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Maps · head to head

Potree vs Ride with GPS

Potree logo

Potree

Maps

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ride with GPS logo

Ride with GPS

Maps

Cycling route planning and navigation with a genuinely usable free tier and two paid tiers above it

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Ride with GPS turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps are locked behind the paid tiers, so the free tier alone is not enough for navigation in an area without signal.
  • They diverge on capability: Potree covers Octree streaming, Ride with GPS covers Route builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Potree and Ride with GPS actually diverge.

Attributes where Potree and Ride with GPS differ
AttributePotreeRide with GPS
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeFreemium, per user per month
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, LinuxWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Potree

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

Only in Ride with GPS

  • Route builder
  • Global heatmap
  • Turn-by-turn navigation
  • Offline maps
  • Garmin sync
  • Extra map layers

What people use each for

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

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 Ride with GPS
  • A heritage or archaeology project publishing a scanned site for public access without paying per-gigabyte hosting to a commercial platformnot Ride with GPS
  • An engineering consultancy embedding a point cloud viewer inside its own client portal without licensing a commercial web viewernot Ride with GPS
  • A university or research group that needs measurement and profiling in a shareable viewer for a dataset too large to emailnot Ride with GPS

Ride with GPS

  • A cyclist planning a multi-day touring route who needs offline maps for areas without signalnot Potree
  • Someone who wants turn-by-turn voice navigation on unfamiliar roads rather than checking a screennot Potree
  • A rider who wants to see popular local routes via the heatmap before committing to a paid tiernot Potree
  • A cyclist syncing custom routes directly to a Garmin computer for a big ridenot Potree

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Ride with GPS

  • Turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps are locked behind the paid tiers, so the free tier alone is not enough for navigation in an area without signal.
  • There are two separate paid tiers rather than one, and some navigation-adjacent features are split between Basic and Premium in ways that are easy to misjudge before subscribing.
  • It is general cycling focused, not mountain-bike trail specific, so a trail rider is better served by Trailforks for singletrack detail.
  • The web-based route builder is more capable than the mobile app for planning, so serious route creation is awkward to do purely from a phone.
  • Exact free-tier limits, such as any cap on saved routes, are not clearly published, so a heavy free-tier user may hit an undocumented limit unexpectedly.

Pricing, plan by plan

Potree

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

Ride with GPS

Free
  • StarterFree
    • Route creation
    • Ride recording
    • Global heatmap access
  • Basic$7.99/month
    • Turn-by-turn navigation
    • Offline route maps
    • ETA and advanced route planning
  • Premium$9.99/month
    • Everything in Basic
    • Extra map layers: wind, air quality, cell coverage

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Ride with GPS if

  • You need route builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want global heatmap.
Ride with GPS review

Questions people ask

Is Potree or Ride with GPS better?
Neither clearly leads. Potree starts at Free and Ride with GPS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Potree or Ride with GPS?
Potree starts at Free and Ride with GPS at Free.
Does Potree or Ride with GPS run on more platforms?
Potree runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. Ride with GPS runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Potree for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Potree best used for?
Potree is most often used for 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 file, a heritage or archaeology project publishing a scanned site for public access without paying per-gigabyte hosting to a commercial platform, an engineering consultancy embedding a point cloud viewer inside its own client portal without licensing a commercial web viewer, a university or research group that needs measurement and profiling in a shareable viewer for a dataset too large to email. Of those, 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 file and a heritage or archaeology project publishing a scanned site for public access without paying per-gigabyte hosting to a commercial platform are not what Ride with GPS is typically brought in for.
What can Potree do that Ride with GPS cannot?
Potree covers Octree streaming, Large dataset rendering, Measurement tools, Clipping and profiles. Ride with GPS covers Route builder, Global heatmap, Turn-by-turn navigation, Offline maps.

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.

Ride with GPS: Is Ride with GPS free?

A free Starter tier exists with route creation and the heatmap, but turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps require the Basic or Premium paid tier.

Potree: Is there commercial support?

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

Ride with GPS: What is the difference between Basic and Premium?

Premium includes everything in Basic plus extra map layers such as wind, air quality and cell coverage.

Potree: Who maintains it?

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

Ride with GPS: Is it mountain-bike specific?

No, it is general road, gravel and touring focused; Trailforks is the mountain-bike trail specific option.

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.

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