GPX vs KML: Which Should You Use?

GPX and KML both store points, tracks, and routes, but they come from very different worlds. GPX (GPS Exchange Format) was built specifically for GPS devices and hiking, cycling, and navigation apps. KML (Keyhole Markup Language) is Google Earth and Google My Maps' format, built for mapping and visualization, with styling options (icons, colors, info balloons) that GPX doesn't have.

When to use GPX

If you want to load a route onto a Garmin watch, a Wahoo bike computer, or into an app like OsmAnd, Locus Map, or Strava, GPX is the format to use: it's what those devices and apps natively understand.

When to use KML

If you're building a map to share or view in Google Earth or Google My Maps, with styled placemarks or colored areas, KML is the better fit: its styling options have no direct GPX equivalent.

Converting between them

SmartGPX has two free converters, running entirely in your browser so your files never leave your device:

• KML → GPX, to bring a Google Earth / My Maps map into a GPS app.
• GPX → KML, to view a GPS track in Google Earth.

Note: KML has no equivalent of GPX's distinction between a recorded track (trk) and a planned route (rte): both are merged into a single line on conversion.