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Maps · head to head

ArcGIS Field Maps vs Trimble Unity Maintain

ArcGIS Field Maps logo

ArcGIS Field Maps

Maps

Esri field data collection that cannot be bought on its own, only with an ArcGIS user type

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trimble Unity Maintain logo

Trimble Unity Maintain

Government

GIS-centric public asset and work management, the product formerly sold as Cityworks

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ArcGIS Field Maps field Maps has no price of its own, so a project budget built from the product page misses the Creator seats, the Mobile Worker seats and the ArcGIS Online credits or Enterprise infrastructure that actually cost money; Trimble Unity Maintain esri ArcGIS is a hard prerequisite, so an organisation without it faces a second substantial licence and a GIS programme before the maintenance system can be used at all.
  • They diverge on capability: ArcGIS Field Maps covers Offline map areas, Trimble Unity Maintain covers Built on ArcGIS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ArcGIS Field Maps and Trimble Unity Maintain actually diverge.

Attributes where ArcGIS Field Maps and Trimble Unity Maintain differ
AttributeArcGIS Field MapsTrimble Unity Maintain
Pricing modelIncluded with an ArcGIS user type licencequote
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, iOS, Android, Windows
CategoryMapsGovernment

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), 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 ArcGIS Field Maps

  • Offline map areas
  • Smart forms
  • High-accuracy GNSS
  • Location sharing
  • Assignment dispatch
  • Indoor positioning
  • Direct editing of authoritative data

Only in Trimble Unity Maintain

  • Built on ArcGIS
  • Service requests
  • Work order management
  • Permits and licensing
  • Mobile field access
  • Storeroom and inventory
  • Operational Insights
  • AgileAssets convergence

What people use each for

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

ArcGIS Field Maps

  • A water utility whose inspectors update the same asset feature service the office GIS runs on, rather than filling in forms that someone re-keysnot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • A county carrying out a sign inventory where crews work in areas without mobile coverage and need offline maps that sync laternot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • An environmental team needing sub-metre positions from an external GNSS receiver recorded directly against the authoritative datasetnot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • An organisation consolidating from Collector, Explorer, Tracker and Workforce onto a single app after Esri retired themnot Trimble Unity Maintain

Trimble Unity Maintain

  • A water utility wanting valve exercising and hydrant flushing recorded against the same GIS features the engineering team maintainsnot ArcGIS Field Maps
  • A city consolidating a citizen service request line, work orders and inspections into one location-based systemnot ArcGIS Field Maps
  • A state transportation department managing pavement and bridge assets with linear referencing rather than point assetsnot ArcGIS Field Maps
  • A public works department that has already licensed ArcGIS Enterprise and wants to avoid rekeying its asset inventorynot ArcGIS Field Maps

Where each one falls short

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

ArcGIS Field Maps

  • Field Maps has no price of its own, so a project budget built from the product page misses the Creator seats, the Mobile Worker seats and the ArcGIS Online credits or Enterprise infrastructure that actually cost money
  • It only works against Esri feature services, so an organisation whose data is in PostGIS or a database without an ArcGIS layer must publish through Esri first, which is a platform decision rather than an app choice
  • Named user licensing means occasional or seasonal field staff still consume a full annual seat, and organisations with a large pool of infrequent collectors pay for capacity they use a few weeks a year
  • As a forms tool alone it is more rigid and more expensive than dedicated mobile forms products, so its value collapses if you are not already committed to ArcGIS
  • The consolidation of four apps into one changed established workflows, and organisations that had built processes around Collector or Workforce have had to rework them on Esri's timetable rather than their own

Trimble Unity Maintain

  • Esri ArcGIS is a hard prerequisite, so an organisation without it faces a second substantial licence and a GIS programme before the maintenance system can be used at all.
  • The product is mid-rename from Cityworks to Trimble Unity Maintain with transition timelines Trimble has not committed to publicly, leaving contracts, documentation and integrator experience split between two names.
  • CVE-2025-0994, a deserialisation flaw in Cityworks, was exploited in the wild and listed by CISA in February 2025, which makes on-premise deployments a patching obligation rather than a set-and-forget install.
  • Because assets live in the GIS, changing the asset model is a GIS division change, so maintenance teams cannot restructure their own hierarchy without another department in the loop.
  • It is built for North American public sector practice, and the permitting, funding source and reporting models do not map cleanly onto other countries or onto private industrial estates.

