Best GIS Software: 26 Free and Paid GIS Tools Compared

Quick answer: The best GIS software for most professionals is ArcGIS Pro, the industry standard for spatial analysis, imagery and enterprise mapping. The best free GIS software is QGIS, a complete open source desktop GIS for Windows, macOS and Linux. For browser-based mapping with nothing to install, choose Atlas.co or Felt. Pick Global Mapper for terrain and LiDAR, GRASS GIS or SAGA GIS for free raster and terrain analysis, Google Earth Engine for satellite image time series, and Mapbox or CARTO when you build maps into apps and dashboards.

GIS software lets you store, analyze and map anything that has a location. The right choice depends on four things: the analysis you need, your budget, your operating system and who has to see the result. This guide compares 26 GIS tools that are actively developed, shows what each one does best, and flags older programs that are retired or no longer updated, so you don't build workflows on software with no future. XRTech Group supplies satellite imagery, elevation models and radar data to teams that open them in these programs every day, so the notes below focus on what matters in practice: which formats load cleanly, how each tool handles large rasters and where the licence costs land.

The GIS software landscape spans free open source desktops such as QGIS and GRASS GIS, commercial platforms such as ArcGIS, and browser-based mapping tools.

Best GIS Software by Use Case

Start with the job, not the brand. Each row pairs a common need with the strongest pick and a second option worth testing.

What Is GIS Software?

GIS software (geographic information system software) is a program that stores, analyzes and displays data tied to a location on Earth. It layers vector data such as roads, parcels and boundaries over raster data such as satellite images and elevation models, then lets you measure, query and model how those layers relate. The result is a map, table, 3D scene or dashboard that answers a spatial question, for example which homes sit in a flood zone or where a new store reaches the most customers.

A typical proximity analysis in QGIS: buffer zones drawn around nest sites, with a linked chart summarizing the data behind the map.

GIS software comes in several types. Most teams combine two or three of them, for example a desktop GIS for analysis and a web platform for sharing.

How We Evaluated These GIS Tools

Every tool below was checked against the same six criteria, with extra weight on how well it handles the satellite imagery and elevation data our customers load into it:

• Active development: a current release and a clear roadmap. Retired and stalled programs are listed separately at the end.
• Data support: GeoTIFF, Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF, JPEG2000, shapefile, GeoPackage and LAS/LAZ point clouds.
• Analysis depth: raster, vector, terrain, imagery and network tools.
• Learning curve: how fast a new user produces a usable map.
• Total cost: licence, extensions, cloud credits and support.
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux or browser.

Best Overall GIS Software

These two desktop GIS programs cover almost every professional workflow. Most GIS specialists end up knowing both.

1. ArcGIS Pro: best for professional and enterprise GIS

ArcGIS Pro is Esri's flagship desktop GIS and the program most GIS job listings ask for. It combines 2D and 3D mapping, a very large geoprocessing toolbox, image analysis and one-click publishing to ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise in a single interface. It replaced ArcMap, which Esri has retired.

• Key features: deep learning tools with pretrained models that extract buildings, roads and land cover from imagery; 3D scenes with reality meshes, Gaussian splats and photorealistic 3D basemaps; ModelBuilder and Python (ArcPy) automation; direct sharing to web maps, apps and dashboards.
• Best for: GIS analysts, government agencies, utilities and any team whose clients or employer run ArcGIS.
• Limits: Windows only, so Mac users need a virtual machine. Extensions such as Spatial Analyst and Image Analyst add cost on the lower licence tiers.
• Price: annual subscriptions through Esri user types (Creator, Professional and Professional Plus). ArcGIS for Personal Use costs about USD 100 a year for non-commercial projects, and students can apply for ArcGIS for Student Use.
• Runs on: Windows.

2. QGIS: best free GIS software

QGIS is the leading free and open source desktop GIS, maintained by a global community of volunteers and sponsors under the OSGeo foundation. It reads almost every vector and raster format through GDAL, connects to PostGIS and cloud databases, and runs GRASS, SAGA and WhiteboxTools algorithms from its Processing Toolbox. QGIS 4 moved the code base to Qt6, and the project publishes a Long Term Release (LTR) for teams that value stability over new features.

