Contributors to this thread:
Used Gaia for a few years but switched to OnX about three years ago. Considering going back to Gaia. I like OnX except for the fact you have to pay $99 for multiple states. I only hunt in my state and an elk hunt each year but sometimes I hunt on the border so having property ownership for the bordering state could be helpful.
My other issue with OnX which I don't remember how Gaia works is that when you use "go to waypoint" OnX only gives you a SSW reading instead of a 195 degree bearing.
Does Gaia give you multiple state property ownership? What about degrees when using the "go to" functions?
Yes GAIA has a property ownership layer for all states like Onx. I don’t remember if there is a bearing when navigating to a point.
I have been on gaia for years. The number of map overlays are staggering. Has everything onyx has and probably then some. It's incredible.
It has block mgmt, private, hunting zones, fishing, snow pack, mountain slope angles, etc.
I'm very happy with GAIA. Pretty much everything you need in all states for $40/yr.
On a recent spike elk hunt in Nevada I used GAIA in my Bronco via Apple CarPlay. Having the GAIA maps displayed on the car’s bigger screen made it real nice to find little two track roads in the dark
The Gaia "Guide Me" to a waypoint feature is what sold me on it as opposed to OnX or Huntstand. I use it often.
OnX has a lot of sponsorships to pay for.
GAIA is better in my opinion and way cheaper
Gaia works with Apple CarPlay? That's fantastic. Any chance it works with a Garmin watch? That would be sweet if I could hit "guide me" and then just look down at my watch periodically rather than pulling out my phone.
If I'm not mistaken... and I usually am... ha! I think Onx allows you to switch from one state to another one time during your year subscription... so you may in your case be able to just purchase one state..
GAIA is better in my opinion and way cheaper
No, OnX does not give you a heading in degrees it just gives you the general direction like SSW, NE, etc. It's my biggest disappointment with OnX. As a Land Surveyor and pilot I'm accustomed to navigating with a precise heading. I wish OnX would change this! This is why I still use my Garmin 64 for navigation sometimes.
Yes, I don't understand why OnX doesn't give degrees. SSW or even W is no where near as clear as 190 or 270. I don't want to guess in the dark. I want to know exactly where I'm going. I think I'm headed towards switching.
Yes, you can change states once a year in OnX but that is not enough to keep me on OnX mainly because of the degree versus SSW nonsense
Gaia does seem like it has more functions than most every other app out there. For me it was too much. I do not spend that much time with my phone in my hand and preferred something simpler. So far I like HuntStand. It was free for the base app and then $30/yr for nationwide (you need this for ownership data), but they have a Whitetail pro that I do not need that provides more info including monthly imagery.
I much prefer GAIA to ONX . but for the past 6 months or so I cant get the private land layer to show up on my phone. GAIA cant figure it out so now I use ONX.
What kind of phone do you use? Anyone else having this problem?
Interesting thread. I had no idea so many of us that hunt prefer gaia over onyx. I thought I was an outlier.
I've only used GAIA for the past 7 years and like it.
They need a way to calculate points, Az+Dist from current location = calculated point to navigate to.
Also when you zoom in why don’t contours get “more visible” . As a mapping guy, there are about 5-10 other uses that could be added pretty easily.
I’m also loosing the private land function on Gaia when used with an overlay. That said, if I use the private land function without an additional layer, it works fine. It’s a problem I’ve been waiting on Gaia to fix for months; but having had both onx and Gaia, I still prefer Gaia.
"What kind of phone do you use? Anyone else having this problem?"
Galaxy S22
"I’m also loosing the private land function on Gaia when used with an overlay. That said, if I use the private land function without an additional layer, it works fine. It’s a problem I’ve been waiting on Gaia to fix for months; but having had both onx and Gaia, I still prefer Gaia."
I dont think they are fixing it. The guy I chatted with said he had never heard of the problem with anyone else. had me do the generic fixes. uninstall and reinstall app. restart phone lol..
I have both Gaia and OnX.
Both have things I like and both have things I don’t like. I’ll give the edge to Gaia tho
I didn’t know you can switch states with OnX. I’ll have try that sometime
I have both, they both do what they are supposed to. I use OnX way more often. Gaia has so many options that I don't always want to spend the time figuring out what they are/do and switching layers back/forth. OnX much simpler.
Stringwack, make sure you don't have the private land layer as your basemap. If I arrange it that way then imagery or topo will cover the private layer. Make sure you have the Layered Maps option turned on. I don't have any issues seeing private. I have an iphone.
I always have the private land layer as my top layer but still disappears. I wish they would figure it out. Jethro I am opposite of you lol.. I think GAIA is easier to switch between layers.
I too have been a contrarian and been using Gaia for a long time. (Never had onx so I cannot compare)
I hunt multiple states. I also use it for fishing. (I kayak on lakes and it enables me to find spots w/o a mapper)
My choice was reaffirmed a few years back when onx users had issues in the field. (Forcing updates if I remember?) Gaia has been the cat’s meow for me.
I’ve used GAIA for many years and this year I did the free trial for on X because a Hunting Guide gave me some way points.
For all intents and purposes it seems to be the same except that IMO;
Gaia has better clarity on their images
OnX has the advantage of having a bigger user base of hunters
OnX simply has not stayed competitive and Gaia is by far my preference. Used both head to head for many years and finally gave up on OnX.
To each their own.
Cheesehead when using your Garmin 64 are you using the onx chip or another . Thanks
