CARTO vs. Mapbox

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
CARTO
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Carto (formerly CartoDB) in Brooklyn, New York offers their location intelligence solution.N/A
Mapbox
Score 9.9 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Mapbox is the location data platform for developers building custom geospatial features into mobile, web, and on-premise applications.
$0
per month
Pricing
CARTOMapbox
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Starting Price
$0.00
Per 1000 users
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CARTOMapbox
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDesigned for businesses of all sizes, Mapbox is free to start building with and offers free tiers for most products. As usage grows, volume pricing is applied automatically, no negotiation necessary. Pricing is based either on pay-as-you-go usage or negotiated sales contracts that unlock additional discounts for annual commitments. Paid support plans are also available.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CARTOMapbox
Considered Both Products
CARTO
Mapbox
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
CARTOMapbox
Small Businesses
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.9 out of 10
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.9 out of 10
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.9 out of 10
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
CARTOMapbox
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(4 ratings)
10.0
(7 ratings)
User Testimonials
CARTOMapbox
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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Mapbox
For services that require maps and basic geo-functionality in production, Mapbox is one of the greatest choices out there. They're free, provide much more refined/modern productions compared to Google maps, and have very good support on different platforms. For services that require higher-computation products, like matrix routing, optimization, etc..., the prices can get quite high very quickly, and you should consider moving those services to an on-premise server at that point.
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Pros
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.
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Mapbox
  • Documentation is clean, easy to read, and very well organized which makes it easy to get going or learn something new
  • The online user interface makes it quick and easy to edit maps, upload new datasets, view analytics, or get API keys
  • Great integrations with Tableau and easy to develop for Android, iOS, or Web
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Cons
CARTO
  • I don't like the new Builder UI as it has been tough to explain. Other than that I have no complaints.
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Mapbox
  • The product is not always that easy to use, aimed at professionals understanding colors and palettes etc.
  • Being a full cloud product it can be complicated working with the interface when your connectivity is not great.
  • Tutorials and samples could be more visual and could cover more ideas on how to use Mapbox.
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Alternatives Considered
CARTO
CartoDB is more user friendly and quicker to learn than ArcGIS Online and Mapbox
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Mapbox
One feature that made me go in favor of Mapbox was its stellar documentation. Google Maps and Bing Maps are the other alternatives I considered, but the learning curve with both of them is steeper than it is with Mapbox. Also, Mapbox Studio gives newbies a very simple, clean and easy to use environment to make and store maps online
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Return on Investment
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.
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Mapbox
  • Mapbox is the only service that has all the products we need to release our product to the market. Without Mapbox, we would've spent far more time integrating multiple different map/geo services like Mapbox and HERE maps together.
  • Mapbox was sometimes expensive in the testing period, and we would've definitely moved some of the services on-premise to save money if we had the time.
  • Mapbox has functionality for traffic-aware routing in many countries, as well as matrix-structured routing data, which is what enables our service to function. Having all of this integrated within an API allows us to easily scale our service to multiple different cities/countries in a matter of days.
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ScreenShots

Mapbox Screenshots

Screenshot of Customized maps and location experiences can be developed for any application, across platforms.Screenshot of Unique maps can be designed to match a brand and engage its audiences.Screenshot of Mapbox for EV and other Mapbox Automotive products are used to build tailored navigation experiences both in-vehicle and in companion apps for drivers.Screenshot of Mapbox Search products support address search and address forms for website and applications.Screenshot of Mapbox Navigation products serve every stage of business logistics, fleet managers, and delivery companies.Screenshot of With Mapbox Globe view, interactive maps can be presented.