Softwr

Maps · head to head

Citymapper vs Potree

Citymapper logo

Citymapper

Maps

The ultimate urban mobility app for city commuters

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Potree logo

Potree

Maps

Open source WebGL viewer for publishing very large point clouds in a browser

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Citymapper citymapper's own App Store listing states live transit and turn-by-turn features work only in a named list of specific cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and dozens of other listed cities), not globally, per the developer's own description.; Potree there is no vendor, no support contract and no service level, so anything you build on Potree is your organisation’s responsibility to maintain when a browser update breaks rendering.
  • They diverge on capability: Citymapper covers Multi-modal routing, Potree covers Octree streaming.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Citymapper and Potree actually diverge.

Attributes where Citymapper and Potree differ
AttributeCitymapperPotree
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsIos, Android, WebWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux
Founded2011Unknown

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 Citymapper

  • Multi-modal routing
  • Real-time departures
  • Live bus tracking
  • Disruption alerts
  • Walking directions
  • Uber
  • Lyft
  • Lime

Only in Potree

  • Octree streaming
  • Large dataset rendering
  • Measurement tools
  • Clipping and profiles
  • Annotations
  • Attribute colouring
  • PotreeDesktop
  • Self-hosting

What people use each for

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

Citymapper

  • Daily commutingnot Potree
  • City explorationnot Potree
  • Trip planningnot Potree
  • Mobility as a servicenot Potree

Potree

  • A drone survey firm delivering a point cloud to a client who has no desktop software, by publishing a browser viewer link instead of a 40 GB LAZ filenot Citymapper
  • A heritage or archaeology project publishing a scanned site for public access without paying per-gigabyte hosting to a commercial platformnot Citymapper
  • An engineering consultancy embedding a point cloud viewer inside its own client portal without licensing a commercial web viewernot Citymapper
  • A university or research group that needs measurement and profiling in a shareable viewer for a dataset too large to emailnot Citymapper

Where each one falls short

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

Citymapper

  • Citymapper's own App Store listing states live transit and turn-by-turn features work only in a named list of specific cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and dozens of other listed cities), not globally, per the developer's own description.

Potree

  • There is no vendor, no support contract and no service level, so anything you build on Potree is your organisation’s responsibility to maintain when a browser update breaks rendering.
  • Conversion is a separate manual step with PotreeConverter, and building an automated publishing pipeline around it is engineering work the project does not provide.
  • Rendering quality and performance depend on the client machine and WebGL support, so a client on a locked-down corporate laptop with poor graphics may see a viewer that stutters or fails outright.
  • A WebGPU rewrite, Potree-Next, is in progress and is not a drop-in upgrade, so current integrations face an eventual migration with no vendor to manage it.
  • There is no access control, user management or audit layer; anyone with the URL sees the data unless you build authentication around the static files yourself, which is a real problem for confidential sites.

Pricing, plan by plan

Citymapper

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Multi-modal routing
    • Real-time departures
    • Basic navigation
  • Citymapper Premium$4.99/month
    • Live location sharing
    • Weather integration
    • Widgets

Potree

Free
  • PotreeFree
    • BSD-style open source licence
    • Unlimited datasets and viewers
    • Self-hosted on any static web server

Which should you pick?

Choose Citymapper if

  • You need multi-modal routing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Ios, Android, Web.
  • You also want real-time departures.
Citymapper review

Choose Potree if

  • You need octree streaming.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want large dataset rendering.
Potree review

Questions people ask

Is Citymapper or Potree better?
Neither clearly leads. Citymapper starts at Free and Potree at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Citymapper or Potree?
Citymapper starts at Free and Potree at Free.
Does Citymapper or Potree run on more platforms?
Citymapper runs on Ios, Android, Web. Potree runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
Can I use Citymapper for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Citymapper best used for?
Citymapper is most often used for daily commuting, city exploration, trip planning, mobility as a service. Of those, daily commuting and city exploration are not what Potree is typically brought in for.
What can Citymapper do that Potree cannot?
Citymapper covers Multi-modal routing, Real-time departures, Live bus tracking, Disruption alerts. Potree covers Octree streaming, Large dataset rendering, Measurement tools, Clipping and profiles.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Citymapper: Does Citymapper offer paid membership?

Yes, Citymapper offers a CLUB membership tier with exclusive features, including AI-powered route selection. However, specific pricing details for CLUB membership are not disclosed on their main website.

Source
Potree: Does Potree cost anything?

No. It is open source and free. You supply the hosting, which for a static viewer is inexpensive.

Citymapper: Where can I find Citymapper CLUB pricing?

Citymapper CLUB pricing is not published on their website. You would need to check the mobile app (Apple App Store or Google Play Store) or contact Citymapper support directly for current pricing information.

Source
Potree: Is there commercial support?

No. There is no vendor and no support contract. Support is GitHub issues and the community.

Potree: Who maintains it?

It originated at TU Wien and is maintained principally by Markus Schütz, with community contributions.

Potree: Can it handle very large clouds?

Yes, hundreds of millions of points, because PotreeConverter builds a multi-resolution octree that streams only what is visible.

Potree: Is my data private?

Only if you make it so. Potree serves static files with no built-in authentication, so access control is entirely your responsibility.

Share

Related pages

More on Citymapper

More on Potree

Keep looking

Other head to heads