Cartes
Ranked 6 of 12 navigation apps by recommenders
Free, ad-free, open-source web map on OpenStreetMap, liked for search and privacy. Critics mainly note missing editing features and browser history pollution.
Free, ad-free, open-source web map on OpenStreetMap, liked for search and privacy. Critics mainly note missing editing features and browser history pollution.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 53%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Privacy-focused, open-source, no ads
“privacy focused and 100 % Web and open-source, no ads”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Apple Maps Ads Are Here, and There's No Way to Turn Them Off” “To fund an open-source and open-data business, yes.”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “Cartes.app – a free and open map, a Web alternative to Google and Apple maps” Clean light and dark themes
“I usually prefer lighter themes, but this one would be more than ok for me.”
Comment from 30 Apr 2026 in “OpenTrafficMap” “Very pretty! Muted palette in light mode, but nice dark mode too!”
Comment from 30 Apr 2026 in “OpenTrafficMap” Useful UI over OpenStreetMap data
“Both projects have a similar goal, to offer a more useful UI around using an OSM based map.”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “StreetComplete on iOS is now in public beta” “it's a step away from most OSM styles”
Comment from 30 Apr 2026 in “OpenTrafficMap”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Lag, freezing, and heavy load
“The site seems to be under heavy load, so I couldn't see it all.”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “Blaise Pascal invented fixed route public transport (2024)” “God damn that sticks to your finger. Lovely touch latency.”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “OS9Map” “The tab froze, tried multiple times.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Bluesky Protocol Services” Map moves pollute browser history
“I also find it annoying when websites capture my choice to leave clicking the back button.”
Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “Bluesky Protocol Services” “Every move/zoom in the map causes it to pollute the browser history.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Bluesky Protocol Services”
Other navigation apps people recommend
The four most recommended other navigation apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Maps | 272 | 479 | 36% | 12 | 14 yrs4 owners | — |
| Apple Maps | 145 | 206 | 41% | 12 | 9 yrs5 owners | — |
| Waze | 27 | 19 | 59% | 10 | — | — |
| MapQuest | 16 | 14 | 53% | 7 | — | — |
| CartesThis page | 8 | 7 | 53% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The site seems to be under heavy load, so I couldn't see it all.”
“Both projects have a similar goal, to offer a more useful UI around using an OSM based map.”
“We're convinced most users (shopowners too) want to read and write in the same app.”
“privacy focused and 100 % Web and open-source, no ads”
“we've designed a very simple opening hours editor, but we're missing lots of other edition features”
“I just discovered cartes.app can do this too!”
“I also find it annoying when websites capture my choice to leave clicking the back button.”
“Every move/zoom in the map causes it to pollute the browser history.”
“The tab froze, tried multiple times.”
“To fund an open-source and open-data business, yes.”
“shows city names in other states, and two places in Iraq.”
“Cartes search and user experience was surprisingly good!”
“Could you try https://cartes.app and share your search terms and expectations ?”
“Wasn't aware of that one, neat!”
“God damn that sticks to your finger. Lovely touch latency.”
“Very pretty! Muted palette in light mode, but nice dark mode too!”
“I usually prefer lighter themes, but this one would be more than ok for me.”
“When opening the map on Firefox/Linux zooming to like a France-size view and then not doing anything, the view keeps scrolling up and down”
“it's a step away from most OSM styles”
“we're trying to make it complete and modern”
“Works on most Android phones.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.