HuntStand vs Spartan Forge
HuntStand and Spartan Forge are two of the most popular hunting map apps in the country, and hunters comparing them are usually deciding where a season’s subscription money goes. Here is how they line up on each company’s own published pricing and features — followed by which hunter each serves best.
| HuntStand | Spartan Forge | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Generalist — hunting plus land management, whitetail to Western big game | Deer-focused mapping built around LiDAR and UAV imagery |
| Pricing | Free tier · Pro from $34.99/yr · Ultimate $99.99/yr for the advanced whitetail tools | Free version · Paid $79.99/yr or $12.99/mo, one tier |
| Free trial | No stated trial; free tier available | Varies; free version available |
| State coverage | All 50 states + most of Canada on paid plans | All states, one price |
| Satellite & base maps | National aerial imagery with monthly satellite updates on paid plans | UAV imagery where covered, satellite elsewhere |
| Lidar / terrain shading | 3D mapping on paid plans | Proprietary LiDAR layer — 1m resolution for roughly two-thirds of the lower 48, on the paid plan |
| Property lines & owners | Nationwide property lines with ownership data and owner search on paid plans | Private and public land boundaries on paid plan; basic ownership on free |
| AI assistant | Not advertised | CyberScout assistant (question-and-answer style) |
| AI stand rating | Not advertised | Not advertised |
| AI terrain analysis | 3D terrain fly-through | LiDAR and slope layers for manual terrain reading |
| Buck tracking & trophy room | Trail-camera photo tools | Not advertised |
| Deer prediction / analysis | 15-day activity forecasts and rut maps — on the $99.99 Ultimate tier | AI deer-movement prediction model |
| Weather | Detailed weather forecasts | Weather and lunar data |
| In-app support | Help center and support channels | Help center and support channels |
| Referral program | Not advertised | Not advertised |
| Offline maps | Unlimited offline maps on paid plans | Offline maps on paid plan |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, web | iOS, Android, desktop |
Choose HuntStand if…
You want hunting plus land management in one account — property lines with owner search across all 50 states, monthly satellite imagery, 3D terrain and rut maps — or you want to start free with a genuinely usable tier.
Choose Spartan Forge if…
You scout terrain first. LiDAR and UAV imagery show the ground with the foliage stripped away, and the AI movement model plus CyberScout assistant lean the whole product toward deer-specific analysis.
Bottom line
HuntStand is the stronger pick for land managers and free-tier starters. Spartan Forge is the stronger pick for terrain-obsessed deer hunters. Both offer free tiers or trials — the honest answer is to run your own ground through each.
The whitetail-specialist alternative to both
Disclosure: this comparison is published by Contors. HuntStand and Spartan Forge are generalists; Contors is the whitetail specialist — Scout, an AI that works your map directly (pins, routes, hunt plans, wind calls on your terrain), a Buck Refuge Model built from your own ground, every state on every plan from $39.99/yr, and a 14-day trial longer than either app above offers. Head to head: Contors vs HuntStand · Contors vs Spartan Forge · all four compared.
onX® and onX Hunt® are trademarks of onXmaps, Inc. HuntStand® is a trademark of TerraStride Inc. Spartan Forge® is a trademark of Spartan Forge. Contors publishes this comparison and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by either company compared above. All information reflects each company’s own published materials as of August 2026; features and prices change — verify current details on their websites. “Not advertised” means we did not find the feature in the company’s published materials, not that it does not exist.