u/pmags

Though CalTopo and Gaia remain the overall favorites for many people, Avenza is used by many GIS professionals, government agencies, SAR teams, and more.

From a recreational backpacker's standpoint, Avenza lets you import georeferenced PDF maps from CalTopo you create or from other sources, which are often available on government websites. One example: camping zone maps here in Grand County, Utah.

Many nonprofits also make their maps available for free download in the Avenza store, while small map companies sell their maps there. I think the Latitude 40 maps, for example, are excellent for the Moab, Utah, and Grand Junction/Fruita areas.

No more.

Info here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gis/comments/1squcv3/avenza_maps_alternatives/

In essence, Avenza got bought out by a venture capital firm:

https://www.dailycommercial.com/press-release/story/103696/blue-marble-geographics-avenza-systems-unite-to-combine-complementary-products-in-field-to-office-geospatial-platform/

"Blue Marble Geographics is backed by Eterna Growth Partners, a growth investment firm focused on scaling innovative technology companies."

You can no longer download and add georeferenced PDF maps without a paid subscription. Organizations, companies, and nonprofits can no longer update their existing maps or publish new maps. New publishers cannot join the platform either. You can still download maps that already exist in their current state in the map store.

However, the map store will eventually be phased out as well.
https://community.esri.com/t5/gis-life-discussions/avenza-alternative/td-p/1700623

EDIT - Screenshot from another subreddit - https://imgur.com/ZYm6TjG
Source - https://www.reddit.com/r/algonquinpark/comments/1rhkkik/heads_up_avenza_maps/

That last point matters. For many small organizations, Avenza offered a cost-effective, sometimes free, way to get electronic maps into people’s hands. This fall, for example, I used the Cohos Trail map on Avenza. I assume that the map provides at least some revenue stream for a small nonprofit.

CalTopo lets you add georeferenced maps, of course, and it is still an excellent tool. But for maps you download from elsewhere, Avenza was a quick-and-dirty option with fewer steps and easier in the field or just on a phone.

For adding georeferenced maps, Field Maps is one suggestion mentioned in the thread above. I’ve used it a bit for volunteer work, but I’m not overly familiar with it.

So it goes.

Though CalTopo and Gaia remain the overall favorites for many people, Avenza is used by many GIS professionals, government agencies, SAR teams, and more.

From a recreational backpacker's standpoint, Avenza lets you import georeferenced PDF maps from CalTopo you create or from other sources, which are often available on government websites. One example: camping zone maps here in Grand County, Utah.

Many nonprofits also make their maps available for free download in the Avenza store, while small map companies sell their maps there. I think the Latitude 40 maps, for example, are excellent for the Moab, Utah, and Grand Junction/Fruita areas.

No more.

Info here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gis/comments/1squcv3/avenza_maps_alternatives/

In essence, Avenza got bought out by a venture capital firm:

https://www.dailycommercial.com/press-release/story/103696/blue-marble-geographics-avenza-systems-unite-to-combine-complementary-products-in-field-to-office-geospatial-platform/

"Blue Marble Geographics is backed by Eterna Growth Partners, a growth investment firm focused on scaling innovative technology companies."

You can no longer download and add georeferenced PDF maps without a paid subscription. Organizations, companies, and nonprofits can no longer update their existing maps or publish new maps. New publishers cannot join the platform either. You can still download maps that already exist in their current state in the map store.

However, it looks like the map store will eventually be phased out as well.
https://community.esri.com/t5/gis-life-discussions/avenza-alternative/td-p/1700623

EDIT - Screenshot from another subreddit - https://imgur.com/ZYm6TjG
Source - https://www.reddit.com/r/algonquinpark/comments/1rhkkik/heads_up_avenza_maps/

That last point matters. For many small organizations, Avenza offered a cost-effective, sometimes free, way to get electronic maps into people’s hands. This fall, for example, I used the Cohos Trail map on Avenza. I assume that the map provides at least some revenue stream for a small nonprofit.

CalTopo lets you add georeferenced maps, of course, and it is still an excellent tool. But for maps you download from elsewhere, Avenza was a quick-and-dirty option with fewer steps and easier in the field or just on a phone.

For adding georeferenced maps, Field Maps is one suggestion mentioned in the thread above. I’ve used it a bit for volunteer work, but I’m not overly familiar with it.

So it goes.