Surprisingly (or not), there are many other geocaching sites besides the
main geocaching.com. These other sites have their own rules about
placement, different rating and logging features, etc.
* NaviCache: one of the first alternatives to develop, based around looser restrictions
* TerraCaching: Developed with the desire of placing higher quality caches
* Opencaching (.us): A site promoting free use for all users, with no premium (paid) content.
* Opencaching.com: GPS manufacturer Garmin's geocaching website
I
have a Terracaching account from a long time ago, when I was more
active in geocaching. However, I never found or placed a terracache;
there were none near me and I wasn't sure one of my caches would qualify
as "high quality". Plus, I wanted people to actually find it.
Terracaching isn't popular enough around here.
I do like Garmin's
opencaching.com site layout. At first glance, I find it to be simple
and intuitive. I think I still prefer geocaching.com, at least now that
I'm familiar with how to navigate around the site (when I first started
caching, that might be another thing...).
I also like the idea
of Opencaching (opencaching.us), providing free caching without any
special paid content. I generally like anything that's "open" for
everyone to participate (open source software, wikis, etc.). The site
is also fairly straight forward to use. I think I like its look a
little more than opencaching.com.
There is confusion about
opencaching.com and opencaching.us. At least, it seems potentially
confusing. The .com is owned by Garmin. It's free, but I'm not sure
what other features it has. It doesn't seem very clear to me what the
goal or purpose of it is. On the other hand, the .us site has a more
clearly defined aspect: keep it free. I understand why it exists as an
alternative to geocaching.com. One convenient thing about it is the
ability to cross-list caches, based on the few cache listing I've seen
there. It makes it easy to say "Also listed on: Geocaching.com", with a
link directly to that cache page.
One of the most common
features that these alternative sites offer is rating caches.
Geocaching.com, from what I understand, is against the idea of having
ratings, per se. They did introduce a feature that allows premium
members to mark their favorite 10% of cache finds. That's probably as
close to rating as it'll get.
I don't know how I feel about
rating. I love getting feedback from my caches - what I did good, what I
need to work on, and so forth. The major downside I can see is
different caching styles people have. That makes it difficult to
compare user ratings equally, given that everyone will have different
criteria. I guess most people view the good outweighing this for it to
be a feature on many, if not most, of the alternatives.
Alternative Geocaching.com websites
Comparison of geocaching services
This comparison is based on the features that the respective platforms offer to the user. Only those functions that serve the purpose of using the data have been evaluated. The quantity and quality of the caches have not been evaluated because they are user-generated content and cannot be influenced by the platform operator.
For geocaching.com, basic and premium membership are listed separately because there are many differences between them. In the original Opencaching, there is a distinction between old and new code base. The old one is in use at opencaching.pl, opencaching.us, and at other nodes. The new code base is in use at opencaching.de and opencaching.it, among others. Opencaching.com has nothing to do with the free opencaching network; why Garmin as a (commercial) operator still chose this name, will probably forever remain a mystery.
Comparison tables
For geocaching.com, basic and premium membership are listed separately because there are many differences between them. In the original Opencaching, there is a distinction between old and new code base. The old one is in use at opencaching.pl, opencaching.us, and at other nodes. The new code base is in use at opencaching.de and opencaching.it, among others. Opencaching.com has nothing to do with the free opencaching network; why Garmin as a (commercial) operator still chose this name, will probably forever remain a mystery.
Comparison tables
- Caches (Download) - Last change: 22.05.13
- Caches (Listings & Logs) - Last change: 22.05.13
- Searching for caches - Last change: 22.05.13
- Cachemap - Last change: 22.05.13
- Notifications & Statistics - Last change: 22.05.13
- Other - Last change: 22.05.13
munze
munzee is a GPS game similar to geocaching. I don’t play the game, munzee is not supported on Blackberry platform but I have been with other players. Here are the main differences in the games as far as I can tell.
1. munzee is all about the numbers, I’m not kidding. There is a leaderboard on munzee.com that allows players to see their standing against other players.
2. Device dependant. Each munzee account is attached to a particular device. This means that teams of more than one person will need to share phones. I was out with a friend the other night and he had his wife’s phone so he could do captures.
3. No pen required. Logging is accomplished by the scanning of a QR code or the reading of a chip using near field communication.
Garmin
OpenCaching.com
Free & open.No subscriptions. No membership fees. And the community is in control.
Powered by users.You help determine what caches get listed and what features are added.
We’re a collection of hikers, bikers, techno geeks, treasure seekers, scouts, families and just plain nature lovers who deserve to geocache the way we want.
And that’s exactly why we created this site – to put the power back in the hands of the community. And to finally give us all a voice in the way geocaching grows.
Its Not About The Numbers » Just another Geocaching blog
OpenCaching.com One Year On » Its Not About The Numbers
TerraCaching.com
Is anyone using this site? What's the big difference between it and Geocaching.com? Is it worth the hoop jumping to find sponsors?
Opencaching.us
Geocaching is an outdoor sport or activity in which cachers use a GPS receiver to find a "treasure" hidden by other participants. Many caches are secured in watertight containers, containing trinkets and/or a logbook in which cachers record their discovery of the cache. The coordinates to the location of the caches are stored in online databases, such as Opencaching NA, along with descriptions and instructions necessary to find them. This site is free to use with no fees whatsoever. You can organize your favorite caches, build custom searches, be instantly notified of new caches, seek and create caches of all types, export GPX queries and much more!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)