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Maps · head to head

Felt vs Global Mapper

Felt logo

Felt

Maps

Collaborative browser mapping with a free non-commercial tier and annual-only paid contracts

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Global Mapper logo

Global Mapper

Maps

A GIS and lidar desktop that still sells a genuine perpetual licence with published prices

From
$700/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Felt has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Felt felt publishes no prices for Professional or Enterprise, so buyers cannot compare against ArcGIS Online or QGIS with hosting without entering a sales process; Global Mapper it is Windows only with no macOS or Linux build, so mixed-platform teams end up running a virtual machine and lose graphics performance on large point clouds
  • They diverge on capability: Felt covers Real-time collaboration, Global Mapper covers Format breadth.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Felt and Global Mapper actually diverge.

Attributes where Felt and Global Mapper differ
AttributeFeltGlobal Mapper
Starting priceFree$700/one-time
Pricing modelquoteOne-time purchase
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWindows

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 Felt

  • Real-time collaboration
  • Drag and drop data
  • Unlimited viewers
  • Field app with offline support
  • Dashboards
  • Live cloud sources
  • API and SDK

Only in Global Mapper

  • Format breadth
  • Lidar processing
  • Pixels to Points
  • Coordinate transformation
  • Terrain analysis
  • Scripting
  • Mobile companion

What people use each for

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

Felt

  • An environmental consultancy that needs a client to view and comment on survey results without installing GIS softwarenot Global Mapper
  • A utility field crew collecting asset condition offline and syncing to the same map the office is looking atnot Global Mapper
  • A planning department sharing a proposal map with the public where the viewer count is unpredictable and viewer seats would be uncostednot Global Mapper
  • A team of analysts who each hold data in different formats and want one map assembled in an afternoon rather than a weeknot Global Mapper

Global Mapper

  • A survey office that receives lidar in a different format from every client and needs reliable conversion without writing scriptsnot Felt
  • A consultancy that wants to classify ground points and extract building footprints from a drone survey without an Esri enterprise agreementnot Felt
  • An organisation with an irregular workload that wants to buy the licence outright and skip maintenance in quiet yearsnot Felt
  • A geologist producing volumes, contours and cross sections from terrain data on a standalone office workstationnot Felt

Where each one falls short

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

Felt

  • Felt publishes no prices for Professional or Enterprise, so buyers cannot compare against ArcGIS Online or QGIS with hosting without entering a sales process
  • Paid tiers are annual contract only with no monthly option, which excludes consultancies that need a tool for a single short engagement and forces them to the free non-commercial tier they are not licensed to use for client work
  • The API, JavaScript SDK and live warehouse connections are enterprise-only, so a mid-sized team that wants programmatic access has to buy the top tier rather than pay for one capability
  • Analytical depth is limited: there is no meaningful geoprocessing, topology checking or model building, so Felt sits beside a real GIS rather than replacing one
  • The Professional tier caps data processing at 25 GB a month and map views at 100,000 a month, which are easy to exceed with raster imagery or a public-facing map, and the overage terms are not published either

Global Mapper

  • It is Windows only with no macOS or Linux build, so mixed-platform teams end up running a virtual machine and lose graphics performance on large point clouds
  • The interface has grown by accretion over two decades and features are scattered across menus, so new users are slow to find capabilities that are already installed
  • Node-locked perpetual licences are tied to the machine identifier, so a hardware refresh or a failed workstation means a support request rather than a login on a new device
  • Multi-user and web publishing are weak relative to Esri or QGIS with a server stack, so it is a desktop analysis tool and not a platform for sharing data across an organisation
  • Published prices apply to North America and differ elsewhere, so buyers outside that market must go through a reseller and cannot rely on the listed figures for budgeting

Pricing, plan by plan

Felt

Free
  • PersonalFree
    • Free forever for non-commercial mapping
    • Map creation, upload and sharing
    • Not licensed for commercial use
  • Professional$undefined/year
    • 10 full-access seats with unlimited viewers
    • 25 GB of data processing per month
    • 100,000 map views per month
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Live cloud sources including Postgres, Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks and S3
    • REST API and JavaScript SDK
    • AI features

Global Mapper

$700/one-time
  • Global Mapper Standard, node-locked$700/one-time
    • Perpetual licence tied to one machine
    • First year of maintenance and support included
    • Renewal 245 USD per year, optional
  • Global Mapper Standard, floating or dongle$1050/one-time
    • Shared between users or carried on a USB dongle
    • Maintenance renewal 365 USD per year
    • Network licence 2,100 USD with a two-seat minimum
  • Global Mapper Pro, node-locked$1750/one-time
    • Adds lidar classification, feature extraction and Pixels to Points
    • Maintenance renewal 610 USD per year
    • Upgrade from Standard version 26 costs 1,050 USD
  • Global Mapper Pro, floating or dongle$2625/one-time
    • Shared or dongle licence
    • Maintenance renewal 915 USD per year
    • Network licence 5,250 USD with a two-seat minimum

Which should you pick?

Choose Felt if

  • You need real-time collaboration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want drag and drop data.
Felt review

Choose Global Mapper if

  • You need format breadth.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want lidar processing.
Global Mapper review

Questions people ask

Is Felt or Global Mapper better?
Neither clearly leads. Felt starts at Free and Global Mapper at $700/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Felt or Global Mapper?
Felt has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Felt and $700/one-time for Global Mapper.
Does Felt or Global Mapper run on more platforms?
Felt runs on Web, iOS, Android. Global Mapper runs on Windows.
Can I use Felt for free?
Yes. Felt has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Global Mapper starts at $700/one-time.
What is Felt best used for?
Felt is most often used for an environmental consultancy that needs a client to view and comment on survey results without installing gis software, a utility field crew collecting asset condition offline and syncing to the same map the office is looking at, a planning department sharing a proposal map with the public where the viewer count is unpredictable and viewer seats would be uncosted, a team of analysts who each hold data in different formats and want one map assembled in an afternoon rather than a week. Of those, an environmental consultancy that needs a client to view and comment on survey results without installing gis software and a utility field crew collecting asset condition offline and syncing to the same map the office is looking at are not what Global Mapper is typically brought in for.
What can Felt do that Global Mapper cannot?
Felt covers Real-time collaboration, Drag and drop data, Unlimited viewers, Field app with offline support. Global Mapper covers Format breadth, Lidar processing, Pixels to Points, Coordinate transformation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Felt: What does Felt cost?

Felt does not publish prices for Professional or Enterprise. Personal is free but licensed for non-commercial use only.

Global Mapper: Is there still a perpetual licence?

Yes. Blue Marble sells perpetual node-locked, floating, dongle and network licences that keep working after maintenance lapses.

Felt: Can I pay monthly?

No. Paid plans are annual contracts. There is a 7 day trial of Professional.

Global Mapper: What is the difference between Standard and Pro?

Pro is an add-on to a matching Standard licence and carries the lidar classification, feature extraction, Pixels to Points photogrammetry and advanced terrain tools.

Felt: Do viewers cost anything?

No. Viewer access is unlimited on the paid plans, which is the main reason organisations with large map audiences choose it.

Global Mapper: Do I have to pay maintenance?

Only for the first year, which is included. After that it is optional; without it the software continues to run but you receive no upgrades or support.

Felt: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Yes, 30 per cent for verified United States nonprofits, and free access for verified students and classrooms.

Global Mapper: Can it replace ArcGIS?

For desktop format conversion, lidar and terrain analysis, often yes. For enterprise data management, web services and organisation-wide sharing, no.

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