Looking for an OS Maps Alternative? Why HiiKER Goes Further

If you’ve landed here, you’re probably an OS Maps subscriber wondering whether you’re getting enough for your money — or a new hiker trying to figure out which app to actually pay for. Either way, this is the fair version of the comparison, written by the people who build HiiKER.

Short answer: HiiKER is the better app for hiking in the UK. Same OS Explorer and Landranger maps, plus Harvey, in-app historical mapping, a real Apple Watch app (with maps on the watch) and a richer points-of-interest layer — all for £5 less a year. The moment you cross into the Republic of Ireland, OS Maps stops working. HiiKER keeps going.

Here’s the longer version.

The quick comparison

HiiKER Premium OS Maps Premium

Annual price £29.99 £34.99

OS Explorer (1:25k)

OS Landranger (1:50k)

Harvey Maps

OSi (Republic of Ireland)

EastWest Mapping

Purple Lizard

Historical maps (in-app) Wide coverage Paper only

Points of interest layer Limited

3D route preview

Offline downloads

GPS recording

Apple Watch app Limited

Curated trails (worldwide) GB routes only

Global topo (US / AUS / NZ)

Credit where it’s due

OS Maps is built by Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency that’s been surveying Britain for over 220 years. The cartography is canonical — when someone talks about “the map” of a British hill, they almost always mean OS Explorer. They’ve earned their reputation, and their app is a perfectly functional way to look at OS maps on your phone.

The question isn’t whether OS cartography is good. It’s whether the OS Maps app is the best place to use it. We don’t think it is — and not just because we’re biased. Here’s why.

Where HiiKER goes further

1. Same OS maps, plus the cartographies serious UK hill walkers actually want

This is the bit most people miss. HiiKER licenses OS Explorer and OS Landranger directly from Ordnance Survey. The same maps you’re paying £34.99 for are included in HiiKER’s £29.99 subscription. You don’t lose anything by switching.

What you gain are the cartographies OS Maps doesn’t offer — and for upland Britain, they matter:

• Harvey Maps — the gold standard for upland walkers. Harvey’s Superwalker and British Mountain Map series strip out the visual clutter and emphasise terrain, paths and access. Many of the most experienced hill walkers in Britain prefer Harvey to OS for navigation on the hill. Not having them in your app is a real limitation if you take mountain walking seriously.
• Purple Lizard — beautifully designed maps for specific UK regions, particularly the Peak District. Favoured by mountain bikers, fell runners and anyone who wants a more usable map for their patch.
• EastWest Mapping — high-quality 1:25k coverage of upland areas across the British Isles, including the Mournes in Northern Ireland.

You can switch between any of them in the same app, on the same route, depending on what you’re doing.

2. Cross-border walking — actually works

OS Maps covers Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It does not cover the Republic of Ireland.

If you walk the Mourne Wall and then drive down to the Cooley Peninsula for a day, OS Maps stops at the border. If you’re working the Wicklow Way, the Kerry Way, or the Beara-Breifne, OS Maps isn’t an option at all.

HiiKER includes OSi (Ordnance Survey Ireland) topographic mapping for the whole island, plus EastWest for the Irish uplands (Wicklow, MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, the Galtees). You get one app for Britain and Ireland — useful for anyone living near the border, anyone tackling Ireland’s long-distance trails, and anyone who fancies a weekend in the Wicklow Mountains without learning a second app.

3. A historical map archive that’s actually in the app

This is one of HiiKER’s most loved features and it’s worth being specific about it. OS sells historical maps as physical paper products in their shop — beautiful, but not what you want on your phone halfway up a hill. They’re not in the OS Maps app.

HiiKER includes a wide historical archive directly as a map layer — switch to it from any view and see the landscape as it was in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Coverage extends well beyond what OS sells in print, and users genuinely love it: tracing lost paths, finding the remains of old railway lines, working out why a footpath bends where it does, or just enjoying the cartography of a different era while standing in the same spot. It’s the kind of feature you don’t know you want until you’ve used it for ten minutes — then you can’t believe other apps don’t have it.

4. Points of interest where you actually need them

HiiKER’s POI layer surfaces what hikers actually want to know — trailheads, peaks, bothies, water sources, parking, viewpoints — overlaid on whichever cartography you’re using. OS Maps has some of this baked into the OS cartography itself, but HiiKER’s POI layer is richer, more hiker-specific, and works consistently across every map layer.

5. 3D route preview

Both apps have 3D. OS Maps has put a lot of marketing into theirs, and it’s good. HiiKER’s 3D route preview lets you fly through any route before stepping out the door, see the gradients in context, and get a feel for the terrain — particularly useful on mountain routes where the contour lines on a flat map don’t quite convey what you’re walking into.

6. Curated trails, not just routes

OS Maps’ route library is large but it’s mostly user-uploaded routes within Great Britain. HiiKER focuses on curated long-distance trails worldwide — the Camino de Santiago, the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Wicklow Way, the West Highland Way, the Appalachian Trail. Each comes with stage breakdowns, elevation profiles, accommodation options and the route data downloaded for offline use.

If your hiking ambitions extend beyond day-walks in the home counties, HiiKER is built for the kind of trip planning OS Maps isn’t really designed for.

7. Apple Watch — actually a hiking watch

HiiKER’s Apple Watch app shows you a full map on your wrist with your GPS position, lets you record a track, and gives you trailhead proximity notifications. It’s a proper companion app rather than an afterthought — which matters if you’ve ever tried to dig your phone out of a waterproof pocket in horizontal rain on a Welsh ridge.

8. £5 cheaper, every year

HiiKER Premium is £29.99/year (with discount available to 14.99 for the first year) OS Maps Premium is £34.99/year. You’re getting more for less. That doesn’t usually happen.

A few things OS Maps still does that HiiKER doesn’t

To be fair:

• Augmented reality peak identification. Point your phone at a skyline and OS Maps will name the peaks. A fun feature; not core to navigation.
• Print-on-demand of custom paper maps. OS sells physical printed versions of any area you choose, bundled with the subscription. HiiKER is digital-only.
• Going directly to Ordnance Survey. If you’d rather your subscription money went straight to the national mapping agency, that’s a reasonable position. HiiKER licenses from OS, but we’re a small independent Irish company, not a public institution.

Who should pick what

Stick with OS Maps if:

• You specifically want AR peak identification
• You want print-on-demand custom paper maps bundled with your subscription
• You want your subscription money going directly to Ordnance Survey on principle

Switch to HiiKER if you’re anyone else. Particularly if:

• You walk in upland Britain and want Harvey alongside OS
• You ride or run in the Peak District and want Purple Lizard
• You ever cross into the Republic of Ireland
• You love historical maps and want them in the app, not in a frame
• You use an Apple Watch on the hill
• You’d rather pay £29.99 than £34.99 — and get more, not less

Try it without committing

HiiKER has a free tier you can use indefinitely, and Premium comes with a free trial. Download it for iOS, Android, or use it on the web. Try Harvey on a hill walk this weekend and see for yourself.

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Paul Finlay is the founder of HiiKER. We license OS, Harvey, OSi, EastWest, Purple Lizard and historical mapping directly from the publishers, and the views in this post are our own.