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Maps · head to head

ArcGIS Survey123 vs Foursquare Spatial Studio

ArcGIS Survey123 logo

ArcGIS Survey123

Maps

Form-centric field data collection that writes straight into an ArcGIS organisation

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Foursquare Spatial Studio logo

Foursquare Spatial Studio

Maps

The product formerly sold as Unfolded, now a Foursquare platform rather than a standalone company

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ArcGIS Survey123 the app is free and the licensing is not: every person completing a secure survey needs a paid ArcGIS user type, so a hundred-person field programme costs tens of thousands a year before anyone counts credits.; Foursquare Spatial Studio unfolded no longer exists as a product or a contracting entity, so buyers researching under that name find documentation, pricing discussion and comparison material that no longer applies to what Foursquare sells
  • They diverge on capability: ArcGIS Survey123 covers XLSForm authoring, Foursquare Spatial Studio covers Browser rendering at scale.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ArcGIS Survey123 and Foursquare Spatial Studio actually diverge.

Attributes where ArcGIS Survey123 and Foursquare Spatial Studio differ
AttributeArcGIS Survey123Foursquare Spatial Studio
Pricing modelPer user per year by ArcGIS user typequote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), 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 ArcGIS Survey123

  • XLSForm authoring
  • Web designer
  • Offline collection
  • Direct ArcGIS write
  • Repeats and nested records
  • Media and signature capture
  • Webhooks and integration
  • Reports

Only in Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • Browser rendering at scale
  • H3 spatial indexing
  • Data joins
  • Time animation
  • Map sharing and embedding
  • Cloud data connections
  • Foursquare data access

What people use each for

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

ArcGIS Survey123

  • A water utility recording hydrant inspections that must appear on the corporate asset map the moment they are submitted, not after a nightly importnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • A local authority running a public consultation where anyone can submit without a licence, while staff review responses in an ArcGIS dashboardnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • An environmental monitoring programme with complex conditional forms authored in XLSForm and completed offline in areas with no signalnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • A field crew already licensed for ArcGIS Field Maps that needs structured forms alongside map-based editing without adding another vendornot Foursquare Spatial Studio

Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • A retail property team comparing catchment overlap between candidate sites using hexagonal aggregation rather than drive-time polygonsnot ArcGIS Survey123
  • A telecommunications planner visualising a national dataset of measurements in the browser without building a tile pipelinenot ArcGIS Survey123
  • An analytics team that already writes deck.gl in-house and wants a hosted environment so non-developers can explore the same datanot ArcGIS Survey123
  • A marketing group that wants Foursquare places and movement data joined to its own customer geography in one toolnot ArcGIS Survey123

Where each one falls short

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

ArcGIS Survey123

  • The app is free and the licensing is not: every person completing a secure survey needs a paid ArcGIS user type, so a hundred-person field programme costs tens of thousands a year before anyone counts credits.
  • Esri does not publish user type prices on its main pricing pages, so buyers reconstruct the cost from marketplace listings or a sales conversation, which makes budgeting an ArcGIS rollout unnecessarily opaque.
  • Credits are consumed by geocoding, storage and some analysis, and a data collection programme that generates heavy attachment volumes can burn through the bundled allowance and trigger a mid-year top-up.
  • It is useless without ArcGIS. There is no standalone deployment, so the decision to use Survey123 is really a decision to buy or keep an ArcGIS estate.
  • Form authoring splits between a web designer that is easy but limited and XLSForm plus Survey123 Connect that is capable but requires learning a spreadsheet syntax, and teams routinely start in the wrong one and rebuild.

Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • Unfolded no longer exists as a product or a contracting entity, so buyers researching under that name find documentation, pricing discussion and comparison material that no longer applies to what Foursquare sells
  • Pricing is not published at all, and because access to Foursquare datasets can be bundled into the same agreement, separating the cost of the software from the cost of the data requires explicitly asking for a split quote
  • Much of the visualisation capability exists in kepler.gl and deck.gl, which are free and open source, so the paid product must justify itself on hosting, collaboration and data rather than on rendering
  • Foursquare's core business is selling location data, which means the analytics roadmap follows what makes that data sell, and a customer using only its own data is not the priority segment
  • It is analysis and visualisation, not a spatial database or an editing environment, so organisations still need PostGIS, a warehouse or a GIS for the authoritative data and its maintenance

