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CAD · head to head

CloudCompare vs Leica Infinity

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 Infinity logo

Leica Infinity

Maps

Office software that combines total station, GNSS, level, UAV and scanner data into one survey project

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 Infinity leica publishes no pricing at all and sells through dealers, so identical firms in different regions pay different rates for the same modules and cannot benchmark a quote.
  • They diverge on capability: CloudCompare covers Cloud to cloud distance, Leica Infinity covers Multi-sensor project.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CloudCompare and Leica Infinity actually diverge.

Attributes where CloudCompare and Leica Infinity differ
AttributeCloudCompareLeica Infinity
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows
CategoryCADMaps

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 Infinity

  • Multi-sensor project
  • Network adjustment
  • GNSS baseline processing
  • Point cloud handling
  • Surface and volume
  • Field data exchange
  • Imaging and UAV workflow
  • CAD, GIS and BIM export

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 Infinity
  • A heritage team registering dozens of terrestrial scans of a building into a single cloud before meshingnot Leica Infinity
  • A geomorphologist measuring erosion between two drone-derived surfaces of a river banknot Leica Infinity
  • A survey technician cleaning and subsampling a scan before delivering it to a client whose software cannot handle the full densitynot Leica Infinity

Leica Infinity

  • A survey practice running Leica instruments that wants control adjustment, GNSS post-processing and scan registration in one project rather than three packagesnot CloudCompare
  • A contractor computing monthly earthworks volumes from drone and GNSS data measured against a design surface for payment applicationsnot CloudCompare
  • A monitoring job comparing repeated survey epochs of a structure or slope where the adjustment history and residuals must be defensiblenot CloudCompare
  • An office preparing stakeout data and control for field crews on Leica Captivate and receiving as-built observations back into the same projectnot 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 Infinity

  • Leica publishes no pricing at all and sells through dealers, so identical firms in different regions pay different rates for the same modules and cannot benchmark a quote.
  • It is modular, which means the advertised capability list is not what you get: sensor and processing modules are licensed separately and the useful configuration costs considerably more than the entry one.
  • Third-party instrument data is supported but always second-class; a mixed Leica and Trimble fleet will have one manufacturer’s raw data going through a lossier import path.
  • Windows only, with no macOS, Linux or browser option, which is a hard constraint for organisations moving field and office work to tablets or cloud desktops.
  • Perpetual licences require an ongoing customer care contract to receive updates and support, so the perpetual option saves less over five years than it first appears.

Pricing, plan by plan

CloudCompare

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

Leica Infinity

On request
  • Infinity perpetual licence$undefined/year
    • Bought once, owned outright
    • Modular by sensor and processing capability
    • Annual customer care contract needed for updates
  • Infinity subscription$undefined/year
    • Annual or multi-year term
    • Includes updates for the term
    • Modules added or removed at renewal

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 Infinity if

  • You need multi-sensor project.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want network adjustment.
Leica Infinity review

Questions people ask

Is CloudCompare or Leica Infinity better?
Neither clearly leads. CloudCompare starts at Free and Leica Infinity at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CloudCompare or Leica Infinity?
CloudCompare has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CloudCompare and On request for Leica Infinity.
Does CloudCompare or Leica Infinity run on more platforms?
CloudCompare runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Leica Infinity runs on Windows.
Can I use CloudCompare for free?
Yes. CloudCompare has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Leica Infinity 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 Infinity is typically brought in for.
What can CloudCompare do that Leica Infinity cannot?
CloudCompare covers Cloud to cloud distance, Cloud to mesh distance, Registration, Segmentation and cleaning. Leica Infinity covers Multi-sensor project, Network adjustment, GNSS baseline processing, Point cloud handling.

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.

Leica Infinity: Is Leica Infinity available as a perpetual licence?

Yes. Leica sells Infinity both as a subscription and as a perpetual licence, though updates on a perpetual licence require an active customer care contract.

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.

Leica Infinity: How much does it cost?

Leica does not publish prices. Infinity is quoted per module through authorised dealers.

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.

Leica Infinity: Does it work with non-Leica instruments?

It imports common third-party and standard formats, but Leica raw data is the first-class path. Expect reduced fidelity with competing raw formats.

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.

Leica Infinity: Is there a free version?

No, only a 30-day trial.

Leica Infinity: Does it replace Cyclone for scanning?

No. Infinity handles scan data in a survey context; heavy registration and modelling work still belongs in Leica Cyclone.

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