ExifToolGui vs GeoSetter
GeoSetter and ExifToolGui overlap in an interesting way: both are Windows programs for photo metadata, and both lean on Phil Harvey’s ExifTool to do their writing. The difference is intent. GeoSetter, by Friedemann Schmidt, is a geo-first tool — built around viewing and editing geo and EXIF/IPTC/XMP metadata, syncing photos with GPS track files, and placing photos on a map. ExifToolGui — Bogdan Hrastnik’s original GUI, continued as V6 by Frank Bijnen — is a general metadata workshop whose map and geotagging features are one department among many. This page compares them on sourced facts only, in the Comparisons hub with ExifToolGui vs jExifToolGUI and ExifToolGui vs XnView MP. Program files are on the download page.
One context note before the details: GeoSetter is a legacy program in practice. Its official updates archive shows version 3.5 as the last regular release, after a long gap in regular releases, and the tool should be treated as effectively unmaintained. No clean discontinuation date was ever published that we could source, so this page does not print one — ‘effectively unmaintained’ is the accurate description, and it shapes the recommendation at the end.
The two programs at a glance
| ExifToolGui (V6, Frank Bijnen) | GeoSetter (Friedemann Schmidt) | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | General metadata viewing and editing; Workspace tag panels, Modify operations, plus geotagging | Geo and EXIF/IPTC/XMP metadata, centred on map-based geotagging |
| Platform | Windows only | Windows |
| Cost / licence | Free software, GNU GPL v3.0 | Freeware |
| Writing engine | ExifTool (separate download; installer can fetch it) | Uses ExifTool for writing |
| Track-file sync | Geotagging from a GPS log file in batch | Syncs with GPX, IGC, NMEA, PLT, Sony LOG and similar track files |
| Release status | V6.3.12, May 8, 2026 — actively maintained | Last regular release 3.5 in the official updates archive — treat as legacy / effectively unmaintained |
The shared engine matters for expectations. Because GeoSetter uses ExifTool for writing, and ExifToolGui is an ExifTool front-end, the metadata either program writes is written by the same underlying tool, with the same format support and the same care around originals. What you are really choosing between is workflow and interface philosophy — and, increasingly, between a maintained program and a frozen one.
Where GeoSetter’s design still makes sense
GeoSetter was built geotagging-first, and it shows in its documented shape: synchronisation with a wide list of track formats (GPX, IGC, NMEA, PLT, Sony LOG and more) and map-based placement as the home workflow rather than a side panel. If your entire job is ‘these photos need coordinates from this track’, a tool organised around exactly that job can feel direct, and long-time users with a working GeoSetter setup have real muscle memory invested in it. ExifToolGui covers the same core job — its documentation describes geotagging files in batch using a GPS device log file, with a Reference DateTime choice and a timezone note — but arrives at it from the general side: the same program also shifts dates, removes metadata, manages Workspace panels and renames files from DateTime.
Where ExifToolGui is the broader workshop
Most metadata work is not geotagging. It is fixing a wrong camera clock (Modify → DateTime shift), aligning EXIF and XMP times (DateTime equalize), writing Artist, Copyright and Keywords through the Workspace, removing GPS data before sharing, or inspecting camera and lens tags. Those are ExifToolGui’s home turf, documented in its own manual tradition since the original v5 GUI set out to view all metadata ExifTool recognises, edit the most frequently used tags, and modify multiple selected files at once. GeoSetter does view and edit EXIF/IPTC/XMP beyond pure geo work, so the boundary is emphasis rather than capability — but a reader whose work is 80% non-geo will spend that 80% in the tool designed for it. Our GPX geotagging guide shows the ExifToolGui side of the shared job in detail.
The maintenance reality and the verdict
GeoSetter’s updates archive is candid reading: no regular release for years at a stretch, version 3.5 as the last regular release, and later community reports of map breakage as the web components around it changed. We describe it as effectively unmaintained because that is what the record supports; we do not print a discontinuation date because the author never published one that we could verify. Practical consequences follow: on a current Windows 11 machine, a frozen program’s map and track workflows are increasingly exposed to components it cannot adapt to, while ExifToolGui V6.3.12 (May 2026) is the release its maintainer is actively shaping for current Windows, with an updated map stack of its own. Verdict: keep GeoSetter if your installed copy does your geo job today; start new work in ExifToolGui, which covers geotagging plus the rest of the metadata workshop in one maintained program.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GeoSetter discontinued?
No sourced discontinuation date exists, and this page does not invent one. What the official updates archive supports is: version 3.5 was the last regular release after a long gap in regular releases. Treat GeoSetter as legacy and effectively unmaintained in practice.
Does GeoSetter use ExifTool?
Yes — GeoSetter uses ExifTool for writing metadata, just as ExifToolGui drives ExifTool as its engine. The written metadata comes from the same underlying tool in both programs.
Can ExifToolGui geotag from a track log like GeoSetter?
Yes. ExifToolGui’s documentation describes batch geotagging using a GPS log file, with a Reference DateTime selection. GeoSetter’s documented sync list is wider on track formats (GPX, IGC, NMEA, PLT, Sony LOG); ExifToolGui’s strength is that geotagging sits inside a general metadata workshop.
For most readers in 2026 the maintained, broader tool wins, and the geo job comes along with it. Browse the rest of the Comparisons hub, including the command-line comparison, and download the current files from the download page.