Maps · ranked shortlist
Best Maps software in 2026
20 approved maps listings, ordered by published rating with the method stated below rather than assumed.
- Tools ranked
- 20
- Entry price range
- $7.99-$700
- Publish a $0 plan
- 12 of 20
How this ranking is derived
The sort key
Published rating, highest first. Ties break on the number of ratings behind the score, then on product name so the order never depends on what the API happened to return first. That is the whole rule, there is no weighting, no score of our own, and nothing paid: no sponsored slot runs on these pages.
Where the ratings come from
No listing in this set carries a rating, so the order falls back to name. Those scores are aggregated from public sources rather than collected here, Softwr hosts no reviews of its own, which is also why no rating on this page is marked up as ours in structured data.
What the pool is
Approved maps listings, capped at 20 per page; 20 came back for this one. It is not the whole market, and a tool being absent means we hold no record of it rather than that it failed a test. The unranked full set is on the maps category page.
The ranking
Each entry lists why it sits where it sits, drawn from its own published rating and pricing.
- #1
Agisoft Metashape
Highest rated hereDesktop photogrammetry that turns photographs into point clouds, meshes, orthomosaics and DEMs
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $179 a month, with no free plan.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $3,499 plus a tier sold by quote.
- Billing
- One-time purchase
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- photogrammetry, point cloud, drone mapping, Orthomosaic
- #2
ArcGIS Field Maps
Esri field data collection that cannot be bought on its own, only with an ArcGIS user type
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- Included with an ArcGIS user type licence
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- Field Data Collection, gis, Esri, offline
- #3
Atlas.co
Browser-based collaborative GIS with published per-seat pricing and a free tier
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $23 a month.
- 4 published tiers, topping out at $72 plus a tier sold by quote.
- Billing
- Per user per month
- Published tiers
- 4 tiers
- Tags
- Web Gis, spatial-analysis, collaboration, Geocoding
- #4
Cesium ion
Hosted 3D geospatial tiling and streaming, metered by storage, streaming and gigapixels
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $149 a month.
- 4 published tiers, topping out at $499 plus a tier sold by quote.
- Billing
- Per month by storage, streaming and gigapixels
- Published tiers
- 4 tiers
- Tags
- 3d Tiles, Geospatial, streaming, photogrammetry
- #5
Correlator3D
SimActive photogrammetry with a published price list and a perpetual licence still on sale
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $295 a month, with no free plan.
- 5 published tiers, topping out at $6,400 plus a tier sold by quote.
- Billing
- One-time purchase
- Published tiers
- 5 tiers
- Tags
- photogrammetry, Orthomosaic, Dsm, aerial survey
- #6
Emlid Studio
Free desktop GNSS post-processing that works with other manufacturers' receivers as well as Emlid's
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free of charge, no licence fee
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Gnss, Ppk, Post Processing, Survey
- #7
Felt
Collaborative browser mapping with a free non-commercial tier and annual-only paid contracts
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- quote
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- Web Mapping, collaboration, Field Data, gis
- #8
Foursquare Spatial Studio
The product formerly sold as Unfolded, now a Foursquare platform rather than a standalone company
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- quote
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Geospatial Analytics, Kepler Gl, Deck Gl, H3
- #9
Fused
Serverless Python for geospatial: write a UDF, get a map tile endpoint and an HTTP API
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $20 a month.
- 4 published tiers, topping out at $2,000.
- Billing
- Per month by compute tier
- Published tiers
- 4 tiers
- Tags
- Geospatial, serverless, Python, Data Engineering
- #10
Geographic Calculator
Geodetic coordinate conversion and datum transformation for survey, seismic and pipeline data
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- quote
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- Geodesy, Coordinate Conversion, Datum Transformation, Survey
- #11
Global Mapper
A GIS and lidar desktop that still sells a genuine perpetual licence with published prices
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $700 a month, with no free plan.
- 4 published tiers, topping out at $2,625.