• Key features: a large plugin library, print layouts and atlas map series, 3D map views, Python (PyQGIS) scripting and the QField companion app for field data collection.
• Best for: students, consultants, NGOs, small businesses and any organization that wants professional GIS without licence fees.
• Limits: plugin quality varies, and there is no vendor help desk unless you hire a commercial QGIS support provider.
• Price: free.
• Runs on: Windows, macOS and Linux.

Best Free and Open Source GIS Software

Beyond QGIS, these free GIS programs lead in specific kinds of analysis. Several of them also run inside QGIS, so you can mix their tools in one project.

3. GRASS GIS: best free toolkit for raster, terrain and hydrology

GRASS GIS is one of the oldest open source GIS projects, first developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and now run by OSGeo. It offers hundreds of modules for raster and vector analysis, image processing, hydrology and time series, and you can use it standalone, from Python or inside QGIS.

• Key features: watershed and stream extraction, solar radiation and viewshed models, space-time datasets for change analysis, and satellite image classification.
• Best for: researchers, hydrologists and environmental scientists.
• Limits: its project and mapset data model takes time to learn.
• Price: free.
• Runs on: Windows, macOS and Linux.

4. SAGA GIS: best free GIS for terrain and geoscience

SAGA (System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses) is a free GIS built around raster processing, especially terrain analysis. Its tool library covers DEM preprocessing, morphometry, hydrology, climate interpolation and soil modelling, and many of its tools also run inside QGIS.

• Key features: slope, aspect, curvature, topographic wetness index, channel networks and kriging from digital elevation models.
• Best for: geomorphology, soil science and agriculture studies.
• Limits: a dated interface and thinner documentation than QGIS.
• Price: free.
• Runs on: Windows and Linux, with community builds for macOS.

5. WhiteboxTools: best free toolset for hydrology and LiDAR

WhiteboxTools is the successor to Whitebox GAT, which is no longer developed. Built at the University of Guelph and written in Rust, it provides hundreds of fast tools for terrain, hydrology, LiDAR and image analysis that you run from the Whitebox Runner interface, Python, R, the command line, or the QGIS and ArcGIS plugins.

• Key features: LiDAR gridding and filtering, depression breaching, flow accumulation, stream network extraction and geomorphometric indices.
• Best for: automated DEM and point cloud workflows at scale.
• Limits: no full map-making interface of its own, so pair it with QGIS or ArcGIS Pro.
• Price: the open core is free; a paid extension adds more tools.
• Runs on: Windows, macOS and Linux.

6. GeoDa: best free software for spatial statistics

GeoDa, from the Center for Spatial Data Science at the University of Chicago, is built for exploratory spatial data analysis rather than map editing. It finds clusters, hot spots and spatial autocorrelation in data such as health, crime, housing or census statistics.

• Key features: Moran's I and LISA cluster maps, spatial regression and linked charts that highlight the same records on the map.
• Best for: social scientists, public health and economics researchers, and students learning spatial statistics.
• Limits: little editing or cartography.
• Price: free.
• Runs on: Windows, macOS and Linux.

7. TerrSet liberaGIS: best free software for land change modelling

TerrSet, the successor to IDRISI from Clark University, is now free as TerrSet liberaGIS. It combines GIS analysis and image processing with specialist modellers for land change, habitat, climate trends and REDD forest carbon projects.

• Key features: Land Change Modeler, Earth Trends Modeler for climate and vegetation time series, and satellite image classification.
• Best for: environmental scientists, conservation planners and remote sensing students.
• Limits: Windows only, with a smaller user community.
• Price: free.
• Runs on: Windows.

8. OpenJUMP: best lightweight free GIS for vector editing

OpenJUMP is a Java-based open source GIS that installs quickly and runs well on modest hardware. It suits topology cleaning, attribute editing and simple vector analysis when a full desktop GIS would be overkill.

