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Maps · head to head

Felt vs Trailforks

Felt logo

Felt

Maps

Collaborative browser mapping with a free non-commercial tier and annual-only paid contracts

From
Free
Rated
-
Trailforks logo

Trailforks

Maps

Mountain-bike-specific trail database and navigation app owned by Outside Inc

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Felt felt publishes no prices for Professional or Enterprise, so buyers cannot compare against ArcGIS Online or QGIS with hosting without entering a sales process; Trailforks the free tier only allows one offline region downloaded at a time, which is limiting for a rider visiting multiple trail areas.
  • They diverge on capability: Felt covers Real-time collaboration, Trailforks covers Mountain bike trail database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Felt and Trailforks actually diverge.

Attributes where Felt and Trailforks differ
AttributeFeltTrailforks
Pricing modelquoteFreemium, standalone Pro or bundled with Outside+
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidiOS, Android, Web

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Felt

  • Real-time collaboration
  • Drag and drop data
  • Unlimited viewers
  • Field app with offline support
  • Dashboards
  • Live cloud sources
  • API and SDK

Only in Trailforks

  • Mountain bike trail database
  • Community trail reports
  • Offline maps
  • Premium basemaps
  • Heatmap overlay
  • Weather and fire overlays

What people use each for

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

Felt

  • An environmental consultancy that needs a client to view and comment on survey results without installing GIS softwarenot Trailforks
  • A utility field crew collecting asset condition offline and syncing to the same map the office is looking atnot Trailforks
  • A planning department sharing a proposal map with the public where the viewer count is unpredictable and viewer seats would be uncostednot Trailforks
  • A team of analysts who each hold data in different formats and want one map assembled in an afternoon rather than a weeknot Trailforks

Trailforks

  • A mountain biker planning a ride on unfamiliar singletrack who needs direction-of-travel and difficulty datanot Felt
  • Someone riding in an area with no signal who needs an offline downloaded trail mapnot Felt
  • A rider checking recent community trail condition reports before heading outnot Felt
  • Someone comparing several mountain bike regions using the usage heatmap before choosing where to ridenot Felt

Where each one falls short

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

Felt

  • Felt publishes no prices for Professional or Enterprise, so buyers cannot compare against ArcGIS Online or QGIS with hosting without entering a sales process
  • Paid tiers are annual contract only with no monthly option, which excludes consultancies that need a tool for a single short engagement and forces them to the free non-commercial tier they are not licensed to use for client work
  • The API, JavaScript SDK and live warehouse connections are enterprise-only, so a mid-sized team that wants programmatic access has to buy the top tier rather than pay for one capability
  • Analytical depth is limited: there is no meaningful geoprocessing, topology checking or model building, so Felt sits beside a real GIS rather than replacing one
  • The Professional tier caps data processing at 25 GB a month and map views at 100,000 a month, which are easy to exceed with raster imagery or a public-facing map, and the overage terms are not published either

Trailforks

  • The free tier only allows one offline region downloaded at a time, which is limiting for a rider visiting multiple trail areas.
  • Pro pricing appears to be shifting toward bundling with the wider Outside+ media subscription, making the standalone price less stable and worth checking directly before buying.
  • Its focus on mountain biking means it is a weaker choice than Ride with GPS for road or gravel route planning.
  • Trail data quality depends on community contribution, so newer or less-ridden regions can have sparse or outdated information.
  • Being owned by a media company with a broader outdoor content bundle strategy introduces some uncertainty about how the standalone app product is prioritised long term.

Pricing, plan by plan

Felt

Free
  • PersonalFree
    • Free forever for non-commercial mapping
    • Map creation, upload and sharing
    • Not licensed for commercial use
  • Professional$undefined/year
    • 10 full-access seats with unlimited viewers
    • 25 GB of data processing per month
    • 100,000 map views per month
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Live cloud sources including Postgres, Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks and S3
    • REST API and JavaScript SDK
    • AI features

Trailforks

Free
  • Trailforks FreeFree
    • Trail database access
    • Basic basemaps
    • One offline region at a time
  • Trailforks Pro$undefined/year
    • Unlimited offline regions
    • Premium basemaps including Gaia and ArcGIS satellite
    • Heatmap, weather and fire overlays

Which should you pick?

Choose Felt if

  • You need real-time collaboration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want drag and drop data.

Choose Trailforks if

  • You need mountain bike trail database.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want community trail reports.

Questions people ask

Is Felt or Trailforks better?
Neither clearly leads. Felt starts at Free and Trailforks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Felt or Trailforks?
Felt starts at Free and Trailforks at Free.
Does Felt or Trailforks run on more platforms?
Felt runs on Web, iOS, Android. Trailforks runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Felt for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Felt best used for?
Felt is most often used for an environmental consultancy that needs a client to view and comment on survey results without installing gis software, a utility field crew collecting asset condition offline and syncing to the same map the office is looking at, a planning department sharing a proposal map with the public where the viewer count is unpredictable and viewer seats would be uncosted, a team of analysts who each hold data in different formats and want one map assembled in an afternoon rather than a week. Of those, an environmental consultancy that needs a client to view and comment on survey results without installing gis software and a utility field crew collecting asset condition offline and syncing to the same map the office is looking at are not what Trailforks is typically brought in for.
What can Felt do that Trailforks cannot?
Felt covers Real-time collaboration, Drag and drop data, Unlimited viewers, Field app with offline support. Trailforks covers Mountain bike trail database, Community trail reports, Offline maps, Premium basemaps.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Felt: What does Felt cost?

Felt does not publish prices for Professional or Enterprise. Personal is free but licensed for non-commercial use only.

Trailforks: Is Trailforks free?

A free tier exists with trail data and one offline region at a time; Pro removes that limit and adds premium map layers.

Felt: Can I pay monthly?

No. Paid plans are annual contracts. There is a 7 day trial of Professional.

Trailforks: Who owns Trailforks?

Outside Inc, which also owns Pinkbike and CyclingTips, acquired it in 2021.

Felt: Do viewers cost anything?

No. Viewer access is unlimited on the paid plans, which is the main reason organisations with large map audiences choose it.

Trailforks: Is it only for mountain biking?

Mountain biking is the core focus, though it has secondary support for hiking, gravel and motorised trail use.

Felt: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Yes, 30 per cent for verified United States nonprofits, and free access for verified students and classrooms.

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