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Looking for a Mapstr alternative? Bookmarks or memories?
Mapstr is one of the nicest ways to pin places you’ve heard about and plan where to go. But a pin can’t tell you what you ordered, how it was, or who sat across the table. If that’s the gap you’re trying to fill, here’s how the two apps differ — and why they make a good pair.
Free on iPhone and Android. No account, and it works with no signal.
Kōya
Your usualTuna steak
Here again
The tuna, probably. Four of your six visits ended with it, and last time Ana stole half.
In short
Mapstr is a bookmark map: save places in one tap, tag and color them, mark them To try or Tried, import from Google Maps, and follow friends’ maps. PlateDiary is a memory map: one photo of the table becomes a save for every dish, and your map, places and companions fill in from the meals you’ve actually had. Use Mapstr to plan and PlateDiary to remember.
Checked
Credit first
What Mapstr does well.
On its own store pages, Mapstr says you can build the map of your own world. Save a place with one tap, then sort with tags and colors. Mark it “To try” or “Tried”, add notes, ratings and photos, and import places from Google Maps, CSV or KML files. Follow friends, chefs, magazines and local creators, merge their maps with yours, and share your map as a link that opens in any browser. You can keep the map private or hide single pins, and open it offline when you travel.
It’s on iPhone and Android, with a web version, and a paid tier called Mapstr Plus adds extras such as bulk edits and a visit journal. For planning a trip to Copenhagen or keeping every bakery a friend has ever recommended, it’s excellent.
The difference
A bookmark is a promise. A memory is what happened.
A pin in a bookmark map is about a place — the night you go there is a single “Tried” toggle. PlateDiary starts from the night. You take one photo of the table; on-device machine learning cuts every dish and drink into its own save in about a second; and the saves land together as a moment, filed by place and time.
That changes what a pin can hold. Tap a PlateDiary pin and you see every visit there, your usual, every dish you’ve had with a count (“birria tacos · eaten 4×”), and who you usually go with.
No pinning
A map that builds itself.
- Nothing to pin. The place comes from where the photo was taken. Imported photos keep their place too.
- One pin per place, with a badge for how many times you’ve been.
- Filters for food, drinks and four-star-plus saves.
- Open in Maps hands off to your maps app for directions.
- Offline — capture, cut-outs, naming and browsing need no signal.
At a glance
Mapstr and PlateDiary, side by side.
| Mapstr | PlateDiary | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Saving and planning places | Remembering meals you had |
| How a place gets on the map | You save it | From the photo of your meal |
| Places to try | Yes, To try / Tried | Not built in |
| What a pin holds | Tags, notes, ratings, photos | Every visit, every dish with a count, your companions |
| Import | Google Maps, CSV, KML | Photos from your camera roll |
| Friends | Follow friends and creators, share a map link | No feed; companions are private |
| Offline | Open your map offline | Capture and browsing offline |
| Platforms | iPhone, Android, web | iPhone, Android |
Better together
Plan in Mapstr, remember in PlateDiary.
- Pin the rumorA friend swears by a dumpling place in Toronto. Save it in Mapstr as To try.
- Go, and snap the tableOne photo in PlateDiary when the steamers arrive. Every basket gets its own save.
- Flip the pinMark it Tried in Mapstr, so your planning map stays tidy.
- Let the memory growNext time, PlateDiary’s place page shows what you ordered and who you went with.
Pick yours
Choose Mapstr if… choose PlateDiary if…
We make PlateDiary, so weigh that in. Mapstr facts come from its App Store page, Google Play page and mapstr.com, checked 19 October 2026.
- Choose Mapstr if… you collect places before you go, plan trips around them, or like following other people’s maps.
- Choose PlateDiary if… you want the map to fill itself in from meals you’ve had, with the dishes and people attached, privately and without an account.
Questions
Questions people ask.
Is there a free alternative to Mapstr?
Google Maps lists are free and do the bookmark job. PlateDiary is free to download and does a different job — a map of meals you’ve had, built from your photos.
Can PlateDiary import my Mapstr places?
No. PlateDiary builds its map from meals, not saved pins. You can import past food photos from your camera roll and they land at the place they were taken.
Which one works offline?
Both, in different ways. Mapstr says you can open your map offline. In PlateDiary, capture, cut-outs, naming and browsing all work with no signal.
Does PlateDiary have a want-to-try list?
No. It only holds meals you’ve had. Keep places to try in Mapstr or Google Maps.
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