• Key features: plugin extensions, PostGIS connections, topology checks and styling of shapefiles and GeoPackages.
• Best for: quick vector edits and older or low-spec computers.
• Limits: limited raster and cartography tools.
• Price: free.
• Runs on: Windows, macOS and Linux (requires Java).

Best Cloud and Web GIS Platforms

Online GIS software runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install and anyone with a link can view the map. These platforms suit teams that share results with non-GIS colleagues and clients.

9. Atlas.co: best browser GIS for teams

Atlas is a cloud-native GIS where teams import data, style maps, run spatial analysis and collaborate in real time without installing anything. It suits people who need GIS results without the learning curve of a desktop package.

• Key features: real-time collaboration, no-code analysis tools, import of CSV, GeoJSON, shapefile and dozens of other formats, and shareable map apps.
• Best for: real estate, planning and operations teams with non-GIS staff.
• Limits: less depth than ArcGIS Pro or QGIS for heavy raster processing.
• Price: free tier, then paid plans per seat.
• Runs on: any modern browser.

10. Felt: best for fast, shareable web maps

Felt is a collaborative web GIS that turns uploaded files and connected databases into styled, shareable maps in minutes. It connects to data sources such as Postgres, Snowflake and Google Cloud, and offers a Python SDK and a QGIS plugin for teams that mix desktop and web work.

• Key features: real-time co-editing, data-driven styling, attribute tables, spatial analysis tools, embeddable maps, SSO and permission controls.
• Best for: organizations that publish maps for clients, stakeholders and the public.
• Limits: priced for teams rather than individuals; not built for heavy image processing.
• Price: paid team plans with a free trial.
• Runs on: any modern browser.

11. Google Earth Engine: best for satellite imagery analysis at scale

Google Earth Engine is a cloud platform that hosts a multi-petabyte catalog of satellite imagery and geospatial datasets, including Landsat, Sentinel and MODIS, and runs your analysis on Google's servers. You write scripts in JavaScript in the Code Editor, or in Python, to map deforestation, crop health, surface water or urban growth across decades of data.

• Key features: time series and change detection, machine learning classifiers, and export to GeoTIFF for desktop GIS.
• Best for: remote sensing researchers, environmental monitoring and agriculture analytics.
• Limits: requires coding, and the free public imagery tops out at 10 to 30 m resolution, so site-level work needs commercial high resolution imagery.
• Price: free for non-commercial and research use; commercial use is billed through Google Cloud.
• Runs on: browser and Python API.

12. Google Earth: best free 3D globe for exploring places

Google Earth shows satellite and aerial imagery, 3D buildings and terrain for the whole planet, and it opens KML and KMZ files for simple projects. Google is retiring the Google Earth Pro desktop app: it no longer receives updates and is scheduled to stop being offered for download, so new users should start with Google Earth on the web or mobile. Read how up to date Google Earth is and where its images come from before relying on it for decisions.

• Key features: historical imagery, distance and area measurement, KML import and Street View.
• Best for: visual exploration, site previews and simple placemark projects.
• Limits: a viewer rather than an analysis GIS, with no projections or geoprocessing, and imagery dates vary by location.
• Price: free.
• Runs on: web browser, Android and iOS.

13. Google My Maps: best for simple custom maps

Google My Maps lets you drop pins, draw lines and shapes, and import a spreadsheet of addresses to build a custom map on top of Google Maps, then share it like a Google Doc.

• Best for: event maps, small store locators, classroom projects and trip planning.
• Limits: caps on layers and imported rows, and no spatial analysis.
• Price: free with a Google account.
• Runs on: browser; shared maps also open in Google Maps on mobile.

Best Commercial Desktop GIS for Specialists

These paid GIS programs win in a specific niche, from terrain and LiDAR to sales territories. Most run on Windows and offer a free trial.

