2020. 2. 8. 18:01ㆍ카테고리 없음
The MapWindow GIS program is a free, open source abbreviated geographical information system (GIS), which might be utilized as an open-source option desktop GIS, to disperse data to other people, or to create and distribute custom spatial data analysis applications.
You map out solutions to real-life problems every day. You just need someone to map out the GIS software landscape for you. A GIS software landscape that is constantly changing with commercial and open source to choose from. Today, you will get a sneak peek at what GIS software packages the industry is using.
Discover the GIS software market and learn all the options available for you in our list of GIS software. 1 ArcGIS (Esri) Commercial Community 100 Research 100 Employer 100 Popularity 100. Esri ArcGIS is the powerhouse in GIS. It’s so influential that the term ArcGIS is sometimes (mistakenly) used interchangeably with GIS. Esri sits on top of the world as the biggest GIS software company. No questions asked.
You may have wasted hours trying to complete a basic task with other software. It may be because the tool did not exist or took several steps to get there. This is why ArcGIS is a worthy time investment.
It often gets the job done faster. Esri raises the bar to the next level in the GIS industry while other GIS software options are left playing catch-up. ArcGlobe, ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap (Basic, Editor and ArcInfo), 3D Analyst, Spatial Analyst, Geostatistics, Network Analyst, etc. The functionality is there. But it comes at a price. You hear it often from disgruntled GIS users from around the world: ArcGIS sucks.
But our analytics shows the exact opposite. Esri leads the GIS software industry in user community discussion, employer software usage and academic research – by a substantial margin. Do you want job security?. Do you want to publish a research paper?. Do you want to connect with GIS professionals? All answers point to one thing.
Learn ArcGIS. As Jack Dangermond says, ‘applying geography to everything will change our world’.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Customization, modeling and scripting. Maintenance and scalability. Cartographical output, Web mapping and data driven pages. Large user community and well supported documentation.
High license cost. Occasional crash and stability READ MORE. This is the number of plugins QGIS has to offer. If you really wanted to, you could test a new plugin every day of the year. Integrate your CAD data, generate heat maps and add OpenStreetMap and Bing layers in a flash. QGIS plugins give you the power to process and analyze GIS data like the Incredible Hulk. If you like the AppStore, the QGIS plugin repository is your equivalent.
In the GIS community, QGIS is widely believed as best open source option because of its top-of-the line cartography and processing. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Extendability with plugins. Stunningly beautiful cartography and labeling. Large user base, online support and thorough documentation. Interoperability.
Open source and group effort. Organization of plugins and tools Want to know how different QGIS and ArcGIS are? We compare the top 2 GIS software. READ MORE: 3 GRASS GIS Open Source Community 38 Research 85 Employer 2 Popularity 25.6 (Geographic Resource Analysis Support System) was developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and is a free alternative to commercial GIS software. It is remarkable how much the program has advanced over the years. Its use in academic publications is stunning. It’s popular in academic circles because open source code can be inspected and tailored to their needs.
GRASS GIS offers this many modules for GIS analysis. This includes data management, image processing, graphics production, spatial modelling and visualization. It’s no wonder why NOAA, NASA and USGS use GRASS GIS because of this open functionality.
And don’t forget that GRASS GIS can be unleashed through QGIS. GRASS GIS brings advanced geospatial concepts to the world. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Top-notch geoprocessing and batch processing. LiDAR and network analysis. Extensive help documentation. Steep learning curve.
Clunky UI and defining projects on start-up READ MORE. 4 MapInfo (Pitney Bowes) Commercial Community 22 Research 15 Employer 6 Popularity 11.6 At its core, allows you to create, manage and visualize GIS data. It does what all good GIS software can do. MapInfo connects geography with data but with a smaller price tag. MapInfo by Pitney Bowes’ motto is “locational intelligence”.
