A Google My Maps alternativeAll those pins.How many have you been to?
Google My Maps is good at putting pins on a map. It has no idea which ones you've been to. Bring your map over to Pinhead and every place is to go, been or skipped, and the map keeps count.
- KML OR KMZ
- YOUR GOOGLE MAP ISN'T CHANGED
- FREE WHILE IT'S TESTED
- Pins
- 9
- Been
- ?
- To go
- ?
What comes over from My Maps
- Every place: its name, its position and the description you wrote, which becomes the place's notes.
- Your photos: pictures you attached to a place in My Maps are copied in, up to six a place.
- Your layers: keep them together as one map, or make one map per layer.
- What your pins meant: pins that looked the same in My Maps are grouped, and you say once what each group was. If green meant done, that whole group comes in as Been.
- What each place is: My Maps icons become Pinhead's (a summit, a café, a beach). Plain pins are looked up in OpenStreetMap to find out, and you can change any you disagree with.
A place that's on two of your maps is brought in once, so marking it Been on one marks it on both.
What did your pins mean?
Pin, green × 12
Slieve Donard, Slieve Binnian, Slieve Bearnagh…
Pin, blue × 31
Slieve Muck, Eagle Mountain, Hen Mountain…
What doesn't
- Lines, shapes and directions layers: Pinhead imports places only.
- Dates: My Maps never knew when you went, so a place imported as Been has no date until you give it one.
- Custom pin colours: Pinhead uses colour for one thing, where you stand with a place.
How to import a Google My Maps
- In My MapsOpen your map at mymaps.google.com.
- In My MapsClick the three dots beside the map's name, then Export to KML/KMZ.
- In My MapsKeep “Entire map”, leave both boxes unticked, and download the file.
- In PinheadChoose Import from Google My Maps and pick the file. You see your places on a map before anything is saved.
- In PinheadSay what each group of pins meant, then press Import.
What you get that My Maps doesn't have
A pin in My Maps is a dot with a name. In Pinhead it's somewhere you stand with: four states, and the pin shows which.
- MaybeNoted. You might go, you haven't decided. Every new place starts here.
- To goSomewhere you've decided you want to go.
- BeenYou’ve been. Every visit is kept, so going back counts too.
- SkippedYou looked and decided against it. Kept so you remember why.
SUMMIT · BEEN
Slieve Donard
04 OCT 2026
Cloud lifted at the top. Worth every step of the Glen River.
A record of each visit
The date, your photos and a line in your own words. Go back and that's kept too.
MISSION · SATURDAY
Commedagh and Bearnagh
- Drive
- 1 h 05
- Distance
- 52km
- Stops
- 2
Days out
Pick a few places and Pinhead works out the drive: from base camp, round them all, and home.
Progress, on every map
How many you've been to out of how many, with what's left in a list you can sort and filter.
Lists to take, and ranks to earn
The Munros, the Wainwrights and more, ready made. Publish a map of your own as a list for other people. The places you've been earn you a rank.
On your phone: it opens in the browser and can be added to your home screen. There's nothing to install from an app store.
When My Maps is still the better tool
If you draw routes and areas, or your map is something you show people and never work through, stay with My Maps. Pinhead doesn't draw lines or shapes. Plenty of people keep both: My Maps for the drawing, Pinhead for the ticking off.
Questions
Does importing change my Google map?
No. The file you export is a copy. Your map in Google My Maps stays exactly as it was, and you can keep using both.
Should I export KML or KMZ?
Either works. KMZ is the better choice: it carries your pins' own icons, so each group of pins looks the way it did in My Maps when you're asked what it meant.
What happens to my lines and shapes?
They're left behind. Pinhead is about places, so it imports points only and tells you how many routes and shapes it skipped.
Who can see a map I import?
Only you. Every map is private until you choose to share it or publish it as a list.
Can I bring more than one map?
Yes, one file at a time. Each becomes its own map, and a place that's on two of them is brought in once.
What does it cost?
Pinhead is free while it's being tested.
Bring your map over.
Sign in with your email, choose the file, and say what your pins meant. Nothing is saved until you press Import.