The revamped Trailmap has come a long way over the past few months. The reception for the new trail map, the route drawing and the other new features has been positive, and you can see it both in the strong growth in user numbers and in the feedback from the recent user survey (read more here). It has been great to support a growing user base on their adventures out in nature, on trails and forest roads!

The app carries no ads, and it does not collect or sell user data. Instead, user fees are the income that makes long-term development and maintenance possible.

For user fees, Trailmap follows what is known as a freemium model: the basic features of the app are free and the more advanced features are paid. You get the advanced features by subscribing to a Trailmap package.

The basis for the user fee needs to be defined in a way that gives clear value to the users who subscribe to a Trailmap package, and that at the same time creates a stable footing for developing the app. Based on the experience of early summer 2024, some changes to that basis are needed — they are described in more detail below. The aim is to tie the benefit a user gets more closely to supporting the app with a user fee.

The new service tiers

From now on the service can be used at three different levels: MAP, NAVI and PLUS:

MAP (free): You get the one-of-a-kind trail map and a wide selection of maps. This tier suits users who use the app now and then to look at the map and navigate in the terrain with the map and positioning, without tracks or more advanced features such as rotating the map to the direction of travel.

NAVI (paid): This tier suits active users who use the app several times a month. It includes the basic route planning features and all of the app's navigation features, covering the use of both your own routes and tracks obtained elsewhere as the basis for navigation.

PLUS (paid): This tier suits active users who want the best features of the app with no usage limits: route planning with every feature and no limit on the number of routes saved and synced, an unlimited track library, fast syncing of routes and tracks to Garmin devices, custom maps, and access to all Strava activities.

The features of the Trailmap packages

Every cent of the user fees goes straight back into funding the maintenance and development of the app. So the fees are also in the interest of active users: the app can only be developed and maintained with them. And the stronger the users' support is, the faster and the better the app can be developed.

The new tiers come into force during July 2024, as the new versions of the Trailmap apps are released to the various channels (app stores + website).