Three platforms, three philosophies
AllTrails is built around community content: millions of users share routes with photos, ratings, and warnings. Komoot focuses on smart automatic route generation based on your activity type and fitness. MilMap is designed for professional navigation where precision, offline functionality, and operational features are central.
Route database
AllTrails wins on sheer volume: 400,000+ curated routes worldwide, with average ratings and thousands of user photos per popular route. Ideal for discovering new routes. Komoot has a smaller but well-selected offering for Europe, strongly focused on cycling and hiking routes. MilMap has no public route database — you build your own. This is a disadvantage for explorers, but an advantage for operational use: your routes are private and customisable.
Automatic route generation
Komoot is the champion in automatic route generation: give it your start, finish, and activity type (mountain hiking, road cycling, MTB) and Komoot calculates a route that suits your fitness and surface preference. AllTrails also offers route recommendations based on difficulty level and length. MilMap does not generate routes automatically — you plan manually, which gives more control but takes more time.
Offline navigation
All three offer offline maps, but with differences. AllTrails requires premium for offline use and downloads expire after 30 days. Komoot sells regional packages as a one-time purchase — pay for Europe and you have it forever. MilMap's offline maps do not expire and can be downloaded per operational area. For use in areas without connectivity, MilMap is the most robust.
Export and import
All three export GPX. MilMap adds PDF route books, KML, and specific military exports to that. Import from other apps works best in MilMap (GPX, KML, CSV waypoints). Komoot and AllTrails accept GPX import but are primarily focused on their own ecosystem.
The ideal combination
Many experienced navigators combine tools. Discover routes via AllTrails or Komoot, import via GPX into MilMap, and enrich with waypoints, terrain analysis, and operational data. It is not an either-or choice. AllTrails for inspiration, Komoot for automatic daily planning, MilMap for serious operational navigation where precision and offline operation are non-negotiable.