Pricing, plan by plan

ArcGIS Field Maps

On request
  • Mobile Worker user type$undefined/year
    • Field editing in Field Maps included with no additional purchase
    • Cannot author maps; requires a Creator seat elsewhere in the organisation
    • Priced per named user per year
  • Creator user type$undefined/year
    • Required to author and publish the maps that field workers use
    • At least one Creator needed before Field Maps can be deployed
    • Includes Field Maps editing as well as authoring
  • ArcGIS Enterprise deployment$undefined/year
    • Field Maps against self-hosted ArcGIS Enterprise instead of ArcGIS Online
    • Server licensing and infrastructure priced separately
    • Quoted through Esri or a distributor

Trimble Unity Maintain

On request
  • Trimble Unity Maintain$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription sized by population served, asset volume and user count
    • Esri ArcGIS Enterprise or ArcGIS Online licensing required separately
    • Hosted and on-premise deployment priced differently

Which should you pick?

Choose ArcGIS Field Maps if

  • You need offline map areas.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want smart forms.
ArcGIS Field Maps review

Choose Trimble Unity Maintain if

  • You need built on arcgis.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want service requests.
Trimble Unity Maintain review

Questions people ask

Is ArcGIS Field Maps or Trimble Unity Maintain better?
Neither clearly leads. ArcGIS Field Maps starts at On request and Trimble Unity Maintain at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ArcGIS Field Maps or Trimble Unity Maintain?
ArcGIS Field Maps starts at On request and Trimble Unity Maintain at On request.
Does ArcGIS Field Maps or Trimble Unity Maintain run on more platforms?
ArcGIS Field Maps runs on iOS, Android, Web. Trimble Unity Maintain runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
What is ArcGIS Field Maps best used for?
ArcGIS Field Maps is most often used for a water utility whose inspectors update the same asset feature service the office gis runs on, rather than filling in forms that someone re-keys, a county carrying out a sign inventory where crews work in areas without mobile coverage and need offline maps that sync later, an environmental team needing sub-metre positions from an external gnss receiver recorded directly against the authoritative dataset, an organisation consolidating from collector, explorer, tracker and workforce onto a single app after esri retired them. Of those, a water utility whose inspectors update the same asset feature service the office gis runs on, rather than filling in forms that someone re-keys and a county carrying out a sign inventory where crews work in areas without mobile coverage and need offline maps that sync later are not what Trimble Unity Maintain is typically brought in for.
What can ArcGIS Field Maps do that Trimble Unity Maintain cannot?
ArcGIS Field Maps covers Offline map areas, Smart forms, High-accuracy GNSS, Location sharing. Trimble Unity Maintain covers Built on ArcGIS, Service requests, Work order management, Permits and licensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ArcGIS Field Maps: Can I buy Field Maps on its own?

No. It is included with the Mobile Worker, Creator and GIS Professional user types, and you need at least one Creator in the organisation to author maps.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Is Cityworks discontinued?

Not discontinued, renamed. It is becoming Trimble Unity Maintain, converging with AgileAssets, and Trimble has not published a final transition date.

ArcGIS Field Maps: What replaced Collector and Workforce?

Field Maps. Esri merged Collector, Explorer, Tracker and Workforce into it and retired the separate apps.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Do I need Esri ArcGIS?

Yes. The product is built on ArcGIS and cannot be deployed without an Esri licence.

ArcGIS Field Maps: Does it work offline?

Yes. Map areas are downloaded in advance and edits synchronise when connectivity returns.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Was there a security incident?

Yes. CVE-2025-0994 in Cityworks was exploited in the wild and added to the CISA known exploited vulnerabilities catalogue in February 2025.

ArcGIS Field Maps: Can it write to a non-Esri database?

Not directly. The data must be published as an ArcGIS feature service, which may sit over an enterprise geodatabase you already run.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Can it handle roads and pavement as well as pipes?

Yes, through the AgileAssets lineage now inside the Unity Maintain family, which adds linear referencing for transportation assets.

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