Footpath review

Footpath does one job very well: you trace a line on the map with your finger and it snaps to trails and roads, then shows distance and a color-coded elevation and slope profile. That makes it the quickest way to answer how far and how steep before a hike. The free Basic plan creates routes, syncs them across devices and saves up to five. Footpath Elite, $23.90 a year or $1.99 a month billed annually after a 7-day trial, adds unlimited saved routes, premium topo maps such as Footpath Topo, USGS, OS and IGN, 3D terrain, offline map downloads, cue sheets, offline turn-by-turn voice navigation, PDF map printing and export to Apple Watch, Garmin, Wahoo, Coros and Suunto. It also logs GPS activities. What it lacks is discovery: there is no trail catalog or community reviews, so you need to know the area or pair it with another app.

Who it is for

Hikers and trail runners who want to sketch custom routes quickly and see the climbing involved.

Price

Free Basic plan with up to 5 saved routes; Footpath Elite $23.90 a year ($1.99 per month billed annually); 7-day free trial.

Footpath Elite $23.90 / yr $1.99/month, billed annually
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 8, 2026.

Key features

• Snap-to-map route creation by tracing with a finger
• Color-coded elevation and slope analysis
• Elite adds premium topo maps such as USGS, OS and IGN, plus offline downloads
• Turn-by-turn voice navigation, cue sheets and offline audio navigation
• Export routes to Apple Watch, Garmin, Wahoo, Coros and Suunto

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Fastest way to draw a custom route of any app here
• Strength: Elite costs $23.90 a year
• Strength: Works across iOS, Android and the web on one subscription
• Weakness: No trail database or reviews to browse
• Weakness: Free plan saves only 5 routes and lacks offline maps
• Weakness: Fewer safety and conditions layers than backcountry apps

Key facts

• Free plan: Yes, 5 saved routes
• Elite: $23.90/yr
• Free trial: 7 days
• Exports: Apple Watch, Garmin, Wahoo, Coros, Suunto
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web

Where it ranks

Footpath is No. 6 in our Best Hiking Apps verdict.