Google Earth Engine: Planetary-scale analysis of satellite imagery in the cloud. USGS EarthExplorer: Search and download Landsat and other USGS archives.
| Google Earth Engine | USGS EarthExplorer | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Spatial Analysis & GeoAI | Satellite & Aerial Imagery |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Free |
| Starts at | See website | Free |
| Free tier | Free for non-commercial and research use | — |
| Open source | No | No |
| Software licence | — | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Platforms | Web, Python, JavaScript | Web, API |
| Made by | US Geological Survey | |
| Commercial use | Paid plan | Allowed |
| Export / print images | Allowed | Allowed |
| Offline / caching | Check terms | Allowed |
| Visits from MapTools | 1 | 8 |
| Visit | Visit |
Google Earth Engine features
- Landsat, Sentinel, MODIS and many other datasets
- JavaScript Code Editor and Python API
- Time-series and classification
- Export results to Drive or Cloud Storage
Commercial use requires a paid Google Cloud licence. Each dataset keeps its own licence terms.
Google Earth Engine alternativesUSGS EarthExplorer features
- Landsat archive back to 1972
- Aerial photography
- Elevation data
- Bulk download
Landsat data is public domain in the United States. Credit USGS as the source.
USGS EarthExplorer alternativesSummary based on public information. Check each provider's current pricing and terms.