14. Global Mapper: best for terrain, LiDAR and data conversion

Global Mapper from Blue Marble Geographics is a Windows GIS known for opening almost any spatial format and for strong elevation and point cloud tools. Global Mapper Pro adds LiDAR classification, photogrammetry from drone images and advanced terrain analysis.

• Key features: watershed delineation, volume and cut and fill calculation, contours, viewshed and conversion between hundreds of formats.
• Best for: surveyors, engineers, drone operators and anyone working with DEMs, DSMs and point clouds.
• Limits: Windows only, and cartographic output is plainer than ArcGIS Pro.
• Price: perpetual licence with optional maintenance, or subscription; the Pro edition costs more.
• Runs on: Windows.

15. MapInfo Pro: best for business and location analytics

MapInfo Pro, now from Precisely, is a long-standing desktop GIS used by telecoms, retailers, insurers and local governments for location analysis. It is quick for thematic maps and territory analysis, and it connects to Precisely's data catalog for demographics and points of interest.

• Key features: thematic mapping, SQL-style queries, raster add-ons, and MapBasic and Python automation.
• Best for: business analysts, telecom network planners and local authorities.
• Limits: Windows only and a smaller community than ArcGIS or QGIS.
• Price: annual subscription that includes support.
• Runs on: Windows.

16. Maptitude: best low-cost GIS for business mapping

Maptitude from Caliper is mapping software for business users. It ships with detailed country data such as demographics, roads and postal boundaries, so you can map customers, build sales territories and calculate drive times without sourcing data first. Maptitude Online adds browser access for sharing.

• Key features: territory manager, drive-time rings, geocoding and bundled demographic data.
• Best for: sales territory design, franchise and site planning, and small businesses.
• Limits: few raster and remote sensing tools.
• Price: one-time desktop licence, one of the lowest-cost full commercial GIS options.
• Runs on: Windows, plus Maptitude Online in the browser.

17. Manifold System: best for speed on very large datasets

Manifold System is a parallel-processing GIS that uses every CPU core and supported GPUs. It combines a GIS, a spatial SQL database engine and image tools in one low-cost licence.

• Key features: GPU-parallel processing, spatial SQL and support for hundreds of formats.
• Best for: power users with very large vector or raster datasets and spatial SQL users.
• Limits: a steep learning curve and an interface unlike other GIS.
• Price: low one-time licence.
• Runs on: Windows.

18. Cadcorp SIS: best for combining GIS and CAD data

Cadcorp SIS Desktop, from the UK developer Cadcorp, works with CAD, GIS and spatial database formats side by side, and Cadcorp's web products publish the results as interactive maps. That suits local government, emergency services and engineering firms that receive mixed data.

• Key features: native DWG and DXF reading, Ordnance Survey data support and web mapping through Cadcorp's server products.
• Best for: local authorities, utilities and consultancies that mix CAD drawings with GIS.
• Limits: smaller international footprint and quote-based pricing.
• Price: on request.
• Runs on: Windows, with browser-based viewers.

19. GeoMedia: best for organizations on Hexagon geospatial systems

GeoMedia began at Intergraph and is still used by government, defense and utility organizations for data management, analysis and map production on top of enterprise databases such as Oracle and SQL Server. Hexagon has reorganized its software businesses, so confirm the current roadmap and support terms before a new purchase.

• Key features: live connections to many spatial databases without conversion, map production, and pairing with ERDAS IMAGINE for remote sensing.
• Best for: agencies with existing Intergraph or Hexagon systems.
• Limits: enterprise pricing and fewer new users than ArcGIS or QGIS.
• Price: on request.
• Runs on: Windows.

20. TatukGIS: best budget desktop GIS with a developer kit

TatukGIS offers the TatukGIS Editor for desktop mapping, a free Viewer, and a developer kit (DK) widely used to build custom GIS applications in Delphi, .NET and other environments, including 3D views of point clouds and models.

• Key features: broad format and coordinate system support, 3D viewing and a free viewer for sharing data.
• Best for: software developers and small teams on a budget.
• Limits: a smaller community and fewer tutorials.
• Price: perpetual licences; the Viewer is free.
• Runs on: Windows.