Detailed mapping, data analysis, pattern & trend identification – these are reasons why businesses are deploying MapInfo’s “location intelligence”. The MapInfo GIS Suite lets you create, access and manage geospatial assets, visualize business intelligence and customer data, and share high-quality interactive maps – quickly and easily. MapInfo (alongside Intergraph) have been the only competitors to Esri in the commercial GIS market. Usability is key to MapInfo’s GIS philosophy because usability means productivity. Beginner to advanced level users can do more with added functionality. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Ease of use and 64-bit processing.
Querying and better table management. Pitney Bowes geocoding services. Side-by-side mapping.
Interoperability and poor format support. Lower cost of license READ MORE: 5 Global Mapper (Blue Marble) Commercial Community 15 Research 2 Employer 2 Popularity 5.2 was originally developed by USGS to display topographic maps (.DRG) and digital elevation models (.DEM). This GIS software has evolved into a cost-effective commercial product. Like most GIS software options, it allows users to view, edit, merge and export hundreds of supported file formats.
Global Mapper is an affordable and easy-to-use GIS application that offers access to an unparalleled variety of spatial datasets and provides just the right level of functionality to satisfy both experienced GIS professionals and beginning users. As far GIS software reviews go, Global Mapper is known to be a “Swiss army knife” in GIS analysis.
It’s straight forward but also has an incredible amount of flexibility. Global Mapper hasn’t strayed too far away from its original purpose of working with elevation data. Its primary applications include area calculations, viewshed analysis, watershed delineation, contour lines, 3D viewing, rectification tool and GPS support. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES.
Powerful LiDAR display and processing. Elevation tools. Reads large number of formats. Cost-effective. Poor symbolization and print layout READ MORE: 6 GeoMedia (Intergraph/Hexagon Geospatial) Commercial Community 6 Research 5 Employer 5 Popularity 4.4 With a 40 year history, Intergraph (now Hexagon Geospatial) has evolved into a prime GIS software solution for security, government, infrastructure and more. Intergraph is solution-driven and provides real-world GIS applications. How can GeoMedia deliver usable information?
This is the core philosophy of Hexagon Geospatial. GeoMedia, a comprehensive and dynamic GIS, extracts compelling intelligence from geospatial data and integrates it to present actionable information.
Is a vector and raster-based GIS software product. It’s a mature GIS software program for data collection, analysis or management that delivers actionable intelligence. Actionable intelligence in transportation, utilities, communications and emergency management.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Data maintenance with fast querying and analysis.
Web-based and all-purpose mapping. Strong cartography with multiple layouts. On-the-fly projections. Smaller user community. License costs READ MORE: 7 Manifold System (Manifold) Commercial Community 7 Research 12 Employer 0 Popularity 4.2 is one of those mapping software packages that you can pick up quickly.
It consists of a desktop application, an object library for programmers and an Internet Map Server. Manifold has more or less the full capabilities of higher-priced GIS software package but without the price tag.
An intuitive interface, programmability and running in 64-bit are some of its advantages. What makes Manifold System even better is the small price you pay for a good set of GIS processing and data management tools. Manifold GIS is a combination of mapping, CAD, DBMS and image processing. The hallmark of GIS is the power of using a visual interface to view, grab, analyze, manipulate and transform data that would not be comprehensible in classic row and column DBMS text presentations. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Stable and intuitive GUI.
Wide range of functions with programmability. Natively 64-bit. Low price. Minimal cartographical tools available 8 SAGA GIS Open Source Community 15 Research 4 Employer 0 Popularity 4.0 Its name says it all. Stands for “System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses”. It’s no secret that SAGA GIS specializes in higher-level physical geography applications.
Its developers have put an incredible amount of time in building a robust free GIS software package. It’s transformed itself into one of the primary open source GIS software packages in the world. SAGA gives geoscientists an effective but easy learnable platform for the implementation of geoscientific methods.
