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Maps · head to head

Felt vs Zonar Systems

Felt logo

Felt

Maps

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Zonar Systems logo

Zonar Systems

Fleet Management

Telematics for school buses and vocational fleets, built around verified physical inspections

From
On request
Free plan
No
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; Zonar Systems the product is shaped around pupil transport and heavy vocational work, so light commercial van fleets pay for inspection and ridership machinery they will never use.
  • They diverge on capability: Felt covers Real-time collaboration, Zonar Systems covers EVIR.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Felt and Zonar Systems actually diverge.

Attributes where Felt and Zonar Systems differ
AttributeFeltZonar Systems
Starting priceFreeOn request
Free tierYesNo
CategoryMapsFleet Management

Identical on both: pricing model (quote), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Felt

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

Only in Zonar Systems

  • EVIR
  • Z Pass
  • MyView
  • Zonar Logs
  • Fault code monitoring
  • Zonar Coach

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 Zonar Systems
  • A utility field crew collecting asset condition offline and syncing to the same map the office is looking atnot Zonar Systems
  • A planning department sharing a proposal map with the public where the viewer count is unpredictable and viewer seats would be uncostednot Zonar Systems
  • A team of analysts who each hold data in different formats and want one map assembled in an afternoon rather than a weeknot Zonar Systems

Zonar Systems

  • A school district that must evidence pre-trip inspections to a state regulator and cannot rely on a driver ticking boxes on a screennot Felt
  • A pupil transport operation that needs to answer parent queries about which bus a child boarded and whennot Felt
  • A waste or utilities fleet with heavy vehicles where a missed defect becomes a liability question in courtnot Felt
  • A public sector fleet running a formal tender where verified inspection records are a scored requirementnot 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

Zonar Systems

  • The product is shaped around pupil transport and heavy vocational work, so light commercial van fleets pay for inspection and ridership machinery they will never use.
  • EVIR requires RFID tags fitted at zones on every vehicle plus a handheld or tablet, so installation labour and ongoing tag replacement are real costs that a plug-in competitor does not carry.
  • Continental has been separating its automotive divisions into standalone businesses, which leaves the long-term ownership and investment path for Zonar uncertain just as districts sign multi-year agreements.
  • The interface and reporting are dated next to newer platforms, and administrators moving from a modern dashboard find report building and data export unnecessarily manual.
  • Pricing is quoted rather than published and bundles hardware into multi-year terms, so comparing it fairly against a month-to-month competitor requires modelling total cost across the whole contract rather than the monthly figure.

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

Zonar Systems

On request
  • Zonar Systems$undefined/year
    • Per vehicle subscription with hardware and installation quoted separately
    • RFID inspection tags and rugged tablets priced per vehicle
    • Student ridership and parent app licensed per district

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 Zonar Systems if

  • You need evir.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want z pass.
Zonar Systems review

Questions people ask

Is Felt or Zonar Systems better?
Neither clearly leads. Felt starts at Free and Zonar Systems at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Felt or Zonar Systems?
Felt has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Felt and On request for Zonar Systems.
Does Felt or Zonar Systems run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Felt for free?
Yes. Felt has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zonar Systems starts at On request.
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 Zonar Systems is typically brought in for.
What can Felt do that Zonar Systems cannot?
Felt covers Real-time collaboration, Drag and drop data, Unlimited viewers, Field app with offline support. Zonar Systems covers EVIR, Z Pass, MyView, Zonar Logs.

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.

Zonar Systems: What does EVIR actually prove?

That a person carrying the scanning device was physically next to each tagged zone on the vehicle in sequence. It does not prove they looked carefully, but it removes the common defence that an inspection was recorded from the cab.

Felt: Can I pay monthly?

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

Zonar Systems: Is Zonar only for school buses?

No. It is used across waste, utilities, construction and transit, but pupil transport is where its ridership and parent-facing features have no direct equivalent.

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.

Zonar Systems: How disruptive is the installation?

More disruptive than a plug-in device. Expect a vehicle out of service for a fitting appointment, tags mounted at several points, and a rolling programme across the fleet rather than a same-day rollout.

Felt: Is there a nonprofit discount?

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

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