Softwr

Maps · head to head

ArcGIS Survey123 vs Lonboard

ArcGIS Survey123 logo

ArcGIS Survey123

Maps

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lonboard logo

Lonboard

Maps

Python map rendering in Jupyter that skips GeoJSON and moves millions of features without choking

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lonboard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Lonboard it is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file
  • They diverge on capability: ArcGIS Survey123 covers XLSForm authoring, Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ArcGIS Survey123 and Lonboard actually diverge.

Attributes where ArcGIS Survey123 and Lonboard differ
AttributeArcGIS Survey123Lonboard
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelPer user per year by ArcGIS user typeOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsLinux, macOS, Windows

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 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 Lonboard

  • GeoArrow binary transfer
  • GeoPandas input
  • deck.gl layers
  • Jupyter widget
  • Large dataset handling
  • Styling by attribute
  • Open source licence

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 Lonboard
  • A local authority running a public consultation where anyone can submit without a licence, while staff review responses in an ArcGIS dashboardnot Lonboard
  • An environmental monitoring programme with complex conditional forms authored in XLSForm and completed offline in areas with no signalnot Lonboard
  • A field crew already licensed for ArcGIS Field Maps that needs structured forms alongside map-based editing without adding another vendornot Lonboard

Lonboard

  • An analyst exploring a national road or parcel dataset in a notebook where pydeck or ipyleaflet becomes unusable at that sizenot ArcGIS Survey123
  • A researcher publishing a reproducible analysis where the visualisation must run from the same script as the processingnot ArcGIS Survey123
  • A data scientist joining spatial data to model outputs in pandas and needing to see the result immediately without exporting to a GISnot ArcGIS Survey123
  • A team building an internal analysis pipeline on GeoParquet that wants rendering without a serialisation step in the middlenot 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.

Lonboard

  • It is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file
  • Maintenance sits with Development Seed as an open source side output of a consultancy, so roadmap priorities follow client projects and there is no support contract to buy
  • Layer coverage is a subset of deck.gl, so an analyst needing a less common layer type has to drop to pydeck or write JavaScript rather than staying in Python
  • It expects data already in GeoPandas or Arrow form, which means the performance benefit depends on the rest of your pipeline being Arrow-friendly; reading a large Shapefile is still the slow step
  • Rendering happens in the browser, so very large datasets are ultimately limited by the client machine's memory and GPU rather than by the server, and a laptop will still fail on data a workstation handles

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

Lonboard

Free
  • LonboardFree
    • Open source, no licence fee
    • No usage limits
    • Installed from PyPI or conda

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 Lonboard if

  • You need geoarrow binary transfer.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want geopandas input.
Lonboard review

Questions people ask

Is ArcGIS Survey123 or Lonboard better?
Neither clearly leads. ArcGIS Survey123 starts at On request and Lonboard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ArcGIS Survey123 or Lonboard?
Lonboard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for ArcGIS Survey123 and Free for Lonboard.
Does ArcGIS Survey123 or Lonboard run on more platforms?
ArcGIS Survey123 runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. Lonboard runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Lonboard for free?
Yes. Lonboard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ArcGIS Survey123 starts at On request.
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 Lonboard is typically brought in for.
What can ArcGIS Survey123 do that Lonboard cannot?
ArcGIS Survey123 covers XLSForm authoring, Web designer, Offline collection, Direct ArcGIS write. Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer, GeoPandas input, deck.gl layers, Jupyter widget.

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.

Lonboard: Why not just use pydeck?

pydeck serialises geometry to GeoJSON to reach the browser. Lonboard uses a binary GeoArrow pipeline, which is the reason it handles far larger datasets in the same notebook.

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.

Lonboard: Who maintains it?

Development Seed, a geospatial engineering consultancy, as an open source project. There is no commercial support offering.

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.

Lonboard: Does it work outside Jupyter?

It is built as a Jupyter widget. Exporting to standalone HTML is possible, but the intended environment is a notebook.

ArcGIS Survey123: Does it work offline?

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

Lonboard: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes, it is open source with no licence fee.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on ArcGIS Survey123

More on Lonboard

Keep looking

Other head to heads