Where does the map data come from?
Almost always OpenStreetMap, and understanding that reframes the whole category.
OpenStreetMap is a map of the world built by contributors and released under the Open Database License, free to use, download and self-host. Organic Maps, OsmAnd, Magic Earth and MapTiler all build on it, so the underlying geography is common and the differences are in what each layers on top.
Its coverage is uneven in an interesting way: often better than commercial maps for footpaths, cycling infrastructure, building detail and small local features, because the people who use those things map them — and sometimes weaker on very recent commercial openings.
HERE is the exception, running its own commercially maintained map data from Amsterdam, which is why its coverage profile differs and why it appears in automotive navigation systems.
What does offline actually change?
It changes what exists to be collected, which is a stronger position than a privacy policy.
An offline map holds the data on the device, so searching for an address, calculating a route and following turn-by-turn directions all happen locally. No query leaves the phone, which means there is no location history stored anywhere because none was ever transmitted.
Organic Maps is built offline-first, fast and lightweight with no tracking at all, with strong hiking and cycling route support drawn from OpenStreetMap's outdoor detail. OsmAnd covers similar ground with more depth — GPX support, extensive plugins, map rendering styles, POI search and an explore mode — with a free version and OsmAnd+ from €8.99.
HERE WeGo makes offline its headline feature with full country downloads including search and routing, and Sygic and Magic Earth both offer offline maps too. The costs are the same everywhere: storage on the device, and periodic downloads to stay current.
Which one do you actually want for driving?
Sygic or Magic Earth, and they differ on what they charge for.
Sygic is the premium driving option: offline maps, speed camera alerts, real-time traffic, a head-up display projecting directions onto the windscreen at night, and a dashcam mode recording the road. Free with Premium from €13.99 per year, which is inexpensive for what it includes, alongside fleet management and trip planning products.
Magic Earth is free with no paid tier, offering offline maps on OpenStreetMap data, turn-by-turn navigation, traffic information and voice guidance, from Budapest with explicit no-tracking. It is the closest thing here to a Waze replacement that does not record where you went.
HERE WeGo handles the multi-modal case better than either: driving, public transit, walking, cycling and taxi compared in one view, which is the daily-commute problem rather than the road-trip one.
Why does location privacy matter more than it sounds?
Because location history is the most revealing dataset most people generate, and it is generated continuously without a decision being made.
A month of location data shows where someone sleeps, works, worships, drinks, and which clinic they visited on a Tuesday afternoon. It reveals relationships by co-location, political affiliation by attendance, and health by destination — inferences no individual data point carries.
That data has commercial value, which is why free navigation from an advertising company is free. Location data has also been sold on by brokers and requested by authorities, so the question is not only what the vendor intends but what the dataset enables anyone who obtains it to do.
Organic Maps and OsmAnd resolve this structurally by never transmitting it. Magic Earth, Sygic and HERE operate under GDPR without profiling, which is a policy commitment rather than an architectural impossibility — a real difference worth understanding rather than one worth dismissing.
What if you are putting a map in your own product?
MapTiler, which replaces the Google Maps API and Mapbox rather than a navigation app.
It provides vector tiles that render fast and scale cleanly, custom map styling so the map matches your product rather than looking borrowed, geocoding and search for turning addresses into coordinates, SDKs for web and mobile, and 3D map capability.
The self-hosting option is the strategic part: you can run the tile service on your own infrastructure, which removes both the per-request cost curve that makes commercial map APIs expensive at scale and the dependency on a vendor continuing to serve you.
MapTiler AG operates from Unterägeri in Switzerland under an adequacy decision rather than EEA jurisdiction, with a free tier and paid plans from €25 per month. Alternatively, OpenStreetMap data is free to download and self-host outright, which costs no licence and requires you to build the serving layer yourself.
