Full disclosure: Mountain Identifier is our app. Everything we say about PeakFinder below comes from its public App Store listing, checked on July 11, 2026 — and where PeakFinder is genuinely strong, we say so plainly. Our own rating base is tiny (3.0★ from 2 ratings); PeakFinder has a real rating history. Verify anything on this page against the linked listing — it always wins.
Mountain Identifier vs PeakFinder at a glance
| Compare | Mountain Identifier This is our app | PeakFinder PeakFinder GmbH |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating US storefront, checked July 11, 2026. | 3.0★ from just 2 ratings — far too few to mean anything yet | 4.7★ (11,527 ratings) |
| How it identifies As described by each app's own listing. | AI photo recognition, cross-checked against nearby peaks via GPS + compass | Offline 360° panorama drawing from a terrain model, overlaid on the camera |
| Price to download | Free | $4.99 |
| Subscription | $5.99/week or $24.99/year | None — no in-app purchases at all |
| Works on photos already on your phone | ✓ — identify peaks in old travel photos | No photo analysis — draws a panorama for any viewpoint you pick |
| Works offline | No — identification needs a connection | ✓ Fully offline (its listing's claim) |
| Languages | English + 32 more | English + 9 more |
| Minimum iOS | iOS 17+ | iOS 13+ |
| On the App Store since | 2026 | 2010 |
Two different tools, honestly framed
PeakFinder doesn't look at your photo. It computes a 360° panorama from a terrain model for wherever you're standing (or any viewpoint you choose), and labels every summit on that drawn skyline — completely offline. Mountain Identifier does the opposite: it analyses a photo — the one you just took or one from last summer's trip — and returns a single identification with a detail card. Neither approach is "better"; they're for different moments. Our guide to how to identify a mountain covers when each method (and no app at all) is the right call.
What PeakFinder does brilliantly
- The reference app of the category — on the App Store since 2010, 4.7 stars across 11,527 US ratings.
- Fully offline panorama rendering with a database of over a million peaks — ideal on a summit with no signal.
- $4.99 once. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads — the cheapest way to own a peak identifier outright.
What to weigh before buying
- It draws a computed panorama from your position rather than analysing your photo — you match the drawing to the skyline yourself.
- Paid up front: there's no free version to try first (Mountain Identifier and PeakVisor are free downloads).
How Mountain Identifier is different
- It works from a photo. Point the camera at the peak — or open a photo you took years ago — and it identifies the mountain, cross-checking the AI's answer against real nearby peaks using your location and compass heading.
- Details, not just a name. Every identification comes with a summit card — elevation, prominence, range and country — and is saved to your scan history.
- Ask follow-ups. The built-in AI mountain guide answers questions about the peak you just identified — routes, history, "why does it look different from this side?".
- Free to try. The download is free, so you can judge a real identification before paying anything; unlimited scans are $24.99/year.
- The honest trade-offs: identification needs an internet connection (PeakFinder works fully offline), our subscription costs more over time than PeakFinder's one-time $4.99, and our rating base is 2 ratings — PeakFinder's 11,527 are a real signal we can't match yet.
Which should you choose?
Choose PeakFinder if you're regularly out on trails and summits and want every peak around you named, offline, with no subscription — $4.99 once for the category's reference panorama app is the best pure value in this comparison, and we'd rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.
Choose Mountain Identifier if your question is usually about a photo — the peak in front of you right now, or one in your camera roll — and you want the answer as a detail card you can save and ask follow-up questions about, with a free download to test it first.
Honestly? At PeakFinder's price, plenty of people should simply get both: one for the ridge line around you, one for the photos you bring home.
Related comparisons
Sources
- Mountain Identifier — App Store listing (checked July 11, 2026)
- PeakFinder — App Store listing (checked July 11, 2026)