RouteConverter

RouteConverter is a popular, free open-source tool to display, edit, enrich and convert GPS routes, tracks and waypoints across 80+ formats (GPX, KML, NMEA, TomTom, Garmin, and many more). It's a cross-platform Java/Swing desktop app with a map view, plus a command-line tool.

🌐 routeconverter.com — features, screenshots, supported formats, FAQ, and downloads.

Download

• Stable releases: https://releases.routeconverter.com/latest/
• Prereleases (frequent): https://releases.routeconverter.com/prerelease/

The Windows (.exe) and macOS (.app) downloads bundle a Java runtime — nothing else to install. The Linux build ships as a runnable .jar that needs Java 21 or later installed on your system.

Build & run from source

You need JDK 21 (e.g. from Adoptium). Maven comes bundled via the wrapper — no separate install.

git clone git@github.com:cpesch/RouteConverter.git
cd RouteConverter

./mvnw clean package          # full build + tests

# run the desktop app (build that module first):
./mvnw -pl RouteConverterLinux -am package
java -jar RouteConverterLinux/target/RouteConverterLinux.jar

# …or the command-line converter:
java -jar RouteConverterCmdLine/target/RouteConverterCmdLine.jar

On macOS/Linux, if java isn't on your PATH, activate a JDK 21 first (e.g. via sdkman: sdk use java 21).

CI builds and tests on Java 21 and 25 plus a Windows smoke build.

Contributing

Contributions are very welcome — bug fixes, new formats, UI improvements, translations. 🎉

• Pull requests: fork, branch, and open a PR against master. Keep your diff small and focused, match the surrounding code style, and add tests for your change. A maintainer reviews and merges every PR.
• Conventions: see AGENTS.md for the project layout, module layering, build/test commands, and code conventions (GPL header, JAXB test objects, IntelliJ GUI Designer .form files, …).
• Translations go through Weblate, not direct edits: hosted.weblate.org/projects/routeconverter.
• Issues: https://github.com/cpesch/RouteConverter/issues

Contributors are listed in CONTRIBUTORS.txt.

IDE setup (IntelliJ IDEA)

1. File → Open… the root pom.xml.
2. Settings → Editor → GUI Designer: choose "Generate GUI into: Java source code" and disable "Automatically copy form runtime classes…". Layout is edited in the .form files, not the generated $$$setupUI$$$ blocks.

Eclipse (m2e) and NetBeans work too — import the root pom.xml as a Maven project.

Code signing

The Windows installers and the standalone Java artifacts are code-signed (Authenticode / jar signature) so Windows SmartScreen and Defender recognise them. Free code signing for open-source projects is provided by SignPath.org, with a certificate issued by the SignPath Foundation. The certificate is held in SignPath's HSM and never leaves it — CI holds only a submitter token that can request a signature, not extract the key.

License

RouteConverter is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 — see LICENSE-GPL.txt. By contributing, you agree your code ships under the GPL.

Have fun! — Christian Pesch (@cpesch)