21. Golden Software Surfer: best for contouring and 3D surface mapping

Surfer turns scattered XYZ data into grids, contour maps and 3D surfaces, which makes it a standard tool in geology, mining, groundwater and environmental consulting.

• Key features: kriging and other gridding methods, contour and 3D surface maps, volume calculations and LiDAR support.
• Best for: geologists, hydrogeologists and geophysicists.
• Limits: not a general-purpose GIS for vector editing.
• Price: annual subscription.
• Runs on: Windows.

Best GIS Software for CAD, Engineering and Utilities

22. AutoCAD Map 3D: best for CAD users who need GIS

AutoCAD Map 3D adds GIS data access, coordinate systems and topology to AutoCAD, so engineers can bring shapefiles, imagery and spatial databases into DWG drawings. It comes as a specialized toolset with an AutoCAD subscription, and the same capabilities sit inside Civil 3D.

• Key features: FDO connections to GIS files and databases, drawing cleanup, theming and georeferenced imagery.
• Best for: civil engineers, surveyors and municipal CAD teams.
• Limits: analysis tools are lighter than a dedicated GIS.
• Price: included with an AutoCAD subscription.
• Runs on: Windows.

23. GE Vernova Smallworld: best for electric, gas and telecom networks

Smallworld, now part of GE Vernova, is an enterprise GIS built to model utility and telecom networks with full connectivity, from substations and pipes to fiber splices. Utilities use Smallworld Geo Network Management for network design, outage support and asset records.

• Key features: connected network models, long-transaction versioning, field and web viewers, and integration with grid software.
• Best for: large utilities and network operators.
• Limits: enterprise deployment that needs specialist skills.
• Price: enterprise quote.
• Runs on: enterprise servers with desktop and web clients.

Best Web Mapping Tools for Developers and Data Teams

24. Mapbox: best for custom maps in apps and websites

Mapbox provides vector map tiles, the Mapbox Studio style editor and SDKs for web, iOS and Android, plus navigation, search and geocoding APIs. Developers use it to build branded, fast interactive maps into their products.

• Key features: custom map styles, 3D terrain and globe view, data uploads and offline mobile maps.
• Best for: developers, product teams, and logistics and delivery apps.
• Limits: usage-based billing grows with traffic, and it is not a desktop analysis tool.
• Price: free tier, then pay as you go.
• Runs on: web, iOS, Android and cloud APIs.

25. CARTO: best for location intelligence on cloud data warehouses

CARTO runs spatial analysis directly inside cloud data warehouses such as Google BigQuery, Snowflake, Amazon Redshift and Databricks, so analysts can build maps, apps and workflows on very large datasets without moving the data.

• Key features: no-code Workflows, spatial SQL, Builder for map apps and spatial index support such as H3.
• Best for: data science and analytics teams in retail, telecom, logistics and finance.
• Limits: enterprise pricing, and it needs a cloud data warehouse.
• Price: free trial, then subscription.
• Runs on: browser plus your cloud warehouse.

26. Datawrapper: best for publishing simple, accessible maps and charts

Datawrapper creates choropleth, symbol and locator maps, plus charts and tables, for articles and reports in a few clicks. Newsrooms favor it because the output is responsive, accessible and fast to load.

• Key features: CSV upload or paste, ready-made boundary maps and embeddable, accessible output.
• Best for: journalists, researchers and communications teams.
• Limits: presentation only, with no spatial analysis.
• Price: free plan; paid plans add custom branding and team features.
• Runs on: any modern browser.

QGIS vs ArcGIS Pro: Which Should You Learn?

Both are complete professional desktop GIS. The choice usually comes down to cost, operating system and what employers in your field use.

If you are starting out, learn QGIS first: it costs nothing and the GIS concepts transfer directly. Add ArcGIS Pro when your target employer or client runs Esri. Many professionals use both.

What Can You Do with GIS Software?

