Global Mapper: Affordable desktop GIS with strong format support and terrain tools. WhiteboxTools: Advanced terrain, hydrology and lidar analysis toolkit.
| Global Mapper | WhiteboxTools | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Desktop GIS | Spatial Analysis & GeoAI |
| Pricing model | Paid | Open source |
| Starts at | See website | Free |
| Free tier | Free trial | — |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Software licence | — | MIT |
| API | — | — |
| Platforms | Windows | Python, Command line, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Made by | Blue Marble Geographics | — |
| Commercial use | Check terms | Check terms |
| Export / print images | Check terms | Check terms |
| Offline / caching | Check terms | Check terms |
| Visits from MapTools | 7 | 6 |
| Visit | Visit |
Global Mapper features
- Hundreds of supported formats
- Terrain and contour generation
- Lidar module
- Digitising and analysis
WhiteboxTools features
- Terrain and hydrology tools
- Lidar processing
- QGIS and ArcGIS plugins
- Python API
Summary based on public information. Check each provider's current pricing and terms.