The leading hike app is expanding its offerings. Photo: Holly Mandarich
The most-downloaded hiking app just got fancier. AllTrails recently announced it is releasing a new tier of membership that unlocks scores of new features to enhance your hiking experience. But the new tier of membership, priced at $79.99 per year, comes as Apple Maps is looking to chip away at its market share without subscription fees.
In 2023, Apple named AllTrails the app of the year. In fact, Apple liked the outdoors app so much that it decided to compete with it. With iOS 18, the default Maps app on iPhone launched hiking features in the U.S. (and, to a lesser extent, Japan), including trail directions, the ability to create new routes with mileage and elevation readings, downloadable maps with topographic layers, and a filter to sort through its catalog of hikes.
Apple’s offering still comes nowhere near the robustness of AllTrails. But if AllTrails’ summer 2025 update is any indication, the brand understands the competition as a new competitor nips at its heels.
AllTrails, which currently offers a “Plus” subscription for $35.99 per year, is launching a higher tier titled “Peak” ($79.99). With Peak, users will have access to a bunch of tools like custom route creation to make hikes or modify existing ones, trail conditions that inform users of weather, terrain, air quality, and even mosquito activity, heatmaps that show which trails are currently most crowded, and (coming later this summer) an add-on that allows you to identify flora with your camera lens.
Getting accurate, up-to-date reports on mosquitoes and/or icy sections of trail that require microspikes would be immensely helpful if the tools are as good as advertised. And bundling a plant identification app that complements your hikes would be fun for nature nerds.
The Peak features would be on top of what is already offered with a Plus subscription, which includes, but is not limited to, downloading offline maps, sharing live activity with friends, browsing user photos taken along the trail, and filtering through nearby trails.
With 80 million registered users, AllTrails is still in a strong position to continue its reign as the foremost hiking app. But offering its latest features for a price point that is more than double the previous subscription price will be interesting to monitor in the coming years.
Apple is – and can afford to – take the opposite approach, bundling its updates in the Maps app free of charge with the ultimate goal of making the hardware more attractive to buyers. AllTrails, on the other hand, is purely selling software. The clash of hiking apps will test users’ price elasticity, especially as Maps continues to build on its trail offering. For now, it seems as though AllTrails might have the answers as long as it can keep its price point within reason. We shall see.
Editor’s Note: Evan Quarnstrom is an avid hiker and often covers news in the world of backcountry adventure.
