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Maps · head to head

onX Maps vs SAGA GIS

onX Maps logo

onX Maps

Maps

Land ownership and offline navigation apps sold as separate subscriptions per activity: Hunt, Offroad, Backcountry

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SAGA GIS logo

SAGA GIS

Maps

Open source terrain and geoscientific analysis with no vendor and no support contract available

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SAGA GIS has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: onX Maps hunt, Offroad and Backcountry are entirely separate subscriptions, so a user needing more than one activity pays for more than one product with no combined bundle discount.; SAGA GIS there is no commercial support contract available from anyone, so a procurement process that requires a named supplier with a service level cannot be satisfied and the organisation carries the whole operational risk itself
  • They diverge on capability: onX Maps covers Land ownership boundaries, SAGA GIS covers Terrain morphometry.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which onX Maps and SAGA GIS actually diverge.

Attributes where onX Maps and SAGA GIS differ
AttributeonX MapsSAGA GIS
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelSeparate per-product subscriptions, per user per yearOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWindows, Linux, macOS

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Maps).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in onX Maps

  • Land ownership boundaries
  • Offline maps
  • Waypoint and track marking
  • Elite tier private land data
  • 3D terrain view
  • Weather overlay

Only in SAGA GIS

  • Terrain morphometry
  • Hydrological modelling
  • Geostatistics
  • Image analysis
  • Module library
  • QGIS integration
  • Python and R bindings

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

onX Maps

  • A hunter who needs to know exact private and public land boundaries before crossing onto a propertynot SAGA GIS
  • An off-road driver planning a trail route with land ownership and access datanot SAGA GIS
  • A backcountry skier or hiker wanting offline terrain maps without cell signalnot SAGA GIS
  • Someone who does two or more of these activities and needs to budget for two or three separate subscriptionsnot SAGA GIS

SAGA GIS

  • A hydrologist deriving catchment boundaries and flow networks from a national elevation model at a resolution commercial tools slow down onnot onX Maps
  • A soil science team producing interpolated property surfaces with documented geostatistical methods for a peer-reviewed papernot onX Maps
  • A government environmental analyst who needs a terrain index that no commercial GIS implements and does not want to write it from scratchnot onX Maps
  • A QGIS user who has hit the limits of the native toolbox and needs the SAGA algorithms already exposed in the processing frameworknot onX Maps

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

onX Maps

  • Hunt, Offroad and Backcountry are entirely separate subscriptions, so a user needing more than one activity pays for more than one product with no combined bundle discount.
  • Elite-tier pricing at roughly $99.99 a year per product is expensive if a buyer only occasionally needs the private land ownership data it adds.
  • The apps are US and Canada focused, with more limited usefulness for international travel compared to a global mapping product.
  • Land ownership data, while extensive, can lag real-world changes in property boundaries in fast-changing areas.
  • It is not a general-purpose hiking or trail-review app in the way AllTrails or Gaia GPS are, so casual hikers without a land-boundary need may find the focus narrower than expected.

SAGA GIS

  • There is no commercial support contract available from anyone, so a procurement process that requires a named supplier with a service level cannot be satisfied and the organisation carries the whole operational risk itself
  • The project explicitly states that everyone working on it has another job and that answers may take a while, which means an urgent production failure has no escalation path
  • The interface is dated and inconsistent across modules, and cartographic output is poor, so most users treat it as an analysis engine and produce maps somewhere else
  • Documentation for many of the several hundred modules is a parameter list without explanation of method or expected input, so choosing the right algorithm often requires reading the source or a published paper
  • Development is concentrated in a small group, which creates real key-person risk: a change in the circumstances of a handful of maintainers would slow or stop releases, and there is no organisation obliged to continue them

Pricing, plan by plan

onX Maps

On request
  • onX Hunt Elite$99.99/year
    • Nationwide private land ownership data
    • Recent satellite imagery
    • Offline maps
  • onX Offroad Premium$34.99/year
    • Trail and land ownership maps for off-road use
    • Offline maps
  • onX Offroad Elite$99.99/year
    • Everything in Premium plus nationwide land ownership and recent imagery
  • onX Backcountry$29.99/year
    • Backcountry ski and hike focused maps
    • Offline maps
    • Avalanche and terrain data

SAGA GIS

Free
  • SAGA GISFree
    • GNU General Public Licence
    • No licence fee and no usage limits
    • No commercial support contract exists

Which should you pick?

Choose onX Maps if

  • You need land ownership boundaries.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want offline maps.
onX Maps review

Choose SAGA GIS if

  • You need terrain morphometry.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want hydrological modelling.
SAGA GIS review

Questions people ask

Is onX Maps or SAGA GIS better?
Neither clearly leads. onX Maps starts at On request and SAGA GIS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, onX Maps or SAGA GIS?
SAGA GIS has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for onX Maps and Free for SAGA GIS.
Does onX Maps or SAGA GIS run on more platforms?
onX Maps runs on iOS, Android, Web. SAGA GIS runs on Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use SAGA GIS for free?
Yes. SAGA GIS has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. onX Maps starts at On request.
What is onX Maps best used for?
onX Maps is most often used for a hunter who needs to know exact private and public land boundaries before crossing onto a property, an off-road driver planning a trail route with land ownership and access data, a backcountry skier or hiker wanting offline terrain maps without cell signal, someone who does two or more of these activities and needs to budget for two or three separate subscriptions. Of those, a hunter who needs to know exact private and public land boundaries before crossing onto a property and an off-road driver planning a trail route with land ownership and access data are not what SAGA GIS is typically brought in for.
What can onX Maps do that SAGA GIS cannot?
onX Maps covers Land ownership boundaries, Offline maps, Waypoint and track marking, Elite tier private land data. SAGA GIS covers Terrain morphometry, Hydrological modelling, Geostatistics, Image analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

onX Maps: Can I use one onX subscription for both hunting and off-roading?

No, onX Hunt, onX Offroad and onX Backcountry are separate apps with separate subscriptions.

SAGA GIS: Who maintains SAGA GIS?

A small international developer community, originating from physical geography departments at the universities of Göttingen and Hamburg. It is hosted on SourceForge and releases continue in the 9.x line.

onX Maps: What does the Elite tier add?

Elite tiers add nationwide private land ownership data, more recent satellite imagery and partner discounts on top of the base Premium tier.

SAGA GIS: Can I buy support?

No. There is no vendor and no commercial support contract. The project itself states there is no hotline and no guaranteed support.

onX Maps: Does onX work outside the US?

Coverage is strongest in the US and Canada; usefulness elsewhere is limited.

SAGA GIS: Do I need SAGA if I already run QGIS?

Often not, because many SAGA algorithms are available through the QGIS processing toolbox. Install SAGA directly when you need modules QGIS does not expose or want to script them independently.

SAGA GIS: What licence is it under?

The GNU General Public Licence, so you can modify and redistribute it under the same terms.

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