Google Maps is great until you leave the city, and that's where Waze earns its keep

Published Aug 12, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Anurag is an experienced journalist and author who’s been covering tech for the past 5 years, with a focus on Windows, Android, and Apple. He’s written for sites like Android Police, Neowin, Dexerto, and MakeTechEasier. Anurag’s always pumped about tech and loves getting his hands on the latest gadgets. When he's not procrastinating, you’ll probably find him catching the newest movies in theaters or scrolling through Twitter from his bed. Google Maps is the obvious default when I am traveling within a city. It can find almost any business, surface reviews and photos, and guide me through streets I have never visited. Once I leave the city and enter a highway, those features don't matter to me. I need to know about changing speed limits, enforcement cameras, sharp curves, potholes, stopped vehicles, road closures, and congestion early enough to react. While Google Maps offers some of these features, I prefer using Waze. Its user reports are more comprehensive and timely, and it offers other important features that are needed on a highway, including aggressive real-time rerouting, detailed camera information, speed warnings, and alerts about the road itself. Waze gives you a better picture of the road ahead It works best on highways When planning a trip, I use Google Maps because it offers more options, such as multiple stops and street view. For actually traveling, I use Waze because it gives me more time to react. Waze’s biggest advantage on highways is the amount of information it provides about the road ahead. It allows drivers to report crashes, congestion, broken traffic lights, objects on the road, vehicles stopped on the shoulder, and even the cops. Waze then asks other drivers passing through the area to confirm whether the report is still accurate, which keeps the information up to date. When Google acquired Waze in 2013, I thought some of these features will eventually seep into Google Maps as well. Some did, but the implementation you see in Waze is much better than in Google Maps. Waze also has a community of volunteer map editors working behind the scenes on these reports. They can add road closures, correct street directions, update addresses, and make map changes caused by construction or major events. Authorities and other approved partners can add planned and real-time closures through the Waze Map Editor, with closures appearing immediately and affecting the routes Waze recommends. I can even contribute to these updates directly from the app. Waze has a conversational reporting feature that lets you describe an incident using your voice, and it can now accept map corrections as well. Saying that a road is closed sends the information to local map editors for verification. You get better control over speed and camera alerts It also warns you about speed limit reductions Google Maps can display your current speed and changes the speedometer’s color when you exceed the limit. Waze gives you more control. You can choose when the speed limit appears, set the threshold that Waze should treat as speeding, and enable an audible warning when you cross it. Waze also warns you before a significant speed-limit reduction. If the limit drops as you approach a town, toll plaza, construction zone, or complicated junction, you have time to slow down before entering that section. Its camera information is considerably more detailed. Waze distinguishes between fixed speed cameras, red-light cameras, combined speed-and-red-light cameras, mobile police cameras, stop-sign cameras, and average-speed enforcement zones. It can also identify cameras monitoring bus lanes, HOV lanes, mobile-phone use, seat belts, following distance, and vehicle noise. You can control which camera types appear on the map and which ones produce audible warnings. Waze also warns you when you approach one of these zones and continues showing that you are inside it until you leave. It also reacts quickly when the road ahead changes Waze takes a more active approach to rerouting Waze takes a more active approach to rerouting. It continually uses live traffic speeds, driver reports, and road closures to check whether your current route remains the fastest option. When traffic builds up, or an accident blocks part of the highway, Waze can move you onto an alternative route before you reach the back of the queue. If a closure is several kilometers ahead, the last useful exit could arrive long before you can see the congestion. Waze uses current road information to make that decision while you still have somewhere else to go. You also get more control over the roads Waze considers. While Google Maps lets you avoid highways, tolls, and ferries, Waze also adds options for unpaved roads, difficult intersections, and high-risk areas. You can allow unpaved roads, avoid only long stretches, or exclude them completely. Saving four minutes loses some of its charm when the shortcut starts testing your suspension. Waze can also account for tolls and HOV passes, subscription lanes, clean-air passes, and vignettes in supported regions. If your vehicle qualifies for an express or HOV lane, you can add the relevant pass and let Waze include it in the route. It can also navigate around license-plate restrictions in cities where certain vehicles are prohibited from entering roads at specific times. Google Maps alternatives to try Waze is definitely a very good alternative to Google Maps, and it's actually helpful when you step out of the city. If you're looking for more options, you can also consider Apple Maps, which is not as bad as they say. There are also Organic Maps and Reitti, which are worth considering.