LandedGo vs Google Maps
Google Maps is great for getting around. It is not built for living in Southeast Asia.
Navigation, restaurants, and directions — Google Maps does all of that well. Visa expiry alerts, active scam warnings near your location, offline maps with foreigner POIs, and an AI concierge that knows your immigration situation — that is LandedGo.
What Google Maps does well
Google Maps is the world's most widely used navigation app. It provides turn-by-turn directions, business listings, street-level imagery, public transit information, and user reviews across Southeast Asia. It works in all 44 cities that LandedGo covers. For basic navigation, it is excellent and free.
Where Google Maps falls short for foreigners
1.No scam alerts — Google Maps has no layer for active scam patterns near your location. Whether it is the taxi rank outside Suvarnabhumi running meter scams today, currency exchange counters on Bui Vien short-changing tourists, or tuk-tuk drivers at temple entrances — Google Maps does not know and cannot warn you.
2.No visa or compliance tracking — Google Maps has no concept of your immigration status, visa expiry date, days in country, 90-day reporting obligations, or Thailand Digital Arrival Card deadlines. These are the compliance details that get travellers and expats fined, detained, or deported.
3.No foreigner-specific POI layer — Knowing where the nearest English-speaking hospital is, which ATMs charge the lowest fees, where the immigration office is, and which SIM vendors are legitimate is not surfaced by Google Maps in any structured way.
4.No offline tiles sized for pre-arrival download — Google Maps offline areas are limited and expire. LandedGo lets you download a full city tile pack (Bangkok is 220 MB) on Wi-Fi before you land, no expiry, with the full foreigner POI layer included. Requires an Arrival Kit, City Pass, or Pro subscription.
5.No contextual intelligence — Google Maps answers "where is it" but not "is it safe", "is this price fair", "what do I say when I get there", or "do I need to do anything at immigration this week". That context requires a different kind of tool.
What LandedGo adds
✓Live scam alert overlay on the map — community-reported, location-tagged, severity-sorted. Know what is active within 500m of you today.
✓Visa expiry and compliance tracking with proactive push notifications — never miss a 90-day report or overstay a visa because you lost count.
✓Foreigner POI layer — English hospitals, fee-rated ATMs, immigration offices, SIM vendors, Grab zones, and scam alert radius zones on top of the base map.
✓Offline city maps pre-sized for download before arrival — all 44 cities, no expiry, full foreigner POI layer included (Arrival Kit, City Pass, or Pro).
✓AI concierge with location context — ask about anything near you and get an answer grounded in verified local intelligence, not generic web results.
The verdict
Use Google Maps for navigation. Use LandedGo for everything else that matters for travellers and expats — scam awareness, visa compliance, local intelligence, and offline preparedness. They work better together than either does alone.
Side by side
| Feature | Google Maps | LandedGo |
|---|---|---|
| Offline maps | Limited / none | ✓ With Arrival Kit or Pro |
| Scam alerts | ✗ | ✓ Live + location-tagged |
| Visa tracking | ✗ | ✓ With push alerts |
| AI with local context | ✗ / General | ✓ SEA-specific |
| Destination cards | ✗ | ✓ Local script |
| Foreigner POI layer | ✗ | ✓ Hospitals, ATMs, offices |
| Emergency button | ✗ | ✓ Always free |
| Works offline | Partial | ✓ Maps + vault + cards |
Common questions
Does LandedGo replace Google Maps?
Can I use LandedGo offline like Google Maps?
Is LandedGo free like Google Maps?
Which cities does LandedGo cover?
No App Store. Works on iPhone, Android, and desktop.
Get started free