Google Maps is the most popular navigation app, with over 54% of smartphone owners using it at least once.
In contrast, HERE WeGo, previously known as Here Maps, now owned by multiple companies, is a direct competitor of Google Maps.
How do both differ? The blog post explores boh and covers HERE WeGo vs. Google Maps.
Routing
Filled with powerful AI, both use different routing techniques. When you search for something, you get the recommended route with additional paths. To identify which is better, I went for a test drive.
I put a destination in both. Here WeGo showed 16:38 as the arrival time, whereas Google Maps showed 16:36.
The route was also slightly different. After the 12-kilometer journey, I got to the destination at 16:35.
Depending on the region, one can outperform the other.
Winner: Tie
Reporting
Google Maps is slowly adding reporting features. HERE WeGo already comes with a few options. The below table compares the reporting options of both.
| Feature | HERE WeGo | Google Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Speed camera | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Speed limit | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Vehicle’s speed | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Mobile speed camera | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Crash | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Congestion | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Roadworks | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Lane Closure | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Disabled Vehicle | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Object on Road | ❌ | ✔️ |
Both are location-dependent, so you might not see some options in your region.
Winner: Google Maps
Speedometer test
Regarding the speedometer, both are almost accurate. There is usually a 1 km/hr difference between the two and the vehicle’s speed. The above video shows both in action at the same time.
Winner: Tie
Related: HERE WeGo vs. Waze
Transit options
The next round of HERE WeGo vs. Google Maps covers the supported routing options. HERE WeGo comes with both car and public transport options.
Although it’s not as advanced as Google Maps, which shows live buses in some regions, it follows the official public transport times.
The below table displays the supported options. Like reporting, both are region-dependent, so some may not be offered in your country.
| Transport | HERE WeGo | Google Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Car | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Motorbike | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Bicycle | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Walking | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Taxi / Uber | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Public transport | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Winner: Google Maps
With HERE WeGo, we can download territories and nations simultaneously, while Google Maps allows you to download a particular area.
HERE WeGo also offers to download public transport data. The info may not be accurate, but something is better than nothing.
Both send a notification when an update is released. Google Maps sets an expiry date for downloaded maps, and you must download the new data after the expiry.
Both automatically switch to the offline mode when the internet connection drops, but you can manually go offline in the settings.
Winner: Tie
Related: Google Maps vs. Waze
Business information
Google Maps and HERE WeGo, along with Waze, are the only navigation apps offering business information.
Regarding the info, Google Maps is king. Let’s look at the table below to see which service supports what.
| Feature | HERE WeGo | Google Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Contact information | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Website | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Rating | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Reviews | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Business hours | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Nearby public transport | ❌ | ✔️ |
Winner: Google Maps
Other features
HERE WeGo
- An app is available for Galaxy Watch
- No account is needed to use the app
Google Maps
- Street and real-time street view to find destinations easily
- Total lanes and recommend lanes to help you drive better
- Timeline history is available to see your destinations
- See busy and quiet areas
- Uses GPS time (not the phone’s time)
- Night mode uses sensors (such as auto night mode in tunnels)
Contributions
Google Maps comes with a program where users can earn points by posting pictures and videos, answering questions, and rating and reviewing places.
The service also uses a level system, which increases after specific points.
Related: Sygic vs. Waze
Which one is for you?
HERE WeGo is popular in Europe, so if you live in Europe, you must try HERE WeGo. Google Maps is the ultimate stop if you don’t like HERE WeGo.
However, with the number of features Google Maps has, it’s slow on some devices and uses more battery. If you want to save battery, you will find HERE WeGo better.
HERE WeGo vs. Google Maps: Links
Wrap up
The end of the HERE WeGo vs. Google Maps article is here. I hope the blog post helped. The comparison covered the essential features, but please comment below if you have any doubts or feedback.
Madhsudhan Khemchandani has a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering (Honours). He has been writing articles on apps and software for over five years. He has also made over 200 videos on his YouTube channel. Read more about him on the about page.
One major downfall of the Google Maps is for people like me that travel from Knoxville TN to Kingston Ontario Canada. Google maps eats a lot of data unless you download the map first, and there are two issues with doing that. The first is that the shape of the download box is fixed and is tall and narrow, and the second issue is that this box does not nearly cover the area I need. Here WeGo is a onece-and-done.
HERE WeGo does not register that in London we are having a train strike today for certain train companies whereas Google maps does. That is a major advantage for Google in planning travel today.
Here in Switzerland, WeGo doesn’t take into consideration the status of the mountain passes where as Maps does. So if you need to drive over a mountain pass, WeGo will give you an absolutely false trip advise.
I find that Here Maps is not used as much in UK, therefore some addresses hard harder to find and directions are not as good. In UK Google is much better and its a shame premium brands (BMW) opt for the cheaper option
In my testing, Google Maps more often gives me my preferred routing than HereWeGo does. In fact, most of the time, HereWego tends to choose longer, less desirable routes. Recently I used HereWeGo to navigate to a restaurant in a large shopping mall. HereWeGo “arrived” about 1/4 mile away from the restaurant while Google maps dropped me off at the front door.
HereWeGo often chooses longer routes that take longer while Google Maps almost always choose the faster route. I don’t know if you use HereWeGo frequently enough, will it “learn” your preferred route?
Lastly, and this is the most frustrating thing, is that searching for destinations in HereWeGo rarely gives me the destination I’m looking for. I almost always need to look the address up in Google, then type in the address in HereWeGo to navigate. Since Google maps is integrated into the Google search engine, the interface is more seamless. If I’m already using Google to find the address, why switch to HereWeGo for navigation?