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Government · head to head

CentralSquare Asset Management vs Global Mapper

CentralSquare Asset Management logo

CentralSquare Asset Management

Government

Public sector enterprise asset management, sold for years as Lucity

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Global Mapper logo

Global Mapper

Maps

A GIS and lidar desktop that still sells a genuine perpetual licence with published prices

From
$700/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CentralSquare Asset Management the Lucity name is now only a suffix on a CentralSquare product, so long-standing customers should confirm which capabilities carry forward under the current release rather than assuming continuity from the Lucity they know.; Global Mapper it is Windows only with no macOS or Linux build, so mixed-platform teams end up running a virtual machine and lose graphics performance on large point clouds
  • They diverge on capability: CentralSquare Asset Management covers Esri ArcGIS integration, Global Mapper covers Format breadth.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CentralSquare Asset Management and Global Mapper actually diverge.

Attributes where CentralSquare Asset Management and Global Mapper differ
AttributeCentralSquare Asset ManagementGlobal Mapper
Starting priceOn request$700/one-time
Pricing modelquoteOne-time purchase
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Cloud, On-premiseWindows
CategoryGovernmentMaps

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 CentralSquare Asset Management

  • Esri ArcGIS integration
  • Public works asset breadth
  • Citizen request intake
  • Condition assessment
  • Inspections
  • Suite integration

Only in Global Mapper

  • Format breadth
  • Lidar processing
  • Pixels to Points
  • Coordinate transformation
  • Terrain analysis
  • Scripting
  • Mobile companion

What people use each for

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

CentralSquare Asset Management

  • A city consolidating streets, water, parks and facilities maintenance into one asset register instead of four departmental spreadsheetsnot Global Mapper
  • A county needing auditable stormwater and backflow inspection records for a regulatory programmenot Global Mapper
  • A public works department wanting citizen-reported potholes and blocked drains to become work orders without manual re-keyingnot Global Mapper
  • A municipality already running CentralSquare finance that wants asset and work costs to land in the general ledger without an integration projectnot Global Mapper

Global Mapper

  • A survey office that receives lidar in a different format from every client and needs reliable conversion without writing scriptsnot CentralSquare Asset Management
  • A consultancy that wants to classify ground points and extract building footprints from a drone survey without an Esri enterprise agreementnot CentralSquare Asset Management
  • An organisation with an irregular workload that wants to buy the licence outright and skip maintenance in quiet yearsnot CentralSquare Asset Management
  • A geologist producing volumes, contours and cross sections from terrain data on a standalone office workstationnot CentralSquare Asset Management

Where each one falls short

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

CentralSquare Asset Management

  • The Lucity name is now only a suffix on a CentralSquare product, so long-standing customers should confirm which capabilities carry forward under the current release rather than assuming continuity from the Lucity they know.
  • CentralSquare is private-equity owned and grew by acquisition, so asset management competes for development attention against public safety and finance products with larger revenue, and its roadmap is not independently controlled.
  • Pricing is unpublished and quoted per municipality, and asset management is often presented alongside other suite modules, so a department must work to get a clean, unbundled number it can defend at council.
  • Esri ArcGIS is effectively a prerequisite for the spatial capability that makes the product worth buying, and that licence is a separate cost the software quote will not include.
  • It is North America focused, aligned to United States municipal practice, funding structures and regulatory programmes, which limits its fit for local authorities elsewhere.

Global Mapper

  • It is Windows only with no macOS or Linux build, so mixed-platform teams end up running a virtual machine and lose graphics performance on large point clouds
  • The interface has grown by accretion over two decades and features are scattered across menus, so new users are slow to find capabilities that are already installed
  • Node-locked perpetual licences are tied to the machine identifier, so a hardware refresh or a failed workstation means a support request rather than a login on a new device
  • Multi-user and web publishing are weak relative to Esri or QGIS with a server stack, so it is a desktop analysis tool and not a platform for sharing data across an organisation
  • Published prices apply to North America and differ elsewhere, so buyers outside that market must go through a reseller and cannot rely on the listed figures for budgeting

