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CloudCompare vs Leica Geosystems Mining

CloudCompare logo

CloudCompare

CAD

Open source point cloud comparison and processing maintained largely by one person in their spare time

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Leica Geosystems Mining logo

Leica Geosystems Mining

Mining

Advanced positioning and measurement for mining

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CloudCompare has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CloudCompare the project is administered by its creator in his spare time while he holds a full-time job elsewhere, so an organisation building a monitoring programme on it depends on one person with no obligation to continue; Leica Geosystems Mining the solutions depend on buying Leica measurement hardware and sensors, including LiDAR and airborne laser scanning units, rather than software alone
  • They diverge on capability: CloudCompare covers Cloud to cloud distance, Leica Geosystems Mining covers GNSS positioning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CloudCompare and Leica Geosystems Mining actually diverge.

Attributes where CloudCompare and Leica Geosystems Mining differ
AttributeCloudCompareLeica Geosystems Mining
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows, Ios, Android, Web
CategoryCADMining
FoundedUnknown1921

Identical on both: 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 CloudCompare

  • Cloud to cloud distance
  • Cloud to mesh distance
  • Registration
  • Segmentation and cleaning
  • Plugin architecture
  • Format support
  • Command line mode

Only in Leica Geosystems Mining

  • GNSS positioning
  • Total station surveying
  • 3D laser scanning
  • Drone integration
  • Real-time kinematic positioning
  • CAD systems
  • GIS platforms
  • Mining software

What people use each for

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

CloudCompare

  • A monitoring engineer comparing quarterly laser scans of a retaining wall to quantify movement without buying a proprietary deformation packagenot Leica Geosystems Mining
  • A heritage team registering dozens of terrestrial scans of a building into a single cloud before meshingnot Leica Geosystems Mining
  • A geomorphologist measuring erosion between two drone-derived surfaces of a river banknot Leica Geosystems Mining
  • A survey technician cleaning and subsampling a scan before delivering it to a client whose software cannot handle the full densitynot Leica Geosystems Mining

Leica Geosystems Mining

  • Surveying and capturing detailed mine featuresnot CloudCompare
  • Designing mine infrastructure from measured datanot CloudCompare
  • Airborne LiDAR capture of mine sitesnot CloudCompare

Where each one falls short

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

CloudCompare

  • The project is administered by its creator in his spare time while he holds a full-time job elsewhere, so an organisation building a monitoring programme on it depends on one person with no obligation to continue
  • There is no commercial support contract from anyone, so a defect that blocks a deliverable is resolved by a GitHub issue and community goodwill rather than by an agreement
  • Processing is single machine and memory bound, so very large aerial lidar collections must be tiled manually and large jobs are limited by the workstation rather than scaled out
  • The interface is unforgiving and organised around the underlying data structures rather than around tasks, so competent surveyors routinely take weeks to become productive
  • Plugins vary widely in maintenance, and several useful ones originated in research projects that have since ended, so a workflow built around a specific plugin can break at the next release

Leica Geosystems Mining

  • The solutions depend on buying Leica measurement hardware and sensors, including LiDAR and airborne laser scanning units, rather than software alone
  • No price, subscription fee or licensing term is published on the mining solutions page
  • Fleet management is handled by the separate Hexagon Mining business rather than by Leica Geosystems

Pricing, plan by plan

CloudCompare

Free
  • CloudCompareFree
    • GNU General Public Licence
    • No licence fee and no usage limits
    • No commercial support contract exists

Leica Geosystems Mining

On request
  • Leica Mining Suite$45000/year
    • GNSS positioning
    • Total station systems
    • 3D laser scanning

Which should you pick?

Choose CloudCompare if

  • You need cloud to cloud distance.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want cloud to mesh distance.
CloudCompare review

Choose Leica Geosystems Mining if

  • You need gnss positioning.
  • You work on Windows, Ios, Android, Web.
  • You also want total station surveying.
Leica Geosystems Mining review

Questions people ask

Is CloudCompare or Leica Geosystems Mining better?
Neither clearly leads. CloudCompare starts at Free and Leica Geosystems Mining at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CloudCompare or Leica Geosystems Mining?
CloudCompare has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CloudCompare and On request for Leica Geosystems Mining.
Does CloudCompare or Leica Geosystems Mining run on more platforms?
CloudCompare runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Leica Geosystems Mining runs on Windows, Ios, Android, Web.
Can I use CloudCompare for free?
Yes. CloudCompare has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Leica Geosystems Mining starts at On request.
What is CloudCompare best used for?
CloudCompare is most often used for a monitoring engineer comparing quarterly laser scans of a retaining wall to quantify movement without buying a proprietary deformation package, a heritage team registering dozens of terrestrial scans of a building into a single cloud before meshing, a geomorphologist measuring erosion between two drone-derived surfaces of a river bank, a survey technician cleaning and subsampling a scan before delivering it to a client whose software cannot handle the full density. Of those, a monitoring engineer comparing quarterly laser scans of a retaining wall to quantify movement without buying a proprietary deformation package and a heritage team registering dozens of terrestrial scans of a building into a single cloud before meshing are not what Leica Geosystems Mining is typically brought in for.
What can CloudCompare do that Leica Geosystems Mining cannot?
CloudCompare covers Cloud to cloud distance, Cloud to mesh distance, Registration, Segmentation and cleaning. Leica Geosystems Mining covers GNSS positioning, Total station surveying, 3D laser scanning, Drone integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CloudCompare: Who maintains CloudCompare?

Daniel Girardeau-Montaut, its creator, administers it in his own time alongside a full-time engineering job, with contributions from a community of users and research groups.

CloudCompare: Can I buy support?

No. There is no vendor and no commercial support offering. Some geospatial consultancies know it well and can be hired, but they are not contracted to support the software itself.

CloudCompare: Is it suitable for commercial deliverables?

It is widely used for them. The licence permits it and the algorithms are well regarded. The risk is operational, not legal: no support and no roadmap commitment.

CloudCompare: Can it handle a full aerial lidar survey?

Not in one piece. It is memory bound on a single machine, so large collections need tiling or a dedicated lidar pipeline such as PDAL.

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