CARTO: Cloud-native location intelligence on your data warehouse. DuckDB Spatial: Fast spatial SQL on files, right on your laptop.
| CARTO | DuckDB Spatial | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Web GIS & Cloud Platforms | Spatial Analysis & GeoAI |
| Pricing model | Enterprise | Open source |
| Starts at | See website | Free |
| Free tier | Free trial | — |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Software licence | — | MIT |
| API | Yes | — |
| Platforms | Web, API, JavaScript | Python, Command line, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Made by | CARTO | — |
| Commercial use | Check terms | Allowed |
| Export / print images | Check terms | Allowed |
| Offline / caching | Check terms | Allowed |
| Visits from MapTools | 8 | 1 |
| Visit | Visit |
CARTO features
- Runs on BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks
- Builder for maps and analysis
- Spatial indexes (H3, quadbin)
- Developer tools and APIs
- Data Observatory datasets
DuckDB Spatial features
- Spatial SQL in an embedded database
- Reads many formats via GDAL
- GeoParquet support
- Fast analytics on large files
Summary based on public information. Check each provider's current pricing and terms.