How Mapssy works

Mapssy puts Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze side by side for one car trip. You type where you start and where you are going, press Compare, and a few seconds later you see a drive time, a distance and an arrival time for each app. This page explains what those numbers are and what they are not.

Live times and estimates

Google Maps answers with its own live traffic at the moment you compare. Waze has no route data that Mapssy can use, and the website doesn't ask Apple Maps, so those cards show an estimate that Mapssy works out from the live answer. Every estimate carries an estimate label, so you always know which is which. The Mapssy iPhone app asks Apple Maps directly, and there the Apple time is Apple's own.

Why an app can show a different time later

Traffic changes by the minute. The results page shows the time the answers were checked, and an app you open a few minutes later can be a minute or two off. Your own settings in the app matter too: if it avoids tolls or motorways, or prefers a fuel-saving route, it may take a different road. Unless you choose an avoid option (a Pro feature), Mapssy asks for the fastest car route with nothing avoided. Our guide on setting up the apps shows where those options are.

Apps also disagree about where a place is. "Vienna Airport" can mean a terminal, a car park or a pin in the middle of the site, depending on the app. Why map apps send you to different places explains how to make sure every app goes to the same spot.

What Mapssy doesn't do

• It doesn't keep your trips on its servers. With Pro, your recent searches stay on your own device, and you can clear them in Settings.
• It doesn't publish travel times from the apps in its guides. The guides cover roads, vignettes and borders, and each route guide has a button to compare that route live.
• It only uses your location when you tap Use my location, and never for advertising.
• It shows no ads inside the route tool. Ads appear only on content pages such as the guides.

What a comparison can't tell you

Mapssy shows what each app says before you leave. It can't tell you which app will turn out right on the day, because nobody knows how long a drive takes until it is over. An estimate also can't know about a jam that only Waze or Apple has seen. Tolls, vignettes and border checks aren't part of the times either; the guides cover them, starting with motorway vignettes 2026.

If a result looks wrong, tell us the start, the destination and the time it was checked, and we'll look into it.