We built PinIt. So you should probably know that before reading any further.
We've done our best to make this a fair comparison. We think PinIt is the right choice for a lot of people, but not for everyone – and we'd rather tell you that upfront than have you find out after downloading. If another app serves you better, this guide will help you find it.
What is PinIt?
PinIt is a free map of the world's hidden gems – waterfalls, beaches, viewpoints, ruins, and the kind of places too good for a guidebook. Every pin is dropped by an explorer who's actually been there, not an editorial team, so the map only grows as more people use it.
A few things worth knowing going in:
- Every pin, free, always. There's no paywall on the map itself. Plus adds extras like weather forecasts and more lists, but it never gates a location.
- Community-pinned, not editorial. Anyone can drop a pin, add a tip, or share parking and access details.
- Built around the Explorer Pledge. Getting directions to a pin for the first time means committing to leave it as you found it – no trace, no shortcuts through sensitive land.
- Lists, trip planning, and marking places as visited, so it works as somewhere to plan from, not just a map to browse.
Lets get started!
UK Hidden Gems
A guide to lesser-known places across the UK, available on web and mobile, with over 1,600 handpicked spots, parking info, nearby food, and places to stay.
What it's great for
Practically everything a UK day-tripper needs in one place. The parking information alone is genuinely useful – knowing there's space for a handful of cars and roughly what it costs before you drive an hour is the kind of detail that makes a real difference. The spots are well-chosen and the curation is solid.
Where it falls short
It's UK only, which is a hard limit if you travel anywhere else. They give you 100 handpicked gems for free to get a feel for the app, but the rest of the catalogue is behind a £3.99 monthly subscription. An editorial team chooses every location, not the community, so you're limited to what they've found and can't add your own discoveries.
The other thing worth knowing: UK Hidden Gems has both a website and a mobile app, but your account on one doesn't carry over to the other. They're effectively two separate products. If you switch between web and mobile, which a lot of people do, that disconnect becomes frustrating quickly.
PinIt vs UK Hidden Gems
PinIt
UK Hidden Gems
Free to see all locations
✓
✗ £3.99/mo after 100
Global coverage
✓
✗ UK only
Community-pinned
✓
✗ Editorial
Add your own discoveries
✓
✗
Parking info on pins
✓ Community-added
✓ Curated
Curated food and accommodation
✗
✓
Lists / trip planning
✓
Partial
Single account across all platforms
✓
✗
Consistent web and mobile experience
✓
✗
Responsible exploration built in
✓
✗
Bottom line
UK Hidden Gems has more locations right now and curated food and accommodation recommendations that PinIt doesn't currently match. Those are real advantages worth acknowledging. But it charges you after the first 100 locations, you can't add your own discoveries, and the web and mobile apps are essentially separate products with separate accounts. For UK explorers who want a free, growing platform where their own finds become part of the community, PinIt is the stronger choice.
Atlas Obscura
The biggest name in unusual places. Over 22,000 locations globally, each with rich editorial writing about the history and story behind it. Been around since 2009.
What it's great for
If you want to find a hidden bunker, a cave church, a bizarre roadside curiosity, or somewhere with a genuinely strange story, Atlas Obscura is exceptional. The quality of writing is high, the depth of content per location is hard to match, and it's free to browse.
Where it falls short
It's more of a catalogue of curiosities than an exploration tool. The focus is on the unusual and obscure rather than natural hidden gems, so you'll find fewer secluded beaches or wild viewpoints and more abandoned railways and strange monuments. The app has had mixed reviews for usability. And while the community can submit places, editors decide what goes live.
PinIt vs Atlas Obscura
PinIt
Atlas Obscura
Free to see all locations
✓
✓
Community-pinned
✓
Partial – editors approve
Add your own discoveries
✓
Partial
Natural and outdoor focus
✓
Partial
Historical and editorial depth
✗
✓
Responsible exploration built in
✓
✗
Trip lists and planning
✓
Partial
Database size
Growing
22,000+
Bottom line
Brilliant for historical oddities and unusual places. If your idea of a hidden gem is more wilderness viewpoint than abandoned railway station, PinIt will suit you better. Atlas Obscura has a much longer track record and for a certain kind of traveller it's genuinely better than PinIt right now – we think it's worth saying that.
AllTrails
The go-to app for hiking, trail running, and cycling routes. Over 400,000 trails globally, with difficulty ratings, community reviews, route navigation, and photos.
What it's great for
If you're looking for a hiking trail with a specific difficulty level, want to know if a path is busy right now, or need turn-by-turn navigation while you're out, AllTrails is excellent. The community is large and active, the reviews hold up, and the database of trails is hard to beat.