Standard modules on SAGA GIS are for raster visualization and terrain data. Over 300 modules exist ranging from manipulating raster and vector data to storing, managing and creating spatial data. Multiple windows (histograms, attribute data, map view, print layout, scatter plots and properties) can be set up to give you a complete picture. You just need the screen real estate.
SAGA’s API makes it easy to implement your own modules. Although the command line isn’t user-friendly, it can be used with batching and routine processes. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Unique toolsets for geoscience not found in most GIS software. Powerful for terrain data and raster processing. Command line interpreter. Poor cartography and line and point symbology.
Missing documentation for some geoscience tools. Strange noise when finished running tool READ MORE: 9 Smallworld (General Electric) Commercial Community 1 Research 8 Employer 3 Popularity 3.8 GE SmallWorld If you’re working in telecommunications or utilities, take a look at. When SmallWorld was acquired by General Electric, it became the GIS software of choice by utility companies.
Its main product is SmallWorld Core which specializes in managing network infrastructures. This revolutionary, object-oriented, database-driven product provides a powerful, consistent architecture at the heart of many applications, such as those used for planning electric, gas and water distribution systems, designing telecommunications networks and evaluating strategic market opportunities.
But SmallWorld is not your typical do-it-all GIS software. Key advantages are its open data accessibility and scalable architecture. GE Smallworld enables data access and querying, thematic mapping and visualization. It offers spatial analysis tools like buffering, proximity measurements and network analysis. SmallWorld’s version managed database (VMDS) sets it aside from competition because of its ability for versioning and restoring backups. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES.
Specialized for utility/network infrastructure. Versioning, MAGIK coding. Not complete for all GIS purposes. High cost of license and maintenance 10 ILWIS Open Source Community 12 Research 3 Employer 0 Popularity 3.2 If you like to visit the past, the ILWIS ( Integrated Land and Water Information System) website is like travelling back in time. It also means that ILWIS has been around for a while. Has existed in the GIS software landscape for as long as GRASS GIS. It started development in the Netherlands and later became free GIS software.
It’s similar in many respects to GRASS- vector, raster processing with practical tools. Advanced techniques are erosion modeling and raster image processing may put ILWIS in your peripheral vision. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES.
Image processing and remote sensing tools. Visualization of stereo image pairs.
3D capabilities. Hard to pick up and go with it. Poorly documented with low support READ MORE: 11 IDRISI (Clark Laboratories) Commercial Community 3 Research 12 Employer 0 Popularity 3.2 Since 1987, has delivered remote sensing and image processing as an inexpensive option for analysis. You may have grown up using IDRISI.
Universities around the world are structuring courses around IDRISI. And with good reason – the software includes exactly what you need – image classification tools, restoration, enhancement, temporal analysis and object-based image analysis. What you may not have known is that IDRISI has vector-based functionality as well.
There is a range of basic to advanced tools for spatial analysis. IDRISI includes tools for spatial statistics, distance calculation and database querying. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Monitoring and modeling the Earth system. Object-based image classification and land change modelling. 2D and 3D visualization with time series. Low documentation without community forum.
Mapping layout support 12 AutoCAD Map 3D and Autodesk Geospatial (Autodesk) Commercial Community 4 Research 1 Employer 3 Popularity 3.0 Not many companies can claim they single-handedly took the largest market share of an industry. Well, Autodesk has done this with the CAD industry.
Autodesk is also integrating itself in the geospatial market with their GIS software product “”. These products are meant to bridge the gap between CAD and GIS. You can derive more value from your data with geospatial analysis. For example, buffers can be applied to notify affected properties within a specified distance during municipal rezoning applications. Querying can identify pipeline material in a dataset. When you link CAD and GIS, you get the best of both worlds. AutoCAD Map 3D software provides access to GIS and mapping data to support planning, design, and data management.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. CAD/GIS fusion. Topology, analysis and querying tools. 2D and 3D visualization with time series. Limited mapping and thematic tools. Bulky interface. Cost 13 GeoDa Open Source Community 2 Research 8 Employer 0 Popularity 2.6 is a free, cross-platform software designed for dynamic visualization, exploratory spatial data analysis, and spatial statistics.
