Road Cycling Apps

Disclaimer: Technology evolves quickly.  The information on this page is likely already outdated.  It was last updated January 2025.

Best Cycling Apps for Road Navigation

Komoot

• • Considered by many as the best cycling app for planning routes

  • Large library of tours and collections of tours

    • Collections typically form a larger, contiguous tour

    • Great source of inspiration for multi-day rides

  • Open-source OpenStreetMap database 

    • Allows you to plan road, mountain bike, and gravel rides 

    • When route planning, it takes into account how bike friendly a road or trail is

    • Takes into account fitness

  • Premium subscription unlocks 

    • Multi-day planner 

    • Live tracking

  • Download: Komoot for iOS or Komoot for Android

  • Price: 

    • First map region free

    • Subsequent map regions $3.99 

    • Premium: $59.99 annually

Bikemap

• • Most features are free to use

  • Points of interest such as bicycle repair shops, bike parking facilities, public tire pumps, and more

  • Claims to have world's larges collection of cycling routes

    • 9.9 million tour suggestion

    • 100+ different countries

  • Filter by paved, unpaved and gravel surfaces

  • Search for bike shops and public bathrooms

  • Premium service

    • Offline maps and navigation

    • Cycling-friendly map layers

    • Turn-by-turn directions 

    • 3D views of your planned routes

    • Price: 

      • Free

      • Premium version: $12 monthly; $49 annually; $99 one-off payment for lifetime access

    • Download: Bikemap for iOS or Bikemap for Android

    • www.bikemap.net 

Google Maps

• • Gold standard for road navigation

  • Not perfect for bike route plotting

    • Selects shortest route

    • May select hills and busy roads over longer, bike friendly routes

    • May just not connect to bike routes 

  • If you know how, you can download offline maps

  • Download: Google Maps for iOS or Google Maps for Android

Ride with GPS

• • Can be used to navigate offline

  • Route data provided detailed elevation profiles

  • Can share your rides in real-time

    • Can read comments aloud as you ride

  • Free version 

    • Can create routes and record your rides

    • Set goals

  • Basic subscription

    • Turn-by-turn navigation

    • Live logging 

    • Offline mapping

    • Can also publish ride reports

  • Premium version 

    • Everything in Basic

    • Advanced route editing

    • Custom cue sheets

    • Stationary bike support 

    • Private segments

  • Download: Ride with GPS for iOS or Ride with GPS for Android

  • Price: 

    • Free

    • Basic: $6 monthly or $50 yearly

    • Premium: $10 monthly or $80 yearly

Other Apps

Strava

• Social media app for cyclists

• Can be used as a bike computer

• Mostly used to track other riders

• Cycling-related 'Points of Interest', such as cafes and bike shops, show up in Strava's base map in its app and browser

• Works on smartphones and newer Garmin Edge and Wahoo computers

• Download: Strava for iOS or Strava for Android