Where it falls short
It's a trail finder, not a hidden gem finder. Every location on AllTrails is a mapped, established route – you're choosing between documented trails rather than discovering unlisted spots. The free tier gives you access to trails, but offline maps and navigation require AllTrails Plus at £35.99/year. And because it's built around routes, anything that isn't a trail – a viewpoint, a wild swimming spot, an abandoned structure – falls outside what it really does well.
PinIt vs AllTrails
PinIt
AllTrails
Free to see all locations
✓
✓
Community-pinned
✓
✓
Add your own discoveries
✓
✗
Exploration beyond trails
✓
✗ Trails only
Route navigation
✗
✓ Plus
Difficulty ratings
✗
✓
Offline maps
✗
✓ Plus
Responsible exploration built in
✓
✗
Trip lists and planning
✓
Partial
Bottom line
The best app for hiking trails by a long way. If what you're after is a mapped route with navigation, AllTrails wins and we'd tell you to use it. But if you're looking for a hidden viewpoint, a wild swimming spot, or somewhere most people have never heard of – the kind of places PinIt is built for – AllTrails probably doesn't have it.
Google Maps
The world's most used mapping app. Billions of listed places, directions, reviews, and photos. Free, and already on almost every phone.
What it's great for
Finding somewhere you already know the name of. Getting directions. Reading reviews before you visit. Saving places to lists. Google Maps is genuinely excellent at all of this, and if you've found a hidden gem through other means, it's usually the best way to navigate there.
Where it falls short
It's not built for discovery. The algorithm surfaces popular places, which is the opposite of what a hidden gem finder does. Search for "viewpoint" near you and you'll get the same spots that have been on the first page for years. The Saved feature exists but is designed around bookmarking places you already know about rather than planning exploration. There's nothing built around responsible exploration, community contribution to a shared map, or genuinely finding something new.
PinIt vs Google Maps
PinIt
Google Maps
Free to see all locations
✓
✓
Built for discovery
✓
✗
Community-pinned hidden gems
✓
✗
Add your own discoveries
✓
Partial
Exploration and trip planning
✓
✗
Responsible exploration built in
✓
✗
Mark as visited
✓
✗
Turn-by-turn navigation
✗
✓
Offline maps
✗
✓
Bottom line
Google Maps is on almost every phone for a reason and it's great at what it does. But what it does isn't hidden gem discovery. It's a navigation and review tool that surfaces popular places. Use it to get to PinIt pins. Use PinIt to find them.
How they all compare
PinIt
UK Hidden Gems
Atlas Obscura
AllTrails
Google Maps
Free to see all locations
✓
✗ after 100 gems
✓
✓
✓
Global coverage
✓
✗ UK only
✓
✓
✓
Community-pinned
✓
✗ Editorial
Partial
✓ Reviews only
Partial
iOS and Android app
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Single account across all platforms
✓
✗
✓
✓
✓
Responsible exploration built in
✓
✗
✗
✗
✗
Trip lists / planning
✓
✓
Partial
Partial
✗
Parking info on pins
✓ Community-added
✓ Curated
✗
✗
✓
Curated food and accommodation
✗
✓
✗
✗
✓ Reviews
Mark as visited
✓
✗
✗
✓
✗
Add your own discoveries
✓
✗
Partial
✗
Partial
When might PinIt not be the right choice?
This is the section that would be easy to leave out. We're not going to.
If curated food and accommodation recommendations near every location matter to you, UK Hidden Gems has handpicked nearby pubs, restaurants, and places to stay alongside most of their gems. PinIt pins can include getting-there instructions and parking details added by the community, but there's no dedicated curated layer for food and stays. If that's a priority, it's worth knowing.
If you love weird historical oddities more than outdoor exploration, Atlas Obscura has been building its database for over a decade and has an incredible depth of editorial writing. They go deep on the history and context of each place in a way that community pins don't always match.
If you're primarily looking for hiking trails with difficulty ratings and turn-by-turn navigation, AllTrails is built for that. We have trails on PinIt but AllTrails has documented routes, navigation, and difficulty information in a way we don't.
If you want every location vetted before it goes live, PinIt is community-driven. That's a strength in many ways, but if you want an editorial team to review each place before it appears on the map, that's not what we do.
Frequently asked questions
The bottom line
PinIt is the right choice if you want free access to community-discovered hidden gems with responsible exploration built in. It's the best option if you want to contribute your own discoveries, use one account across web and mobile, and be part of a community that takes looking after these places seriously. The vast majority of our pins are in the UK right now, and we're growing fast.
It's probably not the right choice if curated food and accommodation recommendations at every location is a must-have, or if you're specifically looking for historical oddities with rich editorial writing.
Any of the tools above are worth trying depending on what kind of explorer you are. We just hope whichever one you use, you show up well.