It has been around for almost 15 years starting as an ArcView 3.x extension. Later, it was recoded to be independent of ArcView and is now associated with an illustrious group of GIS educators and researchers. GeoDa is an open source software tool implementing state-of-the-art methods for geospatial analysis, geovisualization, geosimulation, and spatial process modeling. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Data exploration for understanding statistics.
Geosimulation with data display. Specialized in statistics and not full-fledged GIS software. Missing traditional tools like editing and geo-algorithms READ MORE: 14 gvSIG Open Source Community 8 Research 2 Employer 0 Popularity 1.75 The began in Valencia, Spain to replace commercial GIS software. GvSIG is a GIS software package that handles, captures, stores and solves complex geographic problems. It places emphasis to access all common vector and raster formats in a user-friendly interface. GvSIG offers a range of tools (query, layout, geoprocessing, networks, etc) that compares to commercial GIS software options.
Some of the new developments are gvSIG 3D, which uses NASA’s World Wind SDK for realistic 3D scenes. GvSIG Mobile helps field crews collect data with Windows Mobile devices. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using gvSIG:, gvSIG 3D, intuitive GIS processing, stable free GIS software. Geoprocess all night. All with gvSIG software. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES.
Simple GUI and well-documented. Powerful CAD tools. gvSIG mobile application and 3D capabilities.
Intuitive andstable. Smaller community therefore less support READ MORE:. 15 Bentley Map Commercial Community 1 Research 2 Employer 2 Popularity 1.6 We step into a world of CAD and GIS all meshed into one.
Combines the power of CAD with the strengths of a traditional GIS. It offers interoperability and 2d overlay tools for GIS analysis. Advanced map finishing tools give high quality cartographical output. It’s powerful, extensible 2D/3D GIS and mapping software for the world’s infrastructure In Bentley Map, you can build 2D features with attributes and domain lists. But you can also build 3D features like buildings. This is useful for visualizing how underground utilities are networked.
It renders terrain models and point cloud data quickly. One of the neatest qualities of Bentley Map is the capability to perform GIS analysis in 2D and 3D. Some of the 3D analysis possible with Bentley Map includes sunlight effects on buildings, custom fly through animations or shadow studies. Like all GIS software, you can create high quality cartographical output. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES.
CAD/GIS fusion. 2D and 3D viewing.
3D analysis. High cost. Poor labeling and annotation. Lack of KMZ/KML support 16 Golden Software (MapViewer, Surfer and Didger) Commercial Community 1 Research 5 Employer 0 Popularity 1.5 has developed several packages with an emphasis on uniquely displaying map data. MapViewer is a good choice for thematic mapping and spatial analysis.
On the other hand, Surfer is a flexible mapping package primarily for 3D surface and contour mapping. It easily interpolates your XYZ data into functional maps at break-neck speeds.
Lastly with Didger, you can dynamically digitize any map, graph, aerial photo, site map, or printed image regardless of size. These are 3 very unique ways to display data! Surfer is a full-function 3D visualization, contouring and surface modeling package. MapViewer is an affordable mapping and spatial analysis tool that allows you to easily produce publication-quality thematic maps. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Short learning curve and versatile.
Focus is on data visualization. User-friendly. Manipulate XYZ points.
Affordable. Specialized in specific areas 17 uDig – User-friendly Desktop GIS Open Source Community 5 Research 1 Employer 0 Popularity 1.2 (user-friendly Desktop GIS) was developed by Refractions Research. Refractions is the developer and maintainer of not only uDig but PostGIS – a standard open source spatial database.
While uDig is a working open source desktop GIS application, it is also an open source GIS development platform. Volunteers world-wide continue to develop this open source desktop application. Focus is placed on database viewing and editing as well as a rich collection of GIS functionality. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Biodiversity and forest management. Solid documentation. Incomplete for cartography and analysis.
