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Government · head to head

Mapbox Government vs Semperis

Mapbox Government logo

Mapbox Government

Government

Maps and Location for Government

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Semperis logo

Semperis

Cybersecurity

Identity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Mapbox Government has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Mapbox Government the Navigation SDK free tier covers only up to 10 monthly active users, and 11 or more requires contacting sales; Semperis scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
  • They diverge on capability: Mapbox Government covers Custom Map Design, Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mapbox Government and Semperis actually diverge.

Attributes where Mapbox Government and Semperis differ
AttributeMapbox GovernmentSemperis
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2010Unknown

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 Mapbox Government

  • Custom Map Design
  • Navigation SDK
  • Geocoding
  • Spatial Analysis
  • Offline Maps
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud

Only in Semperis

  • Active Directory Forest Recovery
  • Malware-free restore
  • Replication-stream monitoring
  • Automated rollback
  • Attack indicator scoring
  • Entra ID and Okta coverage
  • Purple Knight
  • Forest Druid

What people use each for

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

Mapbox Government

  • Embedding maps and turn by turn navigation in government applicationsnot Semperis
  • Routing and geocoding for public sector fleet and field operationsnot Semperis
  • Custom cartography for agency web and mobile appsnot Semperis

Semperis

  • An organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild Active Directory after a destructive attacknot Mapbox Government
  • Post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's footholdnot Mapbox Government
  • Continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs missnot Mapbox Government
  • Hybrid estates where AD, Entra ID and Okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the threenot Mapbox Government

Where each one falls short

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

Mapbox Government

  • The Navigation SDK free tier covers only up to 10 monthly active users, and 11 or more requires contacting sales
  • Volume pricing beyond the published free tiers is not listed and requires contacting sales for a discount
  • Pricing is metered per product, so Directions API, Navigation SDK and map loads are each billed on their own meter

Semperis

  • Scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
  • The licence buys tooling, not a proven runbook: forest recovery is only worth what your last rehearsal demonstrated, and a plan that has never been executed end to end in a lab is an untested assumption regardless of what was purchased.
  • It overlaps with backup and directory management products from Quest, Veeam, Commvault and others, so the buyer must argue internally why a dedicated product is needed alongside a backup contract that already claims to protect Active Directory.
  • Running Directory Services Protector well requires someone who understands AD internals, replication metadata and Tier 0 attack paths, and without that person the alerts on privileged changes are either ignored or auto-reverted in ways that break legitimate administration.
  • Licensing is driven by identity object counts, so directories carrying years of stale user accounts and service principals pay for objects that should have been deleted, and the cleanup project that would reduce the bill is the one nobody has time for.

Pricing, plan by plan

Mapbox Government

Free
  • GovernmentFree
    • Custom Maps
    • Navigation
    • Geocoding

Semperis

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Semperis review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Mapbox Government if

  • You need custom map design.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want navigation sdk.
Mapbox Government review

Choose Semperis if

  • You need active directory forest recovery.
  • You also want malware-free restore.
Semperis review

Questions people ask

Is Mapbox Government or Semperis better?
Neither clearly leads. Mapbox Government starts at Free and Semperis at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mapbox Government or Semperis?
Mapbox Government has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mapbox Government and On request for Semperis.
Does Mapbox Government or Semperis run on more platforms?
Mapbox Government runs on Web, Ios, Android. Semperis runs on Web.
Can I use Mapbox Government for free?
Yes. Mapbox Government has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Semperis starts at On request.
What is Mapbox Government best used for?
Mapbox Government is most often used for embedding maps and turn by turn navigation in government applications, routing and geocoding for public sector fleet and field operations, custom cartography for agency web and mobile apps. Of those, embedding maps and turn by turn navigation in government applications and routing and geocoding for public sector fleet and field operations are not what Semperis is typically brought in for.
What can Mapbox Government do that Semperis cannot?
Mapbox Government covers Custom Map Design, Navigation SDK, Geocoding, Spatial Analysis. Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Malware-free restore, Replication-stream monitoring, Automated rollback.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Semperis: Does this replace my backups?

No. It replaces the Active Directory recovery procedure specifically. You still need backups for everything else, and the point of Semperis is that a generic system-state backup of a domain controller is a poor way to recover a forest because it restores the operating system along with whatever compromised it.

Semperis: Is it useful if we are cloud-only on Entra ID?

Partly. Directory Services Protector covers Entra ID and Okta for change tracking and posture, but the forest recovery product, which is the strongest reason to buy, applies to on-premises Active Directory. A genuinely cloud-only organisation should weigh it against Microsoft's own tooling.

Semperis: Are Purple Knight and Forest Druid really free?

Yes, both are free downloads with no licence requirement, and they are widely used by organisations that are not Semperis customers. They are also, transparently, the top of the sales funnel.

Semperis: How long does forest recovery actually take?

The honest answer is whatever your rehearsal took. The vendor's case is hours instead of days, and automation genuinely removes most manual steps, but the number that matters for your board is the one from a test in your own environment.

Semperis: Does it require agents on domain controllers?

It collects directory changes from the AD replication stream, which is what lets it see changes that bypass the security log. Deployment details vary by product and version, so confirm the exact architecture against your domain controller change-control rules.

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