A Fogbreaker alternative: FOG vs Fogbreaker, compared
If you are shopping for a Fogbreaker alternative, the split is simple. Fogbreaker is a social step tracker with accounts, XP and friend leaderboards. FOG is a one purchase, no account walking map that keeps everything on your phone.
The short answer
Both apps hide the world under fog and clear it permanently as you walk. They differ in what the map is for.
- Pick Fogbreaker if you want the game layer: XP, levels, daily quests, step streaks, and friends on a shared leaderboard.
- Pick FOG if you want a private map with no account and no subscription, and if you want years of past walking to appear on day one from a Google Timeline export or GPX files.
Both are free to download, so you do not have to guess. Install both, walk the same route once, and see which map you actually open again on a Tuesday night.
What Fogbreaker is, from its own listing
Everything below comes from Fogbreaker's own website or its App Store listing, checked in August 2026. App listings change, so treat the details as a starting point and confirm on the current listing before you buy anything.
- It is made by Teratis Solutions GmbH and is listed on the App Store under Health & Fitness as free with in-app purchases. Their site states the app is available for iPhone and Android.
- The map starts fully covered and walking is what clears it, permanently. That core idea is the same as FOG's.
- On top of the map sit XP and explorer levels, a discovery radius that grows as you level, daily quests, step streaks, and friend leaderboards you join through an invite link.
- The App Store listing showed several purchase options at the time of writing, including a lifetime unlock and weekly, monthly and yearly subscription tiers. Prices and promotional offers move, so read the in-app purchase list on the store page yourself.
- Their privacy policy describes user accounts with a username, password and email address, and says step data is transmitted to and stored on their servers, linked to the account. It also says data lives on servers in the European Union and that you can delete your account and its data yourself.
We could not find any mention of importing existing location history, and there is no web or desktop version mentioned. If either matters to you, ask them directly rather than taking our word for it.
Side by side
Only rows we could verify from each app's own material are listed. Blank guesses are worse than no row at all.
| FOG | Fogbreaker | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | World hidden under fog, walking reveals it permanently | World hidden under fog, walking reveals it permanently |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android, per their site |
| Price model | Free to explore, one purchase of USD $5.99 unlocks everything. No subscription, ever | Free with in-app purchases. Listing showed a lifetime option and weekly, monthly and yearly tiers. Check the current listing |
| Account | None. No sign-up | Privacy policy describes accounts with username, password and email |
| Where progress lives | On the phone. No cloud, no analytics, no ads, no tracking | Step data stored on their servers in the EU, linked to the account, per their privacy policy |
| Friends and leaderboards | No. There is no account, so there is nothing to compare | Yes, invite friends by link to a shared leaderboard |
| Progression | Ranks by area covered: Wanderer, Scout, Pathfinder, Explorer, Voyager. Plus city percent | XP, explorer levels, growing discovery radius, daily quests, step streaks |
| History import | Google Timeline exports and GPX files, included in the paid unlock | Not stated on the pages we checked. Ask them |
| Export your data | Yes, at any time | Not stated on the pages we checked. Account deletion is offered |
Who should pick Fogbreaker
This is not a page that pretends the other app is bad. Fogbreaker is the better fit for a real set of people.
- You walk more when someone is watching. A friend leaderboard and a streak counter are a genuine motivator, and FOG offers neither.
- You want quests and levels, not just a map. Fogbreaker's XP and daily quests give you a reason to leave the house on a grey Wednesday.
- You want step counts and fitness framing in the same app as the fog.
- You are comfortable with an account and with progress kept on a server, and you like that the server is in the EU with self-serve deletion.
If those describe you, install Fogbreaker. You will be happier there than in a deliberately quiet app.
FOG's honest case
FOG is the narrower app. It does one thing and it does it without asking for anything.
- No account, no cloud. There is no sign-up, no analytics, no ads and no tracking. The map never leaves the phone, and you can export your data whenever you want.
- One purchase. Free to explore. A single USD $5.99 purchase unlocks unlimited ranks, every character and history import. There is no subscription and never will be.
- Your past counts. History import reads Google Timeline exports and GPX files, so years of old walks light up the map the day you install it, instead of starting from a blank city.
- It runs in the background. FOG keeps revealing with the app closed and the screen off, so you are not opening an app before every walk.
- Collection with a hard rule. 241 countries, 3,390 regions and 7,342 named places, and the only way to collect one is to physically stand in it.
- City percent. For any city you have walked, FOG tells you what percentage of it you have lit up. It is a humbling number.
Ranks climb with area covered, from Wanderer through Scout, Pathfinder and Explorer to Voyager. It works for walking, running and riding, and it works anywhere on Earth. There is no web version and no desktop app.
How to decide in one week
Comparison tables only get you so far. Do this instead.
- Install both. Both are free to start.
- Walk your normal week with each running. Notice which one you open unprompted.
- If you have a Google Timeline export sitting in your account, run it through the import in FOG and see how much of your city is already lit.
- Then pay for whichever one you kept opening. Nothing here is exclusive, and nothing stops you keeping both.
FOG is on the App Store and Google Play. If something on this page is out of date or unfair to Fogbreaker, write to [email protected] and it gets corrected.
Questions people actually ask
Is FOG a good Fogbreaker alternative?
It is if you want the map without the social layer. FOG has no account, no cloud and no leaderboards, and it charges one $5.99 purchase instead of a subscription. If leaderboards, XP and daily quests are the reason you walk, Fogbreaker is the better pick.
Does Fogbreaker require an account?
Their privacy policy describes user accounts with a username, password and email address, and says step data is stored on their servers linked to that account. We have not verified whether an account is mandatory to use the app at all. Check their current listing or ask them directly.
How much does each app cost?
FOG is free to explore and one purchase of USD $5.99 unlocks unlimited ranks, every character and history import, with no subscription. Fogbreaker is free with in-app purchases, and its App Store listing showed a lifetime option alongside weekly, monthly and yearly tiers. Prices and offers change, so read the store listing before you buy.
Can I move my Fogbreaker map into FOG?
Not directly. FOG imports Google Timeline exports and GPX files, so if you have location history in your Google account or GPX tracks from another app, those will fill in your map immediately. We could not verify whether Fogbreaker exports your map in either format.
Do either of them work offline?
FOG keeps no cloud copy and reveals streets in the background with the app closed, so the recording side does not depend on a connection. We have not verified how Fogbreaker behaves without a connection, since its step data is described as stored on their servers.
Which one is better for privacy?
They take different approaches. FOG has no account and no server at all, so the map stays on your phone and is exportable by you at any time. Fogbreaker keeps data on servers in the European Union under German and EU data-protection law, with self-serve account deletion, which some people prefer to trusting a single device.
Start with a dark map.
FOG is free to explore. No account, no subscription, and your map never leaves your phone.
free to explore · one purchase unlocks everything · never a subscription