Less frequent releases compared to other open source GIS projects READ MORE: 18 MapWindow GIS Open Source Community 4 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0.8 is a ready-to-use spatial data viewer and GIS software package. It’s free and open source system that can be modified and extended using plugins. MapWindow is good for basic GIS needs – map making tools, simple editing and visualization.
It’s also a promising open source solution for hydrology applications. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES.
HydroDesktop for data discovery, download, visualization, editing. Extensible plugin architecture.
DotSpatial for GIS programmers. Smaller community support compared to other open source projects 19 Maptitude (Caliper Corporation) Commercial Community 1 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0.6 is a GIS software package that provides the tools, maps and data you need to inspect geographic patterns in data. On top of that, you are able to create beautiful maps without much pain. Maps range from scaled-symbol thematic maps to 3D prism maps. Maptitude has a flatter learning curve than other GIS software in an affordable price range. Maptitude focuses on solutions to geographic patterns with basic GIS processing tools. Industry solutions range from banking, business, health care, law enforcement, route planning and street mapping.
Mapwindow Gis For Mac
You won’t be using Maptitude for any advanced problems such as least squares regression or LiDAR conversion. But it’s a bargain if you need some general purpose mapping.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Quick and beautiful maps. Flat learning curve. Various map types and cartography options. Little support for advanced GIS processing (LiDAR and remote sensing) READ MORE: 20 MapMaker Pro (MapMaker) Commercial Community 1 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0.6 When we downloaded, a cute black cat icon appeared on our desktop. We were instantly in love.
We tested the software and realized instantly – MapMaker Pro’s goal is for anyone to be able to create a map with ease. You can produce maps without a GIS certificate.
Gis Software For Mac
But it also comes with some GIS features too. There are capabilities to manipulate 3D, GPS, vector and raster data.
Common GIS formats can be imported too. It’s a low-cost solution for those who need to make maps. But you’re better to look in other options. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Very general map production.
Dated interface without frequent releases. Lack of GIS processing functions 21 Whitebox Geospatial Analytical Tools (GAT) Open Source Community 0 Research 1 Employer 0 Popularity 0.4 Here is the diamond in the rough. I see as the most underrated software package on this list. I feel that it is inevitable to move up the rankings in the years ahead. Here’s why:. It has out-of-this world LiDAR support. Nobody should run to ArcGIS for LiDAR conversion again.
(Esri’s LAS dataset was awkward to begin with) The out-of-the-box tools in Whitebox GAT far exceeds Esri ArcGIS. 360 plugin tools to choose from for GIS analysis. Whitebox GAT has tools for conversion, import/export, analysis, hydrology, image processing, LiDAR, mathematical analysis, raster, statistics, stream network and terrain analysis. Developers can create new plugin tools and extensions using built-in Python scripting. It’s been translated into 11 different languages.
And it’s only been in development since 2009. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. LiDAR, terrain and hydrology superiority. Similar look and feel to Esri ArcMap. Break-neck processing speeds. Frequent releases with updates/li. Not much for symbology and labeling options.
Lack of GIS processing functions 22 XMap (Delorme) Commercial Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 is a user-friendly, low-cost, all-in-one GIS software. Simplifying data collection is at the top of XMaps list of primary functionality. Users can create forms to easily collect data in the field. XMap really bridges the gap between data collection and field staff.
Other key points is that XMap Professional is a GIS data viewing application, fully integrated in Esri. XMap GIS Editor offers tools to import, create, query and edit data for small-scale GIS operations. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Simplifies field data collection tool. Editing tools, data visualization and base maps. GPS functionality.