Pricing, plan by plan

CentralSquare Asset Management

On request
  • CentralSquare Asset Management$undefined/year
    • Subscription or on-premise licensing, quoted per municipality
    • Priced on population, module selection and user counts
    • Esri ArcGIS licensing purchased separately

Global Mapper

$700/one-time
  • Global Mapper Standard, node-locked$700/one-time
    • Perpetual licence tied to one machine
    • First year of maintenance and support included
    • Renewal 245 USD per year, optional
  • Global Mapper Standard, floating or dongle$1050/one-time
    • Shared between users or carried on a USB dongle
    • Maintenance renewal 365 USD per year
    • Network licence 2,100 USD with a two-seat minimum
  • Global Mapper Pro, node-locked$1750/one-time
    • Adds lidar classification, feature extraction and Pixels to Points
    • Maintenance renewal 610 USD per year
    • Upgrade from Standard version 26 costs 1,050 USD
  • Global Mapper Pro, floating or dongle$2625/one-time
    • Shared or dongle licence
    • Maintenance renewal 915 USD per year
    • Network licence 5,250 USD with a two-seat minimum

Which should you pick?

Choose CentralSquare Asset Management if

  • You need esri arcgis integration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud, On-premise.
  • You also want public works asset breadth.
CentralSquare Asset Management review

Choose Global Mapper if

  • You need format breadth.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want lidar processing.
Global Mapper review

Questions people ask

Is CentralSquare Asset Management or Global Mapper better?
Neither clearly leads. CentralSquare Asset Management starts at On request and Global Mapper at $700/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CentralSquare Asset Management or Global Mapper?
CentralSquare Asset Management starts at On request and Global Mapper at $700/one-time.
Does CentralSquare Asset Management or Global Mapper run on more platforms?
CentralSquare Asset Management runs on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud, On-premise. Global Mapper runs on Windows.
What is CentralSquare Asset Management best used for?
CentralSquare Asset Management is most often used for a city consolidating streets, water, parks and facilities maintenance into one asset register instead of four departmental spreadsheets, a county needing auditable stormwater and backflow inspection records for a regulatory programme, a public works department wanting citizen-reported potholes and blocked drains to become work orders without manual re-keying, a municipality already running centralsquare finance that wants asset and work costs to land in the general ledger without an integration project. Of those, a city consolidating streets, water, parks and facilities maintenance into one asset register instead of four departmental spreadsheets and a county needing auditable stormwater and backflow inspection records for a regulatory programme are not what Global Mapper is typically brought in for.
What can CentralSquare Asset Management do that Global Mapper cannot?
CentralSquare Asset Management covers Esri ArcGIS integration, Public works asset breadth, Citizen request intake, Condition assessment. Global Mapper covers Format breadth, Lidar processing, Pixels to Points, Coordinate transformation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CentralSquare Asset Management: Can I still buy Lucity?

Not under that name alone. It is sold as CentralSquare Asset Management powered by Lucity, and quotes and contracts will use the CentralSquare name.

Global Mapper: Is there still a perpetual licence?

Yes. Blue Marble sells perpetual node-locked, floating, dongle and network licences that keep working after maintenance lapses.

CentralSquare Asset Management: Do I need Esri?

In practice yes. The spatial asset handling that distinguishes the product depends on ArcGIS, licensed separately from Esri.

Global Mapper: What is the difference between Standard and Pro?

Pro is an add-on to a matching Standard licence and carries the lidar classification, feature extraction, Pixels to Points photogrammetry and advanced terrain tools.

CentralSquare Asset Management: Is it cloud only?

No. Both hosted subscription and on-premise deployment are available, which matters for municipalities with data residency or network policy constraints.

Global Mapper: Do I have to pay maintenance?

Only for the first year, which is included. After that it is optional; without it the software continues to run but you receive no upgrades or support.

CentralSquare Asset Management: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted per municipality based on population, modules and users, usually through a public procurement process.

Global Mapper: Can it replace ArcGIS?

For desktop format conversion, lidar and terrain analysis, often yes. For enterprise data management, web services and organisation-wide sharing, no.

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