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Maps · head to head

Foursquare Spatial Studio vs SW Maps

Foursquare Spatial Studio logo

Foursquare Spatial Studio

Maps

The product formerly sold as Unfolded, now a Foursquare platform rather than a standalone company

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SW Maps logo

SW Maps

Maps

Free Android GIS data collector that pairs with external RTK GNSS receivers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SW Maps has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Foursquare Spatial Studio unfolded no longer exists as a product or a contracting entity, so buyers researching under that name find documentation, pricing discussion and comparison material that no longer applies to what Foursquare sells; SW Maps android only. There is no iOS version and no sign of one, which rules it out for organisations that issue iPhones and iPads to field staff.
  • They diverge on capability: Foursquare Spatial Studio covers Browser rendering at scale, SW Maps covers Custom feature layers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Foursquare Spatial Studio and SW Maps actually diverge.

Attributes where Foursquare Spatial Studio and SW Maps differ
AttributeFoursquare Spatial StudioSW Maps
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebAndroid

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 Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • Browser rendering at scale
  • H3 spatial indexing
  • Data joins
  • Time animation
  • Map sharing and embedding
  • Cloud data connections
  • Foursquare data access

Only in SW Maps

  • Custom feature layers
  • External GNSS support
  • Offline basemaps
  • Geospatial PDF layers
  • Vector import
  • Photo and media capture
  • Export formats
  • NTRIP client

What people use each for

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

Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • A retail property team comparing catchment overlap between candidate sites using hexagonal aggregation rather than drive-time polygonsnot SW Maps
  • A telecommunications planner visualising a national dataset of measurements in the browser without building a tile pipelinenot SW Maps
  • An analytics team that already writes deck.gl in-house and wants a hosted environment so non-developers can explore the same datanot SW Maps
  • A marketing group that wants Foursquare places and movement data joined to its own customer geography in one toolnot SW Maps

SW Maps

  • An NGO or municipal utility mapping water points, pipe networks or road assets on a budget that cannot absorb per-user GIS subscriptionsnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • A survey team pairing a low-cost RTK receiver with Android tablets to collect centimetre-accurate attributed features without buying field software seatsnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • A university field course teaching GNSS data collection where every student needs the tool on their own devicenot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • A consultant doing a one-off asset inventory who needs shapefile or GeoPackage output and does not want to start an annual subscription for a three-week jobnot Foursquare Spatial Studio

Where each one falls short

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

Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • Unfolded no longer exists as a product or a contracting entity, so buyers researching under that name find documentation, pricing discussion and comparison material that no longer applies to what Foursquare sells
  • Pricing is not published at all, and because access to Foursquare datasets can be bundled into the same agreement, separating the cost of the software from the cost of the data requires explicitly asking for a split quote
  • Much of the visualisation capability exists in kepler.gl and deck.gl, which are free and open source, so the paid product must justify itself on hosting, collaboration and data rather than on rendering
  • Foursquare's core business is selling location data, which means the analytics roadmap follows what makes that data sell, and a customer using only its own data is not the priority segment
  • It is analysis and visualisation, not a spatial database or an editing environment, so organisations still need PostGIS, a warehouse or a GIS for the authoritative data and its maintenance

SW Maps

  • Android only. There is no iOS version and no sign of one, which rules it out for organisations that issue iPhones and iPads to field staff.
  • There is no back end: no user management, no central project sync, no audit trail. Data lives on the device until someone exports it, and a lost tablet is lost data.
  • No commercial support contract exists, so an organisation with a compliance requirement for vendor support cannot use it for regulated work regardless of technical fit.
  • It is maintained by a small consultancy as a side product of its own project work, so the roadmap follows Softwel’s needs and a feature you depend on may never be prioritised.
  • Form logic is basic compared with dedicated survey platforms: no meaningful skip logic, validation or multi-user assignment, so complex questionnaires quickly outgrow it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Foursquare Spatial Studio

On request
  • Foursquare Spatial Studio$undefined/year
    • Quoted by users, data volume and which Foursquare datasets you take
    • Cloud warehouse connections on the higher tier
    • Not published

SW Maps

Free
  • SW MapsFree
    • All features included
    • External RTK GNSS support
    • Unlimited layers and exports

Which should you pick?

Choose Foursquare Spatial Studio if

  • You need browser rendering at scale.
  • You also want h3 spatial indexing.
Foursquare Spatial Studio review

Choose SW Maps if

  • You need custom feature layers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Android.
  • You also want external gnss support.
SW Maps review

Questions people ask

Is Foursquare Spatial Studio or SW Maps better?
Neither clearly leads. Foursquare Spatial Studio starts at On request and SW Maps at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Foursquare Spatial Studio or SW Maps?
SW Maps has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Foursquare Spatial Studio and Free for SW Maps.
Does Foursquare Spatial Studio or SW Maps run on more platforms?
Foursquare Spatial Studio runs on Web. SW Maps runs on Android.
Can I use SW Maps for free?
Yes. SW Maps has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Foursquare Spatial Studio starts at On request.
What is Foursquare Spatial Studio best used for?
Foursquare Spatial Studio is most often used for a retail property team comparing catchment overlap between candidate sites using hexagonal aggregation rather than drive-time polygons, a telecommunications planner visualising a national dataset of measurements in the browser without building a tile pipeline, an analytics team that already writes deck.gl in-house and wants a hosted environment so non-developers can explore the same data, a marketing group that wants foursquare places and movement data joined to its own customer geography in one tool. Of those, a retail property team comparing catchment overlap between candidate sites using hexagonal aggregation rather than drive-time polygons and a telecommunications planner visualising a national dataset of measurements in the browser without building a tile pipeline are not what SW Maps is typically brought in for.
What can Foursquare Spatial Studio do that SW Maps cannot?
Foursquare Spatial Studio covers Browser rendering at scale, H3 spatial indexing, Data joins, Time animation. SW Maps covers Custom feature layers, External GNSS support, Offline basemaps, Geospatial PDF layers.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Foursquare Spatial Studio: Can I still buy Unfolded?

No. Foursquare acquired Unfolded in 2021 and sells the product as Foursquare Spatial Studio. There is no Unfolded contract.

SW Maps: Is SW Maps really free?

Yes. It is free with no advertising and no paid tier. There is no subscription and no feature paywall.

Foursquare Spatial Studio: Is kepler.gl the same thing?

No. kepler.gl is the free open source visualisation library from the same original team. Spatial Studio is the hosted commercial platform built around it.

SW Maps: Does it support RTK receivers?

Yes, over Bluetooth or USB serial, with NTRIP correction support, antenna height and per-point fix quality recording.

Foursquare Spatial Studio: What does it cost?

Foursquare does not publish pricing. Ask for the software and the data licences to be quoted separately.

SW Maps: Is there an iOS version?

No. Android only.

Foursquare Spatial Studio: Do I need Foursquare's data to use it?

No, you can load your own, but the commercial proposition is strongest for customers who also want the places and movement datasets.

SW Maps: Who maintains it?

Softwel, an engineering consultancy in Kathmandu, Nepal, which built it for its own infrastructure projects.

SW Maps: Can we get support?

Not contractually. There is no commercial support agreement, which is the main reason organisations with compliance obligations choose a paid alternative.

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