or do they, like Google Maps, give turn by turn instructions. I learned from this video that I can print maps from one of these apps. WTF am I going to do with a printed map? Duct tape it to my motorcycle handlebars??? No: this video assumes pre existing familiarity with off-road GPS navigation, and launches directly into the secondary and tertiary features, which at the moment I care for not at all, whatsoever. First, show me how you use it to get around. I'll worry about exporting files, and printing maps, a couple years later.
You are presenting a lot of info, but your voice levels are uneven, thereby making it harder to hear it all.
Yeah I've fixed that in future videos
This is for. You ozark dude wtf i jave watched you for months how dear you fool us like this .
Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about. lol
This app is not for jeeping dont buyit its for hiking dont be fooled he is paying his bills with this
There’s two apps here. Which one are you referring to?
"...Gaia GPS Vs OnX Offroad - which is the best ..." Oops, it should read "which is better." Recall your grammar school grammar class, they taught the proper use on good, better, best. When comparing two item always use better, you are comparing two the Gaia GPS Vs OnX, Only when comparing three or more items use best.
I bet you just feel super awesome right now. 😂😂🤦🏼♂️
OnX doesn’t do sh!t on CarPlay.
Basically just a paper map on your dash. That’s it. Nothing more. Actually worse! Paper maps have names and a scale so you at least use your fingers to estimate distance
OnX ? No route info. No waypoint info. No navigation. Not even a scale!!
What’s the name of that trail or waypoint? Is it a mile away? 100 miles away?
If OnX knows, it ain’t tellin ya!!
Just a map with a bunch of lines on it that you can zoom in/out with no clue to the scale.
Definitely would NOT recommend
Talk about being bias!
How is stating facts biased? That’s not how it works. 😂🤦🏼♂️