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Virtual walking challenges: 5 apps compared, free and paid

By the Walk with Mo team · Checked October 2026

A virtual walking challenge turns your everyday steps into progress along a route you will never walk in one go: the Appalachian Trail, Route 66, a lap of Paris. The app does the bookkeeping and gives you a reason to take the long way home. The five apps below do this in different ways, and the differences are mostly about money and company.

At a glance

The Conqueror: pay per route, get a medal

The Conqueror (Actionary, New Zealand) is the most established virtual challenge brand. You choose a route from over 80, from Yellowstone and the English Channel to Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter adventures, and every walk, run or ride moves you along it. On the way you get postcards and street-view glimpses, and at the end a heavy finisher's medal arrives in the post. The app is free, with 4.8 stars from 12,000 US ratings; each challenge is a one-time purchase, mostly $19.99, with licensed routes at $29.99. It syncs from Apple Health and the Watch, Fitbit, Garmin and others.

Who it suits: people who want a finish line and a trophy. The medal is the product. Who it does not: anyone who wants a game between the milestones, or several routes a year without several purchases. There is a Paris route if you want to compare it with Mo's.

Walk the Distance: real trails, free download

Walk the Distance (Virtual Walk LLC, since 2013, 4.8 stars from 1,300 ratings) puts your steps on real famous trails: the Appalachian Trail at 2,190 miles, the Pacific Crest Trail at 2,650, the Continental Divide at 3,100, the John Muir Trail, the Camino de Santiago, plus marathons and city walks. Checkpoints are real shelters, overlooks and landmarks. Friends walk the same trail, you get a notification when someone passes you, and there are group challenges and a corporate version. It pulls distance from Apple Health about once an hour, and syncs Fitbit and Garmin.

Who it suits: hikers who want the trail they dream about, and offices that want a team challenge with a map. Who it does not: anyone who wants a character or a reward beyond the checkpoint itself.

World Walking: 400 maps, with a reset in 2026

World Walking is a UK project with over 400 virtual maps, from a town walk to a lap of the planet. You bank your steps and spend them on the walk you choose. The old worldwalking.org closed on 1 May 2026; the new worldwalking.com and app launched in March 2026, and the window to carry old data over ended on 1 October 2026, so anyone returning now starts from zero. The free Basic account covers one solo walk and one group walk at a time; Plus adds groups you create, more concurrent walks and World Stats.

Who it suits: anyone who wants breadth and a free account. Who it does not: people who built up miles on the old site, since those are gone, and anyone who wants a game rather than a map with a marker.

Fantasy Hike: one quest, with friends on the map

Fantasy Hike (Forge7 AB, Sweden) replaces real geography with a fantasy route from a halfling's hole to Mount Fire, with story moments along the way. Friends and in-game characters walk the same map, so there is a race without a leaderboard. It reads Apple Health and the Watch. 4.8 stars from 15,000 ratings, iPhone and Android.

Who it suits: anyone who wants a long story and a gentle race with a friend. Who it does not: free users, because the free tier counts a limited distance per day, and most one-star reviews are about the move to subscriptions. Premium is $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year, Family $2.99 or $24.99.

Walk with Mo: one city a month, with a buddy

Walk with Mo is ours, so read this part knowing that. Instead of a long trail, Mo walks one real city each month. Paris is the first: one continuous street from Montmartre down to the Seine, past the bookstalls, through the Louvre courtyard, along the Marais, into the Luxembourg garden, across Champ de Mars to the Eiffel Tower. Your Apple Health steps move him, and nothing else does. Each place gives a postcard taken at the hour Mo got there, every 12,000 steps a gift box gives him a piece to wear, and a crew of friends walks the same street and races for a weekly crown. On the first of the month a new city starts for everyone.

Who it suits: people who want the virtual route idea with a character, a few friends and no price per route. Who it does not: Android users, and anyone who wants a physical medal. The Paris page has the whole route.

Walk Paris with Mo

Your steps take Mo around Paris. Free on iPhone.

Download on theApp Store

What to decide before you start one

• Route length against your real pace. At 8,000 steps a day you cover roughly 3.5 to 4 miles, which is about 115 miles a month. A 2,190-mile trail is a year and a half. Pick a route you can finish in a season, or accept that the finish is years away.
• What counts. Most of these read Apple Health, so Watch steps and treadmill steps count. Check whether the app counts steps or distance; distance from a Watch workout can be larger than step-based distance.
• What happens on a quiet week. None of these five punish you for a gap; the marker waits. That is a point for virtual routes over streak apps.
• What you pay per route. The Conqueror charges per challenge. World Walking and Fantasy Hike charge for the features around the walk. Walk the Distance and Walk with Mo are free to walk.
• Who sees you. Walk the Distance and Fantasy Hike show friends on the same route. World Walking groups need Plus. Mo's crew shares the street by default.

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