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Maps · head to head

Cesium ion vs Correlator3D

Cesium ion logo

Cesium ion

Maps

Hosted 3D geospatial tiling and streaming, metered by storage, streaming and gigapixels

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Correlator3D logo

Correlator3D

Maps

SimActive photogrammetry with a published price list and a perpetual licence still on sale

From
$295/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cesium ion has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cesium ion streaming is metered in gigabytes a month, so a public-facing application's cost is driven by visitor traffic you do not control, and a successful launch can blow through a tier immediately.; Correlator3D the standard licence caps at 61 megapixel sensors, so an operator moving to a medium or large format camera has to buy a different and separately quoted licence rather than paying an upgrade fee.
  • They diverge on capability: Cesium ion covers 3D Tiles tiling, Correlator3D covers Aerial triangulation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cesium ion and Correlator3D actually diverge.

Attributes where Cesium ion and Correlator3D differ
AttributeCesium ionCorrelator3D
Starting priceFree$295/month
Pricing modelPer month by storage, streaming and gigapixelsOne-time purchase
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CloudWindows

Identical on both: 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 Cesium ion

  • 3D Tiles tiling
  • Global terrain and imagery
  • Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles
  • Cloud reality modelling
  • Streaming delivery
  • Access tokens
  • Geocoding
  • Self-hosted option

Only in Correlator3D

  • Aerial triangulation
  • DSM and DTM generation
  • Orthomosaic production
  • Point cloud and 3D mesh output
  • Feature extraction
  • GPU acceleration
  • Satellite imagery support
  • Batch and unattended processing

What people use each for

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

Cesium ion

  • A survey firm delivering a photogrammetry mesh to a client as a browser link rather than a 40 GB downloadnot Correlator3D
  • A simulation team streaming global terrain and imagery into an Unreal Engine environmentnot Correlator3D
  • An urban planning department publishing a city model that planners can inspect without desktop GIS softwarenot Correlator3D
  • A software product embedding 3D geospatial views and needing hosted tiling rather than building a tilernot Correlator3D

Correlator3D

  • An aerial survey company processing large photographic blocks where per-project cloud credits would be more expensive than owning a licencenot Cesium ion
  • A national or regional mapping agency that needs software it can run offline on classified or restricted imagerynot Cesium ion
  • A drone service provider producing bare-earth terrain models for volumetrics and corridor mapping at high throughputnot Cesium ion
  • An organisation that wants a perpetual licence because a multi-year subscription cannot be justified against its capital budgeting rulesnot Cesium ion

Where each one falls short

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

Cesium ion

  • Streaming is metered in gigabytes a month, so a public-facing application's cost is driven by visitor traffic you do not control, and a successful launch can blow through a tier immediately.
  • Reality modelling is billed in gigapixels a month, an unfamiliar unit that makes it hard to estimate in advance how many drone flights a plan will actually cover.
  • The free Community tier is restricted to non-commercial or open use, so a consultancy sharing a model with a paying client does not qualify regardless of how small the dataset is.
  • Team accounts cost substantially more than individual ones at the same quota, $524 against $149 on Commercial, so adding a second colleague is a large step rather than an incremental seat charge.
  • Self-hosting is available only under a custom enterprise agreement, which leaves organisations with data residency or air-gap requirements out of the published tiers entirely.

Correlator3D

  • The standard licence caps at 61 megapixel sensors, so an operator moving to a medium or large format camera has to buy a different and separately quoted licence rather than paying an upgrade fee.
  • It is Windows desktop only with no cloud processing option, so throughput is bounded by the workstation and GPU you buy, and there is no way to burst capacity for one large job.
  • There is no collaboration layer, client portal or field application, so deliverable sharing, review and version control all have to be handled by other software.
  • The interface and workflow are built for photogrammetry specialists; an occasional drone operator will find the learning curve steeper than a consumer-oriented mapping package.
  • The perpetual licence includes only one year of support and updates, and staying current afterwards means paying maintenance, so the headline $5,900 is not the whole long-term cost.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cesium ion

