Mapstr vs Mapcove
- Mapstr is a map with a social streak: follow friends, share your map, discover through other people.
- Mapcove is a private atlas: no feeds, no followers, just your places, organised your way, working offline.
- Switching is built in: Mapcove imports your Mapstr export directly, and your tags, notes and photos come along.
- Mapcove is in final polish for iOS, Android and web, so join the waitlist to hear when it's live.
Two different ideas of a map app
Mapstr and Mapcove solve the same starting problem: the places you love shouldn't be scattered across screenshots, notes apps and half-remembered conversations. From there, they grow in different directions.
Mapstr leans social: you can follow friends, share your map, and discover places through other people. If you enjoy that, it genuinely works, and this page won't pretend otherwise.
Mapcove deliberately goes the other way. It's a personal atlas: no feeds, no followers, no public profiles. Your collection is a private thing you build for yourself (pinned, tagged, noted and photographed), and the app's job is to keep it organised, searchable and available offline. Your data lives on your device first, and import and export are free forever, so you're never locked in.
Side by side
The honest comparison, feature by feature. (Mapstr keeps evolving; for their side, treat this as a snapshot and check their site for the latest.)
| Mapstr | Mapcove | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Your map, with a social layer: share it and follow friends. | Your map, private: a personal atlas with no social layer. |
| Saved places, free | Up to 300 places; Mapstr Plus removes the cap. | Unlimited: pinning is free with no cap, permanently. |
| Organising | Tags, colours, notes and photos. | Categories, tags, notes, photos and lists; one place can live in many lists. |
| Works offline | Map viewable offline; adding places and search need a connection. | Pins, notes, photos and lists fully work offline, free. Downloadable map areas come with Pro. |
| Account required | Yes, needed to sync and share. | No account needed; the app works fully without one. |
| Sharing & planning together | Follow friends' maps, share your map, collaborate on group maps. | Shared lists (Pro): share a trip or a city list; people you invite join free. No feeds or public maps. |
| Getting data in | Add in-app, or import Google Maps files (KML, KMZ, JSON, CSV), Foursquare and contacts. | Free import from Google Takeout, Mapstr itself, GPX and KML. |
| Getting data out | CSV and GeoJSON export, emailed to your account address. | One-tap export to CSV, GPX, KML or a full backup, free, anytime. |
| Where your data lives | On Mapstr's servers. | On your device. Cloud backup and multi-device sync are an optional Pro add-on. |
| Price | Free up to 300 places; Mapstr Plus subscription for unlimited places and extras. | Free with unlimited pinning; an optional Pro subscription comes later for cloud backup & sync, offline maps, shared lists and reminders. |
| Availability | iOS and Android, available now; desktop web with Plus. | iOS, Android and web; in final polish, waitlist open. |
strength partial or limited limitation
What comes over when you import
Mapcove reads the Mapstr export (the .zip you get from Mapstr, or a bare .geojson) directly, and treats it as a first-class source, not an afterthought:
- Your places, with their names and coordinates.
- Your tags and notes, kept as tags and notes.
- Your photos come along too when you import on a phone or tablet (the web app skips photos).
- Places you'd marked to try arrive as Want to go.
- Everything lands in its own “Imported” list, so your collection stays tidy while you sort at your own pace.
How to switch, step by step
- Request your data from Mapstr In Mapstr's settings, ask for your data export; it arrives by email at the address on your account.
- Open Import in Mapcove Choose the Mapstr option and pick the file you received (.zip or .geojson). No unpacking or conversion needed.
- Let it land Your places, tags, notes and photos arrive in the “Imported” list; “To try” places are marked Want to go.
- Sort at your leisure Move places into your own lists and categories whenever you feel like it, or don't. Search works either way.
Import is free, and so is export: if Mapcove isn't for you, your data walks back out as CSV, GPX, KML or a full backup. Leaving should be as easy as arriving.
Who should stay on Mapstr
Fair is fair: if the social side is the reason you open the app (following friends' maps, sharing yours, discovering places through people you trust), Mapstr does that and Mapcove deliberately doesn't. Mapcove has no feeds and no followers, and that's a feature, not a gap we're racing to fill. The one exception is shared lists (a Pro feature): share a specific list, like a trip you're planning or your favourite spots in a city, and the people you invite join it free. Planning together, without the social network around it.
But if you mostly use Mapstr as a private memory of places, and the social layer is something you scroll past, a personal atlas that works offline and never holds your data hostage might be the better home. Join the waitlist and you'll get exactly one email: the one that says it's live.