SW Mapsvs
Fulcrum
Fulcrum: If you need a managed cloud back end, user management and a support agreement
SW Maps
Free Android GIS data collector that pairs with external RTK GNSS receivers
As of 1 September 2026, SW Maps is free to use. A genuinely free mobile GIS app from a Nepali engineering consultancy that connects to Bluetooth and USB RTK receivers, which is the feature commercial field apps charge a subscription for. Softwr lists it under Maps. SW Maps is made by Softwel (P) Ltd, available on Android.
Overview
What SW Maps does
SW Maps is an Android application for collecting, displaying and sharing geographic data in the field. Users define point, line and polygon layers with custom attributes including text, numbers, dropdowns, checklists, photos, audio and video, then collect against them offline. It loads basemaps, unlimited geospatial PDF layers and standard vector data, and exports to KMZ, shapefile, GeoJSON, GeoPackage, spreadsheets and CSV. The fact that matters commercially is the GNSS support. SW Maps connects to external RTK GNSS receivers over Bluetooth or USB serial, reads NMEA, applies antenna height and records fix quality per point. That means a survey-grade receiver plus a cheap Android tablet plus a free app produces centimetre-level attributed field data. Commercial equivalents from Esri, Trimble or Juniper charge annual per-user subscriptions for the same capability, and for a team of ten field staff that difference is thousands of pounds a year. It is developed by Softwel, a Kathmandu engineering consultancy, originally for its own water supply and infrastructure projects, and is distributed free with no advertising. The trade-off is what free from a small consultancy means: Android only, no iOS, no managed cloud back end, no contractual support and no roadmap commitment. Organisations that need auditability, user management and a support agreement should treat SW Maps as a capable field tool inside a workflow they manage themselves, not as a platform.
What people use it for
- An NGO or municipal utility mapping water points, pipe networks or road assets on a budget that cannot absorb per-user GIS subscriptions
- A survey team pairing a low-cost RTK receiver with Android tablets to collect centimetre-accurate attributed features without buying field software seats
- A university field course teaching GNSS data collection where every student needs the tool on their own device
- 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 job
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of SW Maps
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- SW MapsvsQQGIS
QGIS: The desktop counterpart for processing what SW Maps collects
- SW MapsvsEsri ArcGIS
Esri ArcGIS: If field data must land directly in a corporate ArcGIS estate with governance
Pricing
What SW Maps costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
SW Maps
Free
- All features included
- External RTK GNSS support
- Unlimited layers and exports
- No advertising
- No paid tier and no vendor support agreement
Capabilities
Features
Custom feature layers
Define point, line and polygon layers with typed attributes including photos, audio and video
External GNSS support
Connect Bluetooth or USB serial RTK receivers and record fix quality and antenna height
Offline basemaps
Cache online basemaps and load MBTiles for areas without coverage
Geospatial PDF layers
Load an unlimited number of georeferenced PDF drawings as field reference
Vector import
Bring in shapefiles, GeoJSON, KML and GeoPackage as reference or editable layers
Photo and media capture
Attach geotagged media directly to collected features
Export formats
Share as KMZ, shapefile, GeoJSON, GeoPackage, XLS, ODS or CSV
NTRIP client
Receive RTK corrections from a caster for centimetre positioning
Tracking and navigation
Record tracks and navigate to stored points in the field
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is SW Maps really free?
Yes. It is free with no advertising and no paid tier. There is no subscription and no feature paywall.
Does it support RTK receivers?
Yes, over Bluetooth or USB serial, with NTRIP correction support, antenna height and per-point fix quality recording.
Is there an iOS version?
No. Android only.
Who maintains it?
Softwel, an engineering consultancy in Kathmandu, Nepal, which built it for its own infrastructure projects.
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.
Keep looking
Where to go from SW Maps
- SW Maps alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- SW Maps pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- SW Maps badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Maps softwareThe full category
- Best Maps softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Maps software for
Compare SW Maps with
- ArcGIS Survey123
- QGIS
- Emlid Studio
- Leica Infinity
- onX Maps
- Felt
- IndoorAtlas
- Agisoft Metashape
- Mapbox
- Google Maps Platform
- Gaia GPS
- GraphHopper
- GRASS GIS
- HERE WeGo
- Esri ArcGIS
- IndoorAtlas
- ArcGIS Field Maps
- ArcGIS Survey123
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Open source12 researched notesFree navigation app with offline maps, public transit, bike routing, and car
5 researched notesIndoor positioning and navigation solutions using the Earth's magnetic field, WiFi, and Bluetooth beacons
Free, then €59/mo12 researched notesEsri field data collection that cannot be bought on its own, only with an ArcGIS user type
12 researched notesForm-centric field data collection that writes straight into an ArcGIS organisation
13 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for SW Maps, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on SW Maps
SW Maps alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
SW Maps pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare SW Maps
Put it head to head with anything we hold
SW Maps badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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