Mapy.com vs Apple Maps
Mapy.com is a European alternative to Apple Maps: same use case, headquartered in Czech Republic and governed by EU GDPR, while Apple Maps (Apple) is based in the United States.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Explore detailed world maps, find hiking and cycling trails, and plan routes for any journey. Offers comprehensive mapping for cities and towns globally.
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- Primary privacy law
- EU GDPR
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- No
- Free tier
- No
Driving, transit and cycling routes with elevation, plus Look Around street imagery, with location history kept off your Apple Account and personalisation handled on the device. There is no subscription and nothing to pay beyond the Apple hardware it runs on. Apple Inc. is headquartered in California and its Maps terms name California law by default.
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
Mapy.com vs Apple Maps at a glance
| Mapy.com | Apple Maps | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Czech Republic | United States |
| Data jurisdiction | EU / EEA | United States |
| Primary privacy law | EU GDPR | Requires DPA + transfer assessment |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Best for | Teams that need this built for European data-protection requirements | Teams already invested in the Apple ecosystem |
Choose Mapy.com if…
- You want a provider governed by a European privacy regime
- GDPR or public-sector data-protection requirements apply to you
- You'd rather back the European tech ecosystem
Stick with Apple Maps if…
- You depend on integrations only available in the Apple ecosystem
- Your organisation has no EU data-residency constraints
- Migration costs outweigh the jurisdiction benefits for now
Why choose Mapy.com over Apple Maps?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. Apple Maps is headquartered in the United States, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes: the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
Mapy.com removes that overhead. As a Czech Republic-based provider, it operates under EU GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors such as health, public administration, and finance, that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.