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • 5 GB storage
    • 15 GB per month streaming
    • 20 gigapixels per month reality modelling
  • Commercial$149/month
    • 50 GB storage
    • 150 GB per month streaming
    • 40 gigapixels per month reality modelling
  • Premium$499/month
    • 250 GB storage
    • 500 GB per month streaming
    • 100 gigapixels per month reality modelling
  • Custom$undefined/year
    • Negotiated quotas
    • Self-hosted deployment in your own environment
    • Enterprise support

Correlator3D

$295/month
  • Monthly subscription$295/month
    • Unlimited images
    • Sensors up to 61 megapixels
    • All modules and tools
  • Yearly subscription$2950/year
    • Unlimited images
    • Sensors up to 61 megapixels
    • All modules and tools
  • Permanent licence$5900/one-time
    • Perpetual licence
    • Unlimited images up to 61 megapixels
    • All modules and tools
  • Permanent floating licence$6400/one-time
    • Perpetual floating licence shared across machines
    • Unlimited images up to 61 megapixels
    • One year of support and updates included

Which should you pick?

Choose Cesium ion if

  • You need 3d tiles tiling.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want global terrain and imagery.
Cesium ion review

Choose Correlator3D if

  • You need aerial triangulation.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want dsm and dtm generation.
Correlator3D review

Questions people ask

Is Cesium ion or Correlator3D better?
Neither clearly leads. Cesium ion starts at Free and Correlator3D at $295/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cesium ion or Correlator3D?
Cesium ion has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cesium ion and $295/month for Correlator3D.
Does Cesium ion or Correlator3D run on more platforms?
Cesium ion runs on Web, Cloud. Correlator3D runs on Windows.
Can I use Cesium ion for free?
Yes. Cesium ion has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Correlator3D starts at $295/month.
What is Cesium ion best used for?
Cesium ion is most often used for a survey firm delivering a photogrammetry mesh to a client as a browser link rather than a 40 gb download, a simulation team streaming global terrain and imagery into an unreal engine environment, an urban planning department publishing a city model that planners can inspect without desktop gis software, a software product embedding 3d geospatial views and needing hosted tiling rather than building a tiler. Of those, a survey firm delivering a photogrammetry mesh to a client as a browser link rather than a 40 gb download and a simulation team streaming global terrain and imagery into an unreal engine environment are not what Correlator3D is typically brought in for.
What can Cesium ion do that Correlator3D cannot?
Cesium ion covers 3D Tiles tiling, Global terrain and imagery, Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles, Cloud reality modelling. Correlator3D covers Aerial triangulation, DSM and DTM generation, Orthomosaic production, Point cloud and 3D mesh output.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cesium ion: How is Cesium ion priced?

By several meters at once: storage in gigabytes, streaming in gigabytes per month, and reality modelling in gigapixels per month. Commercial starts at $149 a month for an individual.

Correlator3D: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?

Yes. $5,900 for a permanent licence and $6,400 for a permanent floating licence, each including a year of support and updates.

Cesium ion: Is the free tier usable commercially?

No. Community is for non-commercial or open use. Commercial work needs a paid plan.

Correlator3D: What limits the standard licence?

Sensor resolution, up to 61 megapixels. Medium format, large format and satellite imagery need separately priced licences.

Cesium ion: Can I run ion on my own infrastructure?

Only under a custom enterprise agreement negotiated with Cesium.

Correlator3D: Is there a cloud version?

No. Processing runs on your own Windows workstation. SimActive offers a data processing service as an alternative to buying the software.

Cesium ion: Do I need Cesium ion to use CesiumJS?

No. CesiumJS is open source and free. ion provides hosted tiling, base layers and streaming that you would otherwise have to build.

Correlator3D: Does it handle satellite imagery?

Yes, under a separate satellite licence class quoted on request.

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