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Maps · head to head

Atlas.co vs Lonboard

Atlas.co logo

Atlas.co

Maps

Browser-based collaborative GIS with published per-seat pricing and a free tier

From
Free
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

  • Each has a real cost: Atlas.co analytical depth is a long way short of a mature GIS: there is no serious raster analysis, network analysis, topology editing or geodetic control, so complex work still goes back to QGIS or ArcGIS.; 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: Atlas.co covers Browser GIS, Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Atlas.co and Lonboard actually diverge.

Attributes where Atlas.co and Lonboard differ
AttributeAtlas.coLonboard
Pricing modelPer user per monthOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Atlas.co

  • Browser GIS
  • Workflow builder
  • Geocoding
  • Collaboration
  • Data import
  • Cheap viewer seats
  • Export and embed
  • AI credits

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.

Atlas.co

  • A renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no GIS analyst availablenot Lonboard
  • A planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only GIS licencesnot Lonboard
  • A consultancy producing client-facing maps and embeds without maintaining desktop GIS installs across a distributed teamnot Lonboard
  • An analyst with an address spreadsheet who needs geocoding, buffering and a shareable map without learning a desktop GISnot Lonboard

Lonboard

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

Where each one falls short

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

Atlas.co

  • Analytical depth is a long way short of a mature GIS: there is no serious raster analysis, network analysis, topology editing or geodetic control, so complex work still goes back to QGIS or ArcGIS.
  • Geocoding and workflow runs are metered per tier, and a single large address batch can exhaust a month’s Pro allowance in one afternoon, forcing an upgrade for a one-off job.
  • The company is at pre-seed stage with roughly $2m raised and a small team, so buyers embedding it in a business process carry meaningful continuity risk.
  • Annual billing is required to get the advertised prices, which removes the flexibility that would otherwise make a young vendor a low-risk trial.
  • There is no offline or field capability at all, so any organisation whose spatial work includes data collection needs a second tool alongside it.

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

Atlas.co

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 3 projects
    • 3 editors
    • 1 GB storage
  • Pro$23/month
    • 10 projects
    • 10 GB storage
    • 10,000 geocoding runs
  • Team$72/month
    • Unlimited projects
    • Viewer seats at $7 per month
    • 25,000 geocoding runs
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Unlimited storage and workflows
    • 100,000 geocoding runs
    • White-labelled embeds

Lonboard

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Atlas.co if

  • You need browser gis.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want workflow builder.
Atlas.co 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 Atlas.co or Lonboard better?
Neither clearly leads. Atlas.co starts at Free and Lonboard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Atlas.co or Lonboard?
Atlas.co starts at Free and Lonboard at Free.
Does Atlas.co or Lonboard run on more platforms?
Atlas.co runs on Web. Lonboard runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Atlas.co for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Atlas.co best used for?
Atlas.co is most often used for a renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no gis analyst available, a planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only gis licences, a consultancy producing client-facing maps and embeds without maintaining desktop gis installs across a distributed team, an analyst with an address spreadsheet who needs geocoding, buffering and a shareable map without learning a desktop gis. Of those, a renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no gis analyst available and a planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only gis licences are not what Lonboard is typically brought in for.
What can Atlas.co do that Lonboard cannot?
Atlas.co covers Browser GIS, Workflow builder, Geocoding, Collaboration. Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer, GeoPandas input, deck.gl layers, Jupyter widget.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Atlas.co: How much does Atlas.co cost?

Starter is free, Pro is $23 per user per month and Team is $72 per editor per month with viewers at $7, all billed annually. Enterprise is quoted.

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.

Atlas.co: Can it replace ArcGIS or QGIS?

For visualisation, light analysis and sharing, often yes. For raster, network or geodetic work, no.

Lonboard: Who maintains it?

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

Atlas.co: What is the viewer seat?

A read-only seat at $7 per month on the Team plan, intended for stakeholders who consume maps rather than build them.

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.

Atlas.co: Where is the company based?

Oslo, Norway. It was founded in 2021 and has raised around $2m in pre-seed funding.

Lonboard: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes, it is open source with no licence fee.

Atlas.co: Is there a free tier?

Yes, Starter gives three projects, three editors and 1 GB of storage with metered geocoding and workflow runs.

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