Specializes in form-based field data collection without traditional options 23 JUMP GIS (OpenJUMP) Open Source Community 0 Research 1 Employer 0 Popularity 0 (JAVA Unified Mapping Platform) all started as a conflation project by Vivid Solutions Inc. After its initial creation, Vivid Solutions stopped creation of JUMP GIS. However, the company eventually decided to support it because of the overwhelming support from its user community. Eventually JUMP GIS began a larger community effort and the name was eventually chosen to be “OpenJUMP”. Although JUMP was primarily used as a conflation software package, it grew into much more. OpenJUMP offers vector editing and support for a wide range of formats.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Conflation support. Little-to-no raster functionality.
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Lacking documentation 24 FalconView Open Source Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 The initial purpose of FalconView is to be a free and open source software. Georgia Tech built this open software for displaying various types of maps and geographically referenced overlays. Something neat about FalconView is that most of its users are from the US Department of Defense and other National Geospatial Intelligence Agencies.
This can be seen in the combat flight planning options available in the software. FalconView is a mapping tool and supports various types of display like elevation, satellite, LiDAR, KMZ and MrSID. SkyView mode can perform fly-throughs and even has the ability to open.MXD files. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES.
Supports various types of display like elevation, satellite, LiDAR, KMZ and MrSID. SkyView for fly-throughs.
Mostly for flight planning 25 SuperGIS (Supergeo Technologies Inc) Commercial Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 offers an abundance of GIS tools to visualize, process, analyze, and manage geospatial data effectively. Some of its defining features are: being able to import various data formats and geodatabase as well as creating geoprocessing workflows.
Extensions include 3D, network, spatial, statistical, biodiversity and topology analyst. There are add-ons for GPS, server desktop client, online imagery and feature guided pages. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. 3D, network, spatial, statistical, biodiversity and topology analyst. Add-ons for GPS, server desktop client, online imagery. Concerns that SuperGIS is a carbon-copy of ArcGIS 26 MicroImages (TNTgis) Commercial Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 The family consists of 3 separate software packages.
TNTmips provides all the tools needed to create, edit, georeference, interpret, and publish any type of geospatial data. TNTedit gives the necessary tools to display, create, georeferenced and edit map data. While TNTview is simply a data viewer for various forms of data such as CAD, vector, LiDAR and TIN.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. TNTview for basic map design. TNTeditor for creating and editing geospatial data. TNTscripts for automating workflow. License cost. Small user base and room for collaborating with other users 27 MapRite (Envitia) Commercial Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 is a market leader in conflation and data cleansing. Customers like Land Registry, Scottish Power and Network Rail are using MapRite because of its ability to maintain accurate records.
It is an automatic service for managing map change. It has also developed enhancements include superior annotation handling, importing rasters and reporting features. ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Corrects asset location errors. Data cleansing and conflation. Reporting feature. Specialized tools for specific tasks 28 TatukGIS Commercial Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 The is a professional desktop GIS mapping and data editing application with a built-in scripting environment.
The product natively supports (without format conversion or import/export operation) most industry-standard vector, raster, and grid formats, SQL database layers, and spatial databases (Oracle Spatial, PostGIS, etc.). Leading features include user-friendly data editing, state-of-the-art support for coordinate systems, WMS/WFS/TMS/WMTS data streaming, 3D visualization and related features, vector and image layer rectification, and support for essentially all database engines. Built-in scripting IDE for writing and debugging code exposes, within the Editor, the full power of the TatukGIS Developer Kernel (SDK) object API for modifying the Editor or adding new features. Fun fact: The origin of TatukGIS is based on Tatuk Lake in British Columbia, Canada.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. Built-in scripting environment. Nativel support for most industry-standard formats. License cost 29 OrbisGIS Open Source Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 is a cross-platform open source GIS software package designed by and for research. It provides some GIS techniques to manage and share spatial data. OrbisGIS is able to process vector and raster data models. It can execute processes like noise maps or hydrology process without any add-ons.
Plug-ins are available but are very limited for the time being. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using OrbisGIS: Lacking documentation, limited list of plugins, open source, research uses 30 KOSMO Open Source Community 0 Research 0 Employer 0 Popularity 0 is a child project of JumpGIS. Instead of data conflation, KOSMO has veered in the direction of vector/raster algorithms and geo-processing tools. It also brings support to many different file formats and powerful querying. This GIS software mainly consists of Spanish users from universities and companies. A List of GIS Software – Ranked by Public Opinion GIS professionals often complain there isn’t a clear picture of the GIS software market.
