AllTrails is one of the best-known outdoor apps around, and for good reason. But if all you want is a 30-minute walk from your front door on a Tuesday, a library of hiking trails can be more than you need. If you're looking for an AllTrails alternative for short city walks, this guide covers what AllTrails does well, where a loop planner like Looopr fits better, and when you should simply stick with AllTrails.
We make Looopr, so we're not neutral. To keep this fair, the facts about AllTrails come from its App Store pages, press pages and help articles, checked on 2 November 2026.
Download Looopr: Walking Loop Routes on the App Store and try it on your next short walk.
What AllTrails does well
AllTrails is built around a huge catalogue of routes that people actually use. According to its App Store page, you can search more than 500,000 trails around the world by location, interest and skill level, then read reviews and check conditions before you go.
A few things stand out:
- Community knowledge. Reviews, photos and trail conditions from other walkers tell you what a route is really like.
- Useful filters. You can look for dog-friendly, kid-friendly, stroller-friendly or wheelchair-friendly trails.
- Navigation. The app offers turn-by-turn navigation on your phone or watch, and voice cues were recently added for Plus members.
- Route building. Any member can create routes on AllTrails.com, including a “Close loop” option that brings you back to your start.
For a day in the hills or a national park, that depth is exactly what you want.
Why look for an AllTrails alternative in the city?
Short city walks ask a different question. You're usually not looking for the best trail in the region. You're looking for something pleasant, right here, that fits the gap in your day.
That's where a trail catalogue can feel like the wrong shape. AllTrails starts from routes that already exist, and its listing includes driving directions to get you to them. On a lunch break, you don't want to get anywhere first. You want to leave the door and be back in 30 minutes.
There's also the matter of time. In a search for a walk, AllTrails' listing talks about location, interest and skill level, and its custom routes guide doesn't describe a target-time setting. You can draw your own loop, and saved routes show an estimated time, but drawing it is your job. Building or editing routes in the phone app also needs the top Peak plan; for free members, route creation happens on the website.
None of that is a flaw. AllTrails is simply aimed at a different kind of outing.
How Looopr approaches a short walk
Looopr starts with how much time you have. You set a duration from 15 minutes to 3 hours, and it plans circular walks from where you are, routed past parks and landmarks. There's no trailhead to reach and no catalogue to scroll, and every route brings you back to where you started.
Once you pick a loop, you get turn-by-turn directions, and a Live Activity keeps your progress on the lock screen. Walks can be saved to Apple Health, routes can be exported as GPX files, and you don't need an account. AllTrails, by contrast, asks you to create an account to use its free Base membership.
Because Looopr plans from your location rather than from a list of known trails, it also works for streets nobody has reviewed. That's handy in your own neighbourhood, and just as useful in an unfamiliar one on a work trip.
The trade-off is real, though. Looopr doesn't have a community of reviews and photos behind each route. You're getting a planned loop, not a walk that thousands of people have already vouched for.
AllTrails and Looopr side by side
| AllTrails | Looopr | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Search a catalogue of 500,000+ trails | Your current location, for a time you choose |
| How you set a walk | Pick a trail, or draw your own | Choose 15 min to 3 h, then pick a loop |
| Free | Base: search, trail info, navigation in the app, route building on the website | 2 routes per search, with parks and landmarks |
| Paid | Plus: offline maps, wrong-turn alerts, weather planning, live sharing, no ads ($35.99 or £35.99 a year). Peak: adds in-app route building and heatmaps ($79.99 or £79.99 a year) | Looopr Pro: up to 8 routes per search, plus cafés and restaurants along the route with ratings and opening hours (€2.99/month or €24.99/year, 1-week free trial on annual) |
| Reviews from other users | Yes | No |
| Accessibility and family filters | Yes | No |
| Account needed | Yes | No |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android, plus watch | iPhone |
Prices are as listed on the US and UK App Stores on 2 November 2026 and can change.
One thing to be clear about: on Looopr's free plan you see parks and landmarks, but not cafés or restaurants. Coffee and food stops along the route, with ratings and opening hours, are a Looopr Pro feature.
When AllTrails is the better choice
Stay with AllTrails, or use it alongside Looopr, if any of these sound like you:
- You're heading for proper trails, hills or national parks.
- You want to read recent reviews and conditions from people who walked it last week.
- You need a stroller-friendly or wheelchair-friendly route. Filters like these matter, and AllTrails has them.
- You'll be out of phone signal. Offline maps come with AllTrails Plus.
- You use Android. Looopr is iPhone-only.
Looopr is the better fit if you mostly walk from home, work or a hotel, your walks are shaped by the clock, and you'd rather not plan anything. Many people will happily keep both: AllTrails for the weekend hike, Looopr for the Tuesday lunch break.
If you'd like to plan a few city walks without any app at all, our guide on how to find a new walking route near home covers the basics.
How Looopr helps
Looopr is for people who want to walk more but don't always know where to go. It isn't a hiking app. It's for the everyday walk from wherever you happen to be.
- Set how long you want to walk, from 15 minutes to 3 hours.
- Pick one of the circular routes Looopr suggests, past parks and landmarks.
- Follow turn-by-turn directions, with your progress on the lock screen.
- Save the walk to Apple Health when you're back.
The free version gives you 2 routes per search. Looopr Pro (€2.99 a month, or €24.99 a year with a 1-week free trial on the annual plan) gives you up to 8 routes per search and also shows cafés and restaurants along the route, with ratings and opening hours.
Get Looopr: Walking Loop Routes on the App Store, free to download.
Sources
- AllTrails on the US App Store (checked 2 November 2026)
- AllTrails on the UK App Store (checked 2 November 2026)
- AllTrails Base membership, AllTrails support (checked 2 November 2026)
- The benefits of AllTrails premium membership, AllTrails support (checked 2 November 2026)
- Creating custom routes, AllTrails support (checked 2 November 2026)
- AllTrails expands membership offering with AllTrails Peak, AllTrails press (checked 2 November 2026)