Pricing, plan by plan

ArcGIS Survey123

On request
  • Survey123 appFree
    • No separate charge for the app itself
    • Requires an ArcGIS Online or Enterprise organisation
    • Public surveys can be completed without a licence
  • Creator user type$undefined/year
    • Required to author and publish surveys
    • Foundational user type, can administer the organisation
    • Includes an annual credit allowance
  • Mobile Worker user type$undefined/year
    • Required for each person completing a secure survey
    • Dependent user type, must be added to an organisation with a foundational licence
    • Public marketplace listings have shown around $400 per year

Foursquare Spatial Studio

On request
  • Foursquare Spatial Studio$undefined/year
    • Quoted by users, data volume and which Foursquare datasets you take
    • Cloud warehouse connections on the higher tier
    • Not published

Which should you pick?

Choose ArcGIS Survey123 if

  • You need xlsform authoring.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want web designer.
ArcGIS Survey123 review

Choose Foursquare Spatial Studio if

  • You need browser rendering at scale.
  • You also want h3 spatial indexing.
Foursquare Spatial Studio review

Questions people ask

Is ArcGIS Survey123 or Foursquare Spatial Studio better?
Neither clearly leads. ArcGIS Survey123 starts at On request and Foursquare Spatial Studio at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ArcGIS Survey123 or Foursquare Spatial Studio?
ArcGIS Survey123 starts at On request and Foursquare Spatial Studio at On request.
Does ArcGIS Survey123 or Foursquare Spatial Studio run on more platforms?
ArcGIS Survey123 runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. Foursquare Spatial Studio runs on Web.
What is ArcGIS Survey123 best used for?
ArcGIS Survey123 is most often used for a water utility recording hydrant inspections that must appear on the corporate asset map the moment they are submitted, not after a nightly import, a local authority running a public consultation where anyone can submit without a licence, while staff review responses in an arcgis dashboard, an environmental monitoring programme with complex conditional forms authored in xlsform and completed offline in areas with no signal, a field crew already licensed for arcgis field maps that needs structured forms alongside map-based editing without adding another vendor. Of those, a water utility recording hydrant inspections that must appear on the corporate asset map the moment they are submitted, not after a nightly import and a local authority running a public consultation where anyone can submit without a licence, while staff review responses in an arcgis dashboard are not what Foursquare Spatial Studio is typically brought in for.
What can ArcGIS Survey123 do that Foursquare Spatial Studio cannot?
ArcGIS Survey123 covers XLSForm authoring, Web designer, Offline collection, Direct ArcGIS write. Foursquare Spatial Studio covers Browser rendering at scale, H3 spatial indexing, Data joins, Time animation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ArcGIS Survey123: Is Survey123 free?

The app is. Using it is not, unless your surveys are public. Authoring needs a Creator licence and each person completing a secure survey needs a Mobile Worker, Editor, Creator or GIS Professional user type.

Foursquare Spatial Studio: Can I still buy Unfolded?

No. Foursquare acquired Unfolded in 2021 and sells the product as Foursquare Spatial Studio. There is no Unfolded contract.

ArcGIS Survey123: How much are the user types?

Esri does not list them on its main pricing pages. Public marketplace listings have shown roughly $700 a year for Creator and $400 for Mobile Worker; confirm with Esri or a distributor for your region.

Foursquare Spatial Studio: Is kepler.gl the same thing?

No. kepler.gl is the free open source visualisation library from the same original team. Spatial Studio is the hosted commercial platform built around it.

ArcGIS Survey123: Can respondents fill in a survey without a licence?

Yes, if the survey is shared publicly. Secure surveys require a licensed user type.

Foursquare Spatial Studio: What does it cost?

Foursquare does not publish pricing. Ask for the software and the data licences to be quoted separately.

ArcGIS Survey123: Does it work offline?

Yes, in the mobile app, with sync when connectivity returns.

Foursquare Spatial Studio: Do I need Foursquare's data to use it?

No, you can load your own, but the commercial proposition is strongest for customers who also want the places and movement datasets.

ArcGIS Survey123: Is it the same as ArcGIS Field Maps?

No. Field Maps is map-centric editing; Survey123 is form-centric. Many organisations license both, which doubles nothing because user types cover the whole app suite.

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