Wouldn’t it be nice to get the bigger picture?. What GIS software is the industry using today?. Who owns most of the GIS market share?. What are other GIS software options?
The 30 GIS desktop software options was from the voice of employers, researchers and GIS communities. But how were our rankings compiled? For those who can’t find their answer in Google Search, the next place they’ll end up is a GIS community forum.
But we don’t want to skew data by only selecting Esri forums. What are “neutral” GIS discussion forums?
We looked at only 2 –. When you aggregate the discussion topics from these two communities, this sums up community forum voice. If you’re in the geospatial industry, your choice in GIS software is critical.
We’ve mapped out the GIS software landscape for you. You have 30 options to choose from based on employers, researchers and the voice of the GIS community. Quality is often, but not always, a cause of popularity. Does McDonald’s really have the best hamburgers even though they sell millions every day? Marketing, branding, advertising, consumer perception contribute to what the consumer will buy.
We’ve developed a formula to rank the different GIS software products. However, this formula is not “magic” and should not dictate your choice in GIS software. What a formula can do is give you a basic structure on the perceptions of GIS users of the world. What the formula cannot do is teach you the point of intersection between your needs and the desired product. Only you, as a GIS professional, can do that. Maptitude (from Caliper Corporation) you say provides “little support for advanced geoprocessing”!!!!!
Have you ever tried using it? Maptitude is based on a platform that produces TransCAD and TransModeler — the 2 most used transportation GIS software. TransModeler is closest to a high level 3D software which no other 3D GIS can match. Maptitude for redistricting is used by 1000s of govt and political organizations in the US.
The low hanging fruit of GIS analysis can be done by most GIS but high level spatial analysis is rarely achieved within a GIS software. The exception is Caliper corporation. Try it: you might change your opinion (No GIS software does spatial stats well; Bayesian spatial stats is done in extremely computationally intensive environments that use Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. No GIS is even close employing MCMC techniquesArcGIS cannot handle big data but is touted as a GIS heavyweight!! There’s so much wrong with the interpretation of GIS software that it hurts your ranking algorithm. If your definition of “GIS” is limited to desktop applications, you’re not reading the winds correctly. I rarely use a desktop GIS, and yet I “do GIS” all day.
(When I do use one, it’s QGIS or Global Mapper.) Much more important are the tools I actually use: Postgres with PostGIS being the mainstay, complemented by a suite of Python libraries for the server (SQLAlchemy/GeoAlchemy, Shapely, Fiona, rasterio, numpy, scipy, Matplotlib, tools for writing Mapbox vector tiles, reading/writing GeoJSON, and accessinging GDAL), and JavaScript for the client (lots of small GeoJSON-related packages, Leaflet, Leaflet-draw, Mapbox GL, OpenLayers3). Desktop GIS is dying. If I waste hours getting things done with ArcGIS and getting strange generic error codes, I normally use FME.
Or, having the TCO in mind, QGIS (esp. For cartographic purposes).
And why doesn’t this article mention the database component e.g. Which is crucial in each business GIS application? This is what makes ESRI even more expensive, and is free software too in the QGIS world (PostgreSQL/PostGIS). GIS these days doesn’t only consist of ‘desktop GIS’, hence this list could extended anyway (GIS server, web solutions, ). Hi, quite impressive overview. And your ranking algorithm seems quite elaborated. Yet Unfortunately, your descriptions and explanations often just seem to repeat stereotypes without questioning what seems to be “public opinion”.
You list ArcGIS as the “Powerhouse” and claim people save time using it instead of “other software”. I can tell you lots of stories where the opposite is the case.