GIS software answers questions that depend on where things are. These are the core types of spatial analysis you will use:

• Spatial queries and proximity: find every parcel within 500 m of a river, or every customer inside a delivery zone.
• Overlay analysis: combine layers such as zoning, flood risk and soil type to find suitable sites.
• Terrain analysis: derive slope, aspect, contours, watersheds and line of sight from a digital elevation model.
• Image classification: turn satellite or drone imagery into land cover, crop or building maps.
• Change detection: compare imagery from different dates to track urban growth, deforestation or construction progress.
• Network analysis: calculate routes, drive times and service areas.
• Spatial statistics: find hot spots and clusters that a spreadsheet hides.
• 3D visualization: build terrain and 3D city models for planning and communication.

Industries that rely on GIS include urban planning, agriculture, construction, oil and gas, insurance, utilities, telecoms, environmental management, defense and emergency response.

How to Choose the Right GIS Software

• Define the main task. Cartography, analysis, imagery, field collection and web sharing each favor different tools.
• Match your operating system. On a Mac, choose QGIS, GRASS GIS, GeoDa or a browser platform; most commercial desktop GIS is Windows only.
• Check data formats. Confirm support for GeoTIFF, Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF, JPEG2000, shapefile, GeoPackage and LAS/LAZ if you work with imagery and point clouds.
• Count the full cost. Add extensions, cloud credits, training and support to the licence price.
• Plan how you will share. If colleagues need maps without GIS skills, pair a desktop tool with a web platform.
• Check the job market. Learn the software your industry and region use most.
• Size your hardware. For large rasters, plan for at least 16 GB of RAM (32 GB for heavy imagery), an SSD and a dedicated GPU for 3D and deep learning.

Test before you commit. The free tools cost nothing to try, and most commercial vendors offer a free trial, so load a sample of your own data into two or three shortlisted programs and compare.

GIS Software That Is Retired or No Longer Updated

Many older lists still recommend programs that have stopped development. Avoid starting new projects on these:

• ArcMap (ArcGIS Desktop): retired by Esri. Move to ArcGIS Pro.
• Google Earth Pro desktop: no longer updated and being withdrawn from download. Use Google Earth on the web, or QGIS for real analysis.
• Whitebox GAT: replaced by WhiteboxTools.
• Bentley Map: replaced by OpenCities Map in Bentley's MicroStation-based products.
• uDig, DIVA-GIS, OrbisGIS, MapWindow, gvSIG Desktop, ILWIS and FalconView: open source projects with little or no recent release activity. Existing installs still run, but QGIS covers what they did with active development and support.

Get Satellite Imagery and Elevation Data for Your GIS

Any GIS is only as good as the data you load into it. Free satellite imagery sources such as Landsat and Sentinel-2, and free DEM downloads such as Copernicus DEM, work well for regional studies. Site-level mapping, engineering and change monitoring need sharper and more recent data.

LuTan-1 (LT-1), one of the radar satellite constellations XRTech Group sources SAR imagery from.

XRTech Group supplies GIS-ready data from more than 130 satellites, delivered in formats that open directly in ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Global Mapper and the other tools above:

• High-resolution satellite imagery down to 30 cm, from archive or new tasking.
• Digital elevation models (DEM, DSM and DTM) produced from stereo satellite imagery.
• SAR radar imagery that sees through cloud, day and night.
• Orthorectified imagery and 3D city models ready for analysis.
• GeoTIFF, JPEG2000, shapefile and other standard formats, with the coordinate system and metadata included.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Esri: ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS for Personal Use
• Esri Eastern Africa: Closing the chapter on ArcMap
• QGIS: QGIS is moving to Qt6 and launching QGIS 4.0
• Clark University: Free version of TerrSet/IDRISI
• Google: Earth Engine Code Editor
• Android Authority: Google Earth Pro desktop sunset
• Felt: Tour the interface
• GE Vernova: Smallworld Geo Network Management
• Bentley Communities: Bentley Map and OpenCities Map
• OpenJUMP: OpenJUMP project