- Billing
- One-time purchase
- Published tiers
- 4 tiers
- Tags
- gis, Lidar, point cloud, Coordinate Systems
- #12
Google Maps
Consumer navigation and local search app, distinct from the paid Google Maps Platform developer API
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free consumer app, funded by Google's advertising business
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- navigation, maps, Local Search, google
- #13
GRASS GIS
Long-running open source geospatial analysis engine for raster, vector and terrain processing
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Open source, no licence fee
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- gis, Open Source, Raster, Hydrology
- #14
Leica Infinity
Office software that combines total station, GNSS, level, UAV and scanner data into one survey project
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- quote
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- Tags
- surveying, Gnss, Total Station, point cloud
- #15
Lonboard
Python map rendering in Jupyter that skips GeoJSON and moves millions of features without choking
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Open source, no licence fee
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Open Source, Python, Jupyter, Deck Gl
- #16
onX Maps
Land ownership and offline navigation apps sold as separate subscriptions per activity: Hunt, Offroad, Backcountry
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $29.99 a month, with no free plan.
- 4 published tiers, topping out at $99.99.
- Billing
- Separate per-product subscriptions, per user per year
- Published tiers
- 4 tiers
- Tags
- navigation, Offroad, hunting, backcountry
- #17
Potree
Open source WebGL viewer for publishing very large point clouds in a browser
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Open source, no licence fee
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- point cloud, Lidar, Open Source, webgl
- #18
Ride with GPS
Cycling route planning and navigation with a genuinely usable free tier and two paid tiers above it
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $7.99 a month.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $9.99.
- Billing
- Freemium, per user per month
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- cycling, route planning, navigation, maps
- #19
SAGA GIS
Open source terrain and geoscientific analysis with no vendor and no support contract available
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Open source, no licence fee
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Open Source, Terrain Analysis, Hydrology, geostatistics
- #20
ArcGIS Survey123
Form-centric field data collection that writes straight into an ArcGIS organisation
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- Per user per year by ArcGIS user type
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- Field Data Collection, forms, gis, offline
What maps software costs
Counted from the published pricing of the 20 listings on this page. A tool counts as free only where it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence or a starting price of zero.
- Cheapest paid plan
- $7.99Ride with GPS
- Median entry price
- $89.50across 8 priced
- Dearest entry price
- $700Global Mapper
- Publish a $0 plan
- 12of 20
Paid maps plans in this set start anywhere from $7.99 a month for Ride with GPS to $700 for Global Mapper. The median entry price across the 8 tools that publish one is $89.50, half of them start below that figure and half above it.
Entry price is not the ceiling. The dearest published tier anywhere in this category is Correlator3D's at $6,400 a month, 9.1× the highest entry price on the page. Read the top of each ladder as well as the bottom, because that is where you land after two years of growth.
12 of 20 publish a $0 plan, and 8 of those charge nothing at all. 4 tools have no free tier of any kind.
10 of 20 keep at least one tier unpriced and sold by quote, which in practice means the number you end up paying at the top end is not on this page or on theirs.
Ride with GPS pricingGlobal Mapper pricingCorrelator3D plans
How these vendors bill
The billing model each of the 20 maps listings publishes, counted. Two tools at the same headline price are not the same purchase if one of them charges per seat.
- Open source, no licence fee
- 4
- quote
- 4
- One-time purchase
- 3
- Free consumer app, funded by Google's advertising business
- 1
- Free of charge, no licence fee
- 1
- Freemium, per user per month
- 1
- Included with an ArcGIS user type licence
- 1
- Per month by compute tier
- 1
- Per month by storage, streaming and gigapixels
- 1
- Per user per month
- 1
- Per user per year by ArcGIS user type
- 1
- Separate per-product subscriptions, per user per year
- 1
Separately, 10 of 20 publish at least one tier with no price attached. Those are sold by quote, so the top of the ladder is negotiable, and unknowable, until you talk to sales.
What “Maps” covers in practice
The subject tags that recur across these 20 listings, with the number of tools carrying each. A category label is a filing decision; this is the closer read of what is actually filed under it.
