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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    ArcGIS

    Score7.8 out of 10
    N/AEsri in Redlands, California offers ArcGIS, a geographic information system.

    $100

    per year

    CARTO

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ACarto (formerly CartoDB) in Brooklyn, New York offers their location intelligence solution.N/A
    Pricing
    ArcGISCARTO
    Editions & Modules
    Viewer
    $100
    per year
    ArcGIS for Personal Use
    $100
    per year
    ArcGIS for Student Use
    $100
    per year
    Editor
    $200
    per year
    Field Worker
    $350
    per year
    Creator
    $500
    per year
    GIS Professional Basic
    $700
    per year
    GIS Professional Basic
    2,750
    per year
    GIS Professional Advanced
    3,800
    per year
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ArcGISCARTO
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    ArcGISCARTO
    Considered Both Products
    Esri
    Chose ArcGIS
    These alternatives to ArcGIS have one thing in common - they are all generally more user-friendly, and they all lack the capability of ArcGIS. ArcGIS can do most anything geographically-related, while these other products do one or two things very well. For instance, ArcGIS's …
    Incentivized
    Chose ArcGIS
    There is a reason why ArcGIS and Esri is still a leader in the spatial data industry. Their tools are irreplaceable, though many other mapping companies are taking the technology further and enabling their maps to be better seen or used on a web-based platform or browser. …
    Incentivized
    CARTO
    Chose CARTO
    CartoDB is more user friendly and quicker to learn than ArcGIS Online and Mapbox.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    87%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    ArcGISCARTO
    Small Businesses
    Google Maps API
    Score9 out of 10
    ArcGIS
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Google Maps API
    Score9 out of 10
    ArcGIS
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Maps API
    Score9 out of 10
    ArcGIS
    Score7.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    ArcGISCARTO
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (40 ratings)
    8.1
    (4 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ArcGISCARTO
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Esri
    I'm very grateful to be able to use it, and I have a master's degree with a focus in Geospatial Analysis. There can be a bit of a learning curve, and I try to build user-friendly ways for volunteers to see & collect data. Meanwhile, if a colleague is less confident with building such a system, it may be more difficult for them to implement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    CARTO
    CartoDB is great for generating geographic visualizations of data where the geographies are well-defined. It would be great for analysts to develop visualizations of data with spatial elements. That being said, the software is limited if you want to do any real data munging or analysis, as it can be cumbersome to use and there isn't a great interface for actually saving the results of different manipulations (you can save it as a new file, but it's hard to do version control, etc.). I would recommend preparing the data outside of CartoDB and only using the tool for visualization once the data is well prepared.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Esri
    • Enterprise GIS - multi-user, multi-versioned geodatabase access through a host of apps and web tools really help people stay connected to data.
    • Cartography - fantastic control and customization available with the ability to automate workflows.
    • Training - tons of training videos, seminars, and other learning materials are easily accessed. The help documentation is superb.
    • Ability to manage an organization through dashboards is extremely helpful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    CARTO
    • It is amazing at allowing control of the visualizations. It takes a little bit to get used to but the combination of full SQL queries and CSS-like styling is very powerful.
    • The services are built on a robust stack of open source software. I was able to build a standalone instance of CartoDB relatively easily (after some research and trial and error).
    • Server side map rendering is key for handling large data sets. The way the images are returned makes them very easy to catch in an HTTP cache to minimize the hits to the server. The interactivity that CartoDB has built in makes this completely transparent to the end user, they can click on parts of the static images and be presented with popups or change map styles. It's a very clever implementation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Esri
    • There is a steep learning curve for ArcGIS users.
    • It takes a lot of computing power for ArcGIS, as it can't be installed on every computer.
    • At times, tools can be outdated and there are many similar competitors making more web-based tools that can replace ArcGIS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    CARTO
    • I don't like the new Builder UI as it has been tough to explain. Other than that I have no complaints.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Esri
    Simply because the program deserves it. It seems to me that it is a fundamental tool for the storage, analysis, and interpretation of medium and large-scale phenomena, unmanageable with traditional engineering software. Its versatility in the handling of the different "layers" with which the data is handled and interpolation tools, make this software a powerful ally both for companies and for the educational part of the universities.
    Read full review
    CARTO
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Esri
    Once set up, the tools are extremely easy to use. I had a staff member develop a tool for field data collection, that included an external and internal dashboards to monitor progress in days. The field workers that collected the data, barely knew how to use a computer, and within minutes they could use the application that was configured for them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    CARTO
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Esri
    Unlike other platforms (ex: EMSI), there is no "help desk" new users can easily call into for troubleshooting or errors, and so you have to spend LOTS of time trying workarounds. This is also because the help center blog posts are usually pretty confusing, and many times do not include images or videos to help you along. Any such changes would be immensely useful!
    Read full review
    CARTO
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Esri
    My students love the "drop" feature in Google Maps, but besides that it truly doesn't compare. I love that you can add, delete, or change layers to this map to better understand its larger affect. There are many more ways to manipulate maps on ArcGIS than on Google Maps. I can also add personal details and information if I want to create a specific map, something that I am unable to do with Google
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    CARTO
    CartoDB is more user friendly and quicker to learn than ArcGIS Online and Mapbox
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Esri
    • ArcGIS saves us countless hours of manual paperwork by allowing us to conduct inspections in the field.
    • Due to the high upfront costs, the ROI will definitely take longer than other competing products
    • The PDF export feature allows us to share our maps with the public while maintaining control of the data associated with the map.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    CARTO
    • CartoDB definitely saves a lot of time when creating visualizations. Previously, I would use different software and have to make edits manually (or just create the visualizations manually to start with). I would say that the software definitely cuts the time required to create certain visualizations by a half or two-thirds.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots