Softwr

Fleet Management · head to head

Geotab vs Lonboard

Geotab logo

Geotab

Fleet Management

Unlock fleet potential with data

From
$25/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Lonboard logo

Lonboard

Maps

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lonboard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Geotab specific pricing amounts not published online; contact sales required; 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: Geotab covers Real-time GPS tracking, Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Geotab and Lonboard actually diverge.

Attributes where Geotab and Lonboard differ
AttributeGeotabLonboard
Starting price$25/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryFleet ManagementMaps
Founded2000Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Geotab

  • Real-time GPS tracking
  • Vehicle diagnostics
  • Driver behavior scoring
  • ELD compliance
  • IFTA reporting
  • Fuel management
  • Maintenance scheduling
  • Route optimization

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.

Geotab

  • Fleet trackingnot Lonboard
  • Driver safetynot Lonboard
  • Fuel optimizationnot Lonboard
  • Compliance managementnot Lonboard
  • Predictive maintenancenot Lonboard

Lonboard

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

Where each one falls short

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

Geotab

  • Specific pricing amounts not published online; contact sales required
  • Custom pricing available for larger fleet volumes

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

Geotab

$25/month
  • Base$25/month
    • GPS tracking
    • Trip history
    • Engine diagnostics
  • Pro$40/month
    • Everything in Base
    • Driver behavior
    • Fuel usage
  • ProPlus$55/month
    • Everything in Pro
    • Active tracking
    • Advanced analytics

Lonboard

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Geotab if

  • You need real-time gps tracking.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want vehicle diagnostics.
Geotab 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 Geotab or Lonboard better?
Neither clearly leads. Geotab starts at $25/month and Lonboard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Geotab or Lonboard?
Lonboard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $25/month for Geotab and Free for Lonboard.
Does Geotab or Lonboard run on more platforms?
Geotab runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. 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. Geotab starts at $25/month.
What is Geotab best used for?
Geotab is most often used for fleet tracking, driver safety, fuel optimization, compliance management. Of those, fleet tracking and driver safety are not what Lonboard is typically brought in for.
What can Geotab do that Lonboard cannot?
Geotab covers Real-time GPS tracking, Vehicle diagnostics, Driver behavior scoring, ELD compliance. Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer, GeoPandas input, deck.gl layers, Jupyter widget.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Geotab: How is Geotab priced?

Geotab offers two subscription tiers: GO Core for basic fleet tracking and GO Plan for comprehensive fleet management. Both plans include hardware in the subscription price with no upfront costs or installation fees. Specific pricing is custom-quoted by the sales team.

Source
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.

Geotab: Does Geotab include hardware in the subscription?

Yes, both GO Core and GO Plan subscriptions include Geotab hardware at no upfront device cost. Hardware is integrated into the monthly subscription pricing.

Source
Lonboard: Who maintains it?

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

Geotab: Is it easy to upgrade between Geotab plans?

Yes, customers can easily upgrade or downgrade between GO Core and GO Plan through the MyGeotab portal, allowing flexible scaling as fleet needs change.

Source
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.

Lonboard: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes, it is open source with no licence fee.

Share

Related pages

More on Geotab

More on Lonboard

Keep looking

Other head to heads