Replaces Waze
European alternatives to Waze
Navigation apps from European map makers
Browse the category: Navigation apps
Waze is a navigation app built around what other drivers report: traffic jams, accidents, road works, speed checks and closures all come from the community using it. Google acquired it in 2013 and runs it alongside Google Maps. Drivers use it mostly for commuting and longer trips, where live conditions make the difference to the route.
A navigation app knows your home address, your workplace, your daily rhythm and who you visit. That is one of the most revealing datasets a phone produces, and very few people would hand it over deliberately. Moving to a European alternative to Waze changes who receives it. HERE WeGo Maps & Navigation and TomTom GO Navigation come from established European mapping companies, while Organic Maps and OsmAnd build on OpenStreetMap data.
European options 8
Our pick
HERE WeGo Maps & Navigation
Free navigation app from the Netherlands
HERE WeGo is a navigation app from HERE, a mapping company based in the Netherlands. It gives directions for driving, walking and public transport, so a route through a city or across a country can be planned and followed in the same app.
NetherlandsFree plan
Mapy.com
Czech navigation app for every kind of trip
Czech RepublicEU hosted
Sygic GPS Navigation
Offline GPS navigation from Slovakia
Slovakia
Magic Earth
Offline navigation app from the Netherlands
NetherlandsFree plan
komoot
Outdoor route planner and navigation from Germany
GermanyFree plan
TomTom GO Navigation
Offline car navigation from the Netherlands
Netherlands
OsmAnd
Offline open source navigation app for phones
NetherlandsOpen sourceFree plan
Organic Maps
Open source offline navigation app from Estonia
EstoniaOpen sourceQuestions
Do these apps work without a connection?
Organic Maps and OsmAnd are designed around downloaded offline maps, and Sygic GPS Navigation also offers offline navigation. That helps abroad as well as in areas with poor coverage.
Is there live traffic information?
HERE WeGo Maps & Navigation and TomTom GO Navigation include traffic data from their own sources. Community reporting of the kind Waze relies on is less central in most of these apps.
What about cycling and walking routes?
komoot is built for cycling, hiking and outdoor routes, and Mapy.com is popular for walking and trail navigation. Both are worth having alongside a car navigation app.