Softwr

Maps · head to head

HERE WeGo vs Potree

HERE WeGo logo

HERE WeGo

Maps

Free navigation app with offline maps, public transit, bike routing, and car

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Potree logo

Potree

Maps

Open source WebGL viewer for publishing very large point clouds in a browser

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Potree has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: HERE WeGo hERE WeGo is a free navigation app whose public transport guidance covers only more than 1,900 named cities worldwide, per the developer's own App Store description; other regions rely on driving/walking directions and offline maps only.; Potree there is no vendor, no support contract and no service level, so anything you build on Potree is your organisation’s responsibility to maintain when a browser update breaks rendering.
  • They diverge on capability: HERE WeGo covers Core Functionality, Potree covers Octree streaming.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HERE WeGo and Potree actually diverge.

Attributes where HERE WeGo and Potree differ
AttributeHERE WeGoPotree
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux

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 HERE WeGo

  • Core Functionality
  • User Interface

Only in Potree

  • Octree streaming
  • Large dataset rendering
  • Measurement tools
  • Clipping and profiles
  • Annotations
  • Attribute colouring
  • PotreeDesktop
  • Self-hosting

What people use each for

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

HERE WeGo

No use cases recorded yet. See the HERE WeGo review.

Potree

  • A drone survey firm delivering a point cloud to a client who has no desktop software, by publishing a browser viewer link instead of a 40 GB LAZ filenot HERE WeGo
  • A heritage or archaeology project publishing a scanned site for public access without paying per-gigabyte hosting to a commercial platformnot HERE WeGo
  • An engineering consultancy embedding a point cloud viewer inside its own client portal without licensing a commercial web viewernot HERE WeGo
  • A university or research group that needs measurement and profiling in a shareable viewer for a dataset too large to emailnot HERE WeGo

Where each one falls short

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

HERE WeGo

  • HERE WeGo is a free navigation app whose public transport guidance covers only more than 1,900 named cities worldwide, per the developer's own App Store description; other regions rely on driving/walking directions and offline maps only.

Potree

  • There is no vendor, no support contract and no service level, so anything you build on Potree is your organisation’s responsibility to maintain when a browser update breaks rendering.
  • Conversion is a separate manual step with PotreeConverter, and building an automated publishing pipeline around it is engineering work the project does not provide.
  • Rendering quality and performance depend on the client machine and WebGL support, so a client on a locked-down corporate laptop with poor graphics may see a viewer that stutters or fails outright.
  • A WebGPU rewrite, Potree-Next, is in progress and is not a drop-in upgrade, so current integrations face an eventual migration with no vendor to manage it.
  • There is no access control, user management or audit layer; anyone with the URL sees the data unless you build authentication around the static files yourself, which is a real problem for confidential sites.

Pricing, plan by plan

HERE WeGo

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the HERE WeGo review.

Potree

Free
  • PotreeFree
    • BSD-style open source licence
    • Unlimited datasets and viewers
    • Self-hosted on any static web server

Which should you pick?

Choose HERE WeGo if

  • You need core functionality.
  • You also want user interface.
HERE WeGo review

Choose Potree if

  • You need octree streaming.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want large dataset rendering.
Potree review

Questions people ask

Is HERE WeGo or Potree better?
Neither clearly leads. HERE WeGo starts at On request and Potree at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HERE WeGo or Potree?
Potree has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for HERE WeGo and Free for Potree.
Does HERE WeGo or Potree run on more platforms?
HERE WeGo runs on Web. Potree runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
Can I use Potree for free?
Yes. Potree has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. HERE WeGo starts at On request.
What can HERE WeGo do that Potree cannot?
HERE WeGo covers Core Functionality, User Interface. Potree covers Octree streaming, Large dataset rendering, Measurement tools, Clipping and profiles.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Potree: Does Potree cost anything?

No. It is open source and free. You supply the hosting, which for a static viewer is inexpensive.

Potree: Is there commercial support?

No. There is no vendor and no support contract. Support is GitHub issues and the community.

Potree: Who maintains it?

It originated at TU Wien and is maintained principally by Markus Schütz, with community contributions.

Potree: Can it handle very large clouds?

Yes, hundreds of millions of points, because PotreeConverter builds a multi-resolution octree that streams only what is visible.

Potree: Is my data private?

Only if you make it so. Potree serves static files with no built-in authentication, so access control is entirely your responsibility.

Share

Related pages

More on HERE WeGo

More on Potree

Keep looking

Other head to heads