- gis5
- Open Source4
- point cloud4
- drone mapping3
- navigation3
- photogrammetry3
- collaboration2
- Deck Gl2
- Field Data Collection2
- Geospatial2
- Gnss2
- Hydrology2
Carried by a single tool: 3d Reconstruction, Coordinate Systems, Dsm, Geomatics, Jupyter, Offroad, route planning, Tiles. If one of those is the reason you are here, the category page is the wrong lens, go straight to that product.
How to choose between them
Four things the numbers above should change about your shortlist.
Start with the free tiers if there are enough of them
12 of 20 maps tools here publish a $0 plan, which is enough to run a real trial without a purchase order. A free tier is worth more than a free trial when you are evaluating: a trial expires on the vendor's schedule, a free plan expires when you outgrow it. The thing to check before you commit is which of the capabilities below sit above the free line.
Read the spread before you read the features
$7.99 to $700 is a $692.01 spread on entry price alone, and a spread that wide is never about polish, it is about who the vendor built for. Tools at the bottom of this ladder are priced for one person or a small team; tools near $700 are priced for a department with a procurement process. Decide which of those you are before you compare capability, or you will shortlist four tools that were never competing for the same buyer.
Check which tier you actually land on
12 of 20 tools here publish three or more tiers, and the median vendor in this category ships 3 of them. The advertised price is the first rung. Price your shortlist at the tier that contains what you need, not at the tier on the pricing page's left edge.
The billing model matters more than the headline number
This category splits across 12 billing models: Open source, no licence fee on 4 listings, quote on 4, and 10 other arrangements across the rest. A per-user price and a flat subscription at the same headline figure are not the same purchase, the first one grows with headcount and the second does not. Multiply by your real team size before you compare two numbers side by side.
Compare maps tools directly
Every pairing below is a full comparison: the same checklist applied to both, so a gap in one is a gap in the other.
- Agisoft Metashape vs ArcGIS Field Maps
- ArcGIS Field Maps vs Atlas.co
- Atlas.co vs Cesium ion
- Cesium ion vs Correlator3D
- Correlator3D vs Emlid Studio
- Emlid Studio vs Felt
- Felt vs Foursquare Spatial Studio
- Foursquare Spatial Studio vs Fused
Go straight to the numbers
- Agisoft Metashapepricingalternatives
- ArcGIS Field Mapspricingalternatives
- Atlas.copricingalternatives
- Cesium ionpricingalternatives
- Correlator3Dpricingalternatives
- Emlid Studiopricingalternatives
Questions people ask about maps software
Answered from the listings on this page, and nowhere else.
- How is this maps ranking decided?
- Mechanically. The 20 approved maps listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.
- How much does maps software cost?
- Across the 20 maps tools listed here, paid plans start between $7.99 and $700 a month, with a median entry price of $89.50. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $6,400 a month (Correlator3D). 12 of 20 also publish a $0 plan.
- What is the cheapest maps software?
- 8 of the 20 tools listed here cost nothing at all. Among the ones that charge, Ride with GPS has the lowest published entry price at $7.99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.
- Is there free maps software?
- Yes, 12 of 20 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. 8 of them are free outright, with no paid tier above. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.
- How is maps software usually billed?
- Open source, no licence fee (4), quote (4), One-time purchase (3), Free consumer app, funded by Google's advertising business (1), plus 8 less common arrangements, counted across the 20 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not. 10 of 20 tools also keep at least one tier unpriced and sold by quote.
- What does maps software actually cover?
- The 20 tools on this page do not describe themselves the same way. The subject tags they carry most often are gis (5), open source (4), point cloud (4), drone mapping (3), navigation (3). That spread is the honest answer to what the category means in practice: it is not one product shape, and two tools filed under maps may overlap on very little.
- How many pricing tiers do maps tools offer?
- 20 of 20 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 3 tiers. 12 of 20 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.
- How many maps tools are listed on Softwr?
- 20 approved maps listings appear on this page, including Agisoft Metashape, ArcGIS Field Maps, Atlas.co, Cesium ion. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/maps, which ranks the same set by published rating.
Keep reading
Neighbouring categories
Adjacent in the same taxonomy, not a ranking.