Several of my colleagues who are using it indeed tell me on a regularly basis that “ArcGIS sucks” (because the still prefer ArcView which they grew up with). I cannot tell (any more), cause I quit using ArcMap years ago (although my company would pay me a license without any question).
I never regretted the move to Open Source solutions, and actually every time I hear my colleagues complaining about this or that in ArcMap, I am deeply and soundly relaxed! When it comes to quality: E.g. In Hydrological modeling GRASS outperforms ArcMap (and all its available Extensions I know of) to a degree that is really astonishing. QGIS comes with really neat functionality as a PostGIS front-end Esp. The “What are the advantages and disadvantages of ” paragraphs are too opinion based for my taste and – at least for the software I know (which is mainly QGIS and GRASS) – appear a bit random. This leaves me with the impression, that you did not do too much research on them Of course I do not expect you to, given the number of 30 software packages.
But you could have mentioned it up-front! BTW, QGIS is not only developed by a dedicated community on a voluntary basis, but also by numerous companies with highly skilled and professional developers (same is true for other FOSS GIS software)! They just run a different business model! Your ArcMap description on the other hand reads a bit like copy and paste from ESRIs marketing documents Another important aspect that is missing is time (e.g. In terms of user age)!
A study among employees in my company revealed (simplified) that ArcMap is for the old school while the young guns are using Open Source (and at that time we never requested a specific software in open positions)! You really should have a trend barometer! I would also expect significantly different results if you subdivide “the industry” by sector or by country or continent (which would be quite relevant if you to give hints on job opportunities and so on).
Finally, I could not find R on your list. Add R and you would definitely have to recalculate your “research” scores!!! A lot of good points. Yes, I should add R to the list. I definitely encourage open source usage of GIS. Here is my thorough comparison of ArcGIS vs QGIS – I’ve also reviewed some of the major open source software here – For hydrology, I also suggest Whitebox GAT. It’s really worth a look as the main developer John Lindsay specializes in geomorphometry and hydrogeomatics.
This article will be continuously updated in the future. Also agreed that it really depends on the age, industry and country of the user. Hi, and thanks for your swift reply! I appreciate your work on presenting the available options which is for sure very helpful. And I understand that collecting all the information as you did already is a bunch of work!
So thanks for that. Regarding the time aspect I like to add just one more thing: As I see it, the big thing that hit the “industry” is the “Open Data movement”. And if you think the core idea of the Open Data movement further, which is empowering people, everything points in exactly one direction: Free and Open Source Software! From my point of view, public authorities should require their staff, consultants and so on who do development work for them to publish their algorithms and code, just like consultants that collect data for them are requested to publish that Finally, you listed interoperability as a plus for many free solutions.
Given that e.g. The OSGeo tools regularly complement each other, your map graphic could reflect that by clumping the small or medium sized dots to a center of gravity. Would be nice to have a time series animation of that one 😉 Again thanks for your valuable work. Hello, Great article!
Thanks for the valuable input from all the community. My name is Michel and I am a site engineer in the field of public works. As you know, digging can be cumbersome considering that you can hit at any time a pipe / part of the network. I already have a software which maps out the networks (water, gas, telecom etc) but I am searching for a software which enables me map those network on actual satellite maps. Those networks are complex since they spread over different layers of soil placed on top of each other. Could you please advise me on 3-4 software GIS which would be appropriate for piping + telecom underground network mapping?
Thanks everyone for your time. Hi Michel, it sounds like you want to digitize/edit your data with satellite imagery as a reference image. There are several options for this.
Using QGIS, you can simply download and install the OpenLayers plugin. From here, you can add the latest Google or Bing satellite imagery as a layer. Alternatively, you can download satellite imagery for free. They come in as separate bands so you’ll have to perform the composite bands tool to add them in as RGB.
There are WMS services that you can pay for that give you the latest, greatest satellite imagery such as ‘Sentinel on AWS’ The top 2 GIS software with the most users are ArcGIS and QGIS, so I’d suggest one of those.