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Maps · head to head

Agisoft Metashape vs Lonboard

Agisoft Metashape logo

Agisoft Metashape

Maps

Desktop photogrammetry that turns photographs into point clouds, meshes, orthomosaics and DEMs

From
$179/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lonboard logo

Lonboard

Maps

Python map rendering in Jupyter that skips GeoJSON and moves millions of features without choking

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lonboard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Agisoft Metashape processing is entirely local, so throughput is a function of your workstation, and a large project on modest hardware can take days where a cloud service would return results overnight.; Lonboard it is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file
  • They diverge on capability: Agisoft Metashape covers Structure-from-motion alignment, Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Agisoft Metashape and Lonboard actually diverge.

Attributes where Agisoft Metashape and Lonboard differ
AttributeAgisoft MetashapeLonboard
Starting price$179/one-timeFree
Pricing modelOne-time purchaseOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxLinux, macOS, Windows

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Maps).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Agisoft Metashape

  • Structure-from-motion alignment
  • Dense point cloud generation
  • Mesh and texture
  • Orthomosaic and DEM
  • Ground control points
  • Point cloud classification
  • Multispectral processing
  • Python and Java scripting

Only in Lonboard

  • GeoArrow binary transfer
  • GeoPandas input
  • deck.gl layers
  • Jupyter widget
  • Large dataset handling
  • Styling by attribute
  • Open source licence

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Agisoft Metashape

  • A survey or engineering firm processing high volumes of drone imagery that wants unlimited local processing instead of per-hectare cloud creditsnot Lonboard
  • A quarry or mine measuring stockpile volumes monthly, where the same flight is reprocessed repeatedly and cloud pricing by area is punitivenot Lonboard
  • An archaeology or heritage team documenting sites on a capital grant with no recurring software budget to renew a subscriptionnot Lonboard
  • A VFX or games studio scanning props and environments, where Standard at $179 covers the whole requirement because georeferencing is irrelevantnot Lonboard

Lonboard

  • An analyst exploring a national road or parcel dataset in a notebook where pydeck or ipyleaflet becomes unusable at that sizenot Agisoft Metashape
  • A researcher publishing a reproducible analysis where the visualisation must run from the same script as the processingnot Agisoft Metashape
  • A data scientist joining spatial data to model outputs in pandas and needing to see the result immediately without exporting to a GISnot Agisoft Metashape
  • A team building an internal analysis pipeline on GeoParquet that wants rendering without a serialisation step in the middlenot Agisoft Metashape

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Agisoft Metashape

  • Processing is entirely local, so throughput is a function of your workstation, and a large project on modest hardware can take days where a cloud service would return results overnight.
  • The vendor is a Russian company, and since 2022 payment is restricted to wire transfer, ACH and SEPA direct debit with no card payment, which some corporate and government procurement departments simply cannot process.
  • There is no collaboration layer: no shared projects, no web viewer, no permissions. Sharing results means sending files, which is a real limitation on multi-office teams.
  • Support is thin compared with commercial drone platforms, and the software assumes photogrammetric competence; users who do not understand overlap, ground control and residuals produce confidently wrong models.
  • A node-locked licence is tied to a machine, and moving it or covering a second workstation means either a reseller-quoted floating licence or buying twice, which erodes the cost advantage for teams rather than individuals.

Lonboard

  • It is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file
  • Maintenance sits with Development Seed as an open source side output of a consultancy, so roadmap priorities follow client projects and there is no support contract to buy
  • Layer coverage is a subset of deck.gl, so an analyst needing a less common layer type has to drop to pydeck or write JavaScript rather than staying in Python
  • It expects data already in GeoPandas or Arrow form, which means the performance benefit depends on the rest of your pipeline being Arrow-friendly; reading a large Shapefile is still the slow step
  • Rendering happens in the browser, so very large datasets are ultimately limited by the client machine's memory and GPU rather than by the server, and a laptop will still fail on data a workstation handles

Pricing, plan by plan

Agisoft Metashape

$179/one-time
  • Standard$179/one-time
    • Photogrammetric alignment, dense cloud, mesh and texture
    • No georeferencing or coordinate systems
    • No ground control points
  • Professional$3499/one-time
    • Everything in Standard
    • Georeferencing, coordinate systems and ground control points
    • Orthomosaic, DEM and point cloud classification
  • Floating licence$undefined/one-time
    • Shared across machines rather than node-locked
    • Sold through authorised resellers only
    • Quoted rather than listed

Lonboard

Free
  • LonboardFree
    • Open source, no licence fee
    • No usage limits
    • Installed from PyPI or conda

Which should you pick?

Choose Agisoft Metashape if

  • You need structure-from-motion alignment.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want dense point cloud generation.
Agisoft Metashape review

Choose Lonboard if

  • You need geoarrow binary transfer.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want geopandas input.
Lonboard review

Questions people ask

Is Agisoft Metashape or Lonboard better?
Neither clearly leads. Agisoft Metashape starts at $179/one-time and Lonboard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Agisoft Metashape or Lonboard?
Lonboard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $179/one-time for Agisoft Metashape and Free for Lonboard.
Does Agisoft Metashape or Lonboard run on more platforms?
Agisoft Metashape runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Lonboard runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Lonboard for free?
Yes. Lonboard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Agisoft Metashape starts at $179/one-time.
What is Agisoft Metashape best used for?
Agisoft Metashape is most often used for a survey or engineering firm processing high volumes of drone imagery that wants unlimited local processing instead of per-hectare cloud credits, a quarry or mine measuring stockpile volumes monthly, where the same flight is reprocessed repeatedly and cloud pricing by area is punitive, an archaeology or heritage team documenting sites on a capital grant with no recurring software budget to renew a subscription, a vfx or games studio scanning props and environments, where standard at $179 covers the whole requirement because georeferencing is irrelevant. Of those, a survey or engineering firm processing high volumes of drone imagery that wants unlimited local processing instead of per-hectare cloud credits and a quarry or mine measuring stockpile volumes monthly, where the same flight is reprocessed repeatedly and cloud pricing by area is punitive are not what Lonboard is typically brought in for.
What can Agisoft Metashape do that Lonboard cannot?
Agisoft Metashape covers Structure-from-motion alignment, Dense point cloud generation, Mesh and texture, Orthomosaic and DEM. Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer, GeoPandas input, deck.gl layers, Jupyter widget.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Agisoft Metashape: How much does Metashape cost?

Professional is $3,499 and Standard is $179, both node-locked. Floating licences are quoted through resellers.

Lonboard: Why not just use pydeck?

pydeck serialises geometry to GeoJSON to reach the browser. Lonboard uses a binary GeoArrow pipeline, which is the reason it handles far larger datasets in the same notebook.

Agisoft Metashape: Is it a subscription?

No. These are perpetual node-locked licences. Major version upgrades are charged separately.

Lonboard: Who maintains it?

Development Seed, a geospatial engineering consultancy, as an open source project. There is no commercial support offering.

Agisoft Metashape: What is the difference between Standard and Professional?

Standard has no georeferencing, coordinate systems, ground control points, orthomosaic export or scripting. Anything survey or mapping related requires Professional.

Lonboard: Does it work outside Jupyter?

It is built as a Jupyter widget. Exporting to standalone HTML is possible, but the intended environment is a notebook.

Agisoft Metashape: Does it process in the cloud?

No. All processing is local on your own hardware, which is the main reason it is cheap at volume and slow on weak machines.

Lonboard: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes, it is open source with no licence fee.

Agisoft Metashape: Are there educational licences?

Yes, Agisoft offers reduced academic pricing on a separate page.

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