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CAD · head to head

CloudCompare vs Redshift

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
Redshift logo

Redshift

CAD

World's first fully GPU-accelerated biased renderer

From
$29/month
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; Redshift no specific pricing amounts published on product page
  • They diverge on capability: CloudCompare covers Cloud to cloud distance, Redshift covers GPU rendering.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CloudCompare and Redshift actually diverge.

Attributes where CloudCompare and Redshift differ
AttributeCloudCompareRedshift
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux), user rating (Not yet rated), category (CAD).

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 Redshift

  • GPU rendering
  • Out-of-core rendering
  • Proxy system
  • AOVs
  • Motion blur
  • Production shading
  • Maya
  • 3ds Max

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

Redshift

  • 3D rendering and visualizationnot CloudCompare
  • GPU-accelerated ray tracingnot CloudCompare
  • Multi-GPU rendering up to 8 GPUs per machinenot 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

Redshift

  • No specific pricing amounts published on product page
  • Only 14-day free trial duration mentioned; no longer-term free tier
  • Must contact sales team for subscription cost details

Pricing, plan by plan

CloudCompare

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

Redshift

$29/month
  • Redshift$45/month
    • Full GPU rendering
  • Maxon One$149.91/month
    • Redshift + C4D + ZBrush

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 Redshift if

  • You need gpu rendering.
  • You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
  • You also want out-of-core rendering.
Redshift review

Questions people ask

Is CloudCompare or Redshift better?
Neither clearly leads. CloudCompare starts at Free and Redshift at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CloudCompare or Redshift?
CloudCompare has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CloudCompare and $29/month for Redshift.
Does CloudCompare or Redshift run on more platforms?
CloudCompare runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Redshift runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
Can I use CloudCompare for free?
Yes. CloudCompare has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Redshift starts at $29/month.
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 Redshift is typically brought in for.
What can CloudCompare do that Redshift cannot?
CloudCompare covers Cloud to cloud distance, Cloud to mesh distance, Registration, Segmentation and cleaning. Redshift covers GPU rendering, Out-of-core rendering, Proxy system, AOVs.

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.

Redshift: What is included with a Redshift subscription?

Redshift Subscription includes all integration plugins and capability for multiple instances up to 8 GPUs on a single computer. Specific features beyond rendering engine not detailed in public pricing documentation.

Source
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.

Redshift: How long is the Redshift trial period?

Redshift offers a 14-day free trial for users to evaluate the software before purchase commitment.

Source
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.

Redshift: Where can I find Redshift pricing details?

Specific pricing is available through Redshift store access or by contacting the sales team directly. Pricing amounts are not listed on the public product page.

Source
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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