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Maps · head to head

SAGA GIS vs What3words

SAGA GIS logo

SAGA GIS

Maps

Open source terrain and geoscientific analysis with no vendor and no support contract available

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
What3words logo

What3words

Maps

What3words has divided the world into 3m squares and given each one

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SAGA GIS has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: SAGA GIS there is no commercial support contract available from anyone, so a procurement process that requires a named supplier with a service level cannot be satisfied and the organisation carries the whole operational risk itself; What3words the free API plan includes no coordinate conversion, only AutoSuggest, and is rate limited to 5 requests per second
  • They diverge on capability: SAGA GIS covers Terrain morphometry, What3words covers Core Functionality.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SAGA GIS and What3words actually diverge.

Attributes where SAGA GIS and What3words differ
AttributeSAGA GISWhat3words
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, Linux, macOSWeb

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 SAGA GIS

  • Terrain morphometry
  • Hydrological modelling
  • Geostatistics
  • Image analysis
  • Module library
  • QGIS integration
  • Python and R bindings

Only in What3words

  • Core Functionality
  • User Interface

What people use each for

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

SAGA GIS

  • A hydrologist deriving catchment boundaries and flow networks from a national elevation model at a resolution commercial tools slow down onnot What3words
  • A soil science team producing interpolated property surfaces with documented geostatistical methods for a peer-reviewed papernot What3words
  • A government environmental analyst who needs a terrain index that no commercial GIS implements and does not want to write it from scratchnot What3words
  • A QGIS user who has hit the limits of the native toolbox and needs the SAGA algorithms already exposed in the processing frameworknot What3words

What3words

  • Referring to a 3 metre square location with three wordsnot SAGA GIS
  • Adding location entry to a delivery or dispatch appnot SAGA GIS
  • Converting between coordinates and what3words addresses via APInot SAGA GIS

Where each one falls short

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

SAGA GIS

  • There is no commercial support contract available from anyone, so a procurement process that requires a named supplier with a service level cannot be satisfied and the organisation carries the whole operational risk itself
  • The project explicitly states that everyone working on it has another job and that answers may take a while, which means an urgent production failure has no escalation path
  • The interface is dated and inconsistent across modules, and cartographic output is poor, so most users treat it as an analysis engine and produce maps somewhere else
  • Documentation for many of the several hundred modules is a parameter list without explanation of method or expected input, so choosing the right algorithm often requires reading the source or a published paper
  • Development is concentrated in a small group, which creates real key-person risk: a change in the circumstances of a handful of maintainers would slow or stop releases, and there is no organisation obliged to continue them

What3words

  • The free API plan includes no coordinate conversion, only AutoSuggest, and is rate limited to 5 requests per second
  • Converting to and from what3words addresses starts on the Basic plan at $9.99 per month for 1,000 conversions
  • Priority and developer support require the Standard plan at $45 per month
  • 24/7 phone support requires the Plus plan at $125 per month
  • Custom invoicing and annual payment require the Premium plan at $300 per month
  • Overage pricing is not published; the page states only that a fair usage policy applies
  • The three word address scheme is proprietary and licensed rather than open data

Pricing, plan by plan

SAGA GIS

Free
  • SAGA GISFree
    • GNU General Public Licence
    • No licence fee and no usage limits
    • No commercial support contract exists

What3words

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the What3words review.

Which should you pick?

Choose SAGA GIS if

  • You need terrain morphometry.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want hydrological modelling.
SAGA GIS review

Choose What3words if

  • You need core functionality.
  • You also want user interface.
What3words review

Questions people ask

Is SAGA GIS or What3words better?
Neither clearly leads. SAGA GIS starts at Free and What3words at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SAGA GIS or What3words?
SAGA GIS has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for SAGA GIS and On request for What3words.
Does SAGA GIS or What3words run on more platforms?
SAGA GIS runs on Windows, Linux, macOS. What3words runs on Web.
Can I use SAGA GIS for free?
Yes. SAGA GIS has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. What3words starts at On request.
What is SAGA GIS best used for?
SAGA GIS is most often used for a hydrologist deriving catchment boundaries and flow networks from a national elevation model at a resolution commercial tools slow down on, a soil science team producing interpolated property surfaces with documented geostatistical methods for a peer-reviewed paper, a government environmental analyst who needs a terrain index that no commercial gis implements and does not want to write it from scratch, a qgis user who has hit the limits of the native toolbox and needs the saga algorithms already exposed in the processing framework. Of those, a hydrologist deriving catchment boundaries and flow networks from a national elevation model at a resolution commercial tools slow down on and a soil science team producing interpolated property surfaces with documented geostatistical methods for a peer-reviewed paper are not what What3words is typically brought in for.
What can SAGA GIS do that What3words cannot?
SAGA GIS covers Terrain morphometry, Hydrological modelling, Geostatistics, Image analysis. What3words covers Core Functionality, User Interface.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SAGA GIS: Who maintains SAGA GIS?

A small international developer community, originating from physical geography departments at the universities of Göttingen and Hamburg. It is hosted on SourceForge and releases continue in the 9.x line.

SAGA GIS: Can I buy support?

No. There is no vendor and no commercial support contract. The project itself states there is no hotline and no guaranteed support.

SAGA GIS: Do I need SAGA if I already run QGIS?

Often not, because many SAGA algorithms are available through the QGIS processing toolbox. Install SAGA directly when you need modules QGIS does not expose or want to script them independently.

SAGA GIS: What licence is it under?

The GNU General Public Licence, so you can modify and redistribute it under the same terms.

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