CARTO alternatives

3 tools to consider instead of CARTO, shown against it.

CARTO Mapbox Esri ArcGIS Felt
Vendor CARTO Mapbox, Inc. Esri Felt, Inc.
Pricing model Usage-based Usage-based Quote only Free tier + paid plans
Free tier No Yes No Yes
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Cloud Cloud, Self-hosted Cloud
Open source No No No No
Best for Analytics teams wanting to run spatial analysis on data that already lives in a cloud warehouse. Developers embedding custom-styled maps and navigation directly into web or mobile products. Government, utility and enterprise GIS teams needing the broadest, most established spatial analysis toolset. Cross-functional teams that need to build and share maps collaboratively without desktop GIS training.
Pricing

A metered Pay-As-You-Go plan bills monthly usage with no commitment; Enterprise, Strategic and Custom tiers require an annual quote.

Checked on the vendor's own page on September 21, 2026: no prices are published. Expect to be quoted.

Pay-as-you-go per API (maps, geocoding, navigation, tiles), each with its own free monthly allowance and volume discounts; support plans are priced separately.

Maps GL JS Free up to 50,000 loads/month, then from $5 per 1,000 loads
Geocoding API Free up to 100,000 requests/month, then from $0.75 per 1,000 requests
Navigation SDK Free up to 100 monthly active users, then $0.30 per user
Vector Tiles Free up to 200,000 requests/month, then from $0.25 per 1,000 tiles

Prices read from the vendor's own page on September 21, 2026. Vendors change prices; check the source before you budget.

Licensed by named user type (Viewer through Professional Plus) with included credit allowances; dollar pricing requires contacting Esri sales.

Checked on the vendor's own page on September 21, 2026: no prices are published. Expect to be quoted.

Personal use is free; Professional and Enterprise plans are not publicly priced and require a sales conversation.

Personal Free
Professional Not published
Enterprise Custom pricing

Prices read from the vendor's own page on September 21, 2026. Vendors change prices; check the source before you budget.

Features
  • Spatial SQL analysis inside Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift and Databricks
  • No-code map and dashboard builder
  • Spatial data catalog (Data Observatory)
  • Location-based segmentation and site-selection tools
  • REST APIs and SDKs for embedding maps
  • Support for both SaaS and self-hosted deployment
  • Customizable vector maps (Maps GL JS / Mobile)
  • Turn-by-turn navigation SDK
  • Geocoding and search APIs
  • Vector and raster tile hosting
  • 3D terrain and satellite imagery layers
  • Studio tool for custom map styling
  • SDKs for web, iOS, Android and Unity
  • Desktop GIS authoring and spatial analysis (ArcGIS Pro)
  • Cloud mapping, dashboards and story maps (ArcGIS Online)
  • Self-hosted enterprise deployment (ArcGIS Enterprise)
  • Field data collection and offline mobile apps
  • Imagery and remote-sensing analysis tools
  • Extensive spatial analysis and geoprocessing toolbox
  • Large ecosystem of extensions and industry-specific solutions
  • Real-time collaborative map editing
  • Drag-and-drop Shapefile, GeoJSON, CSV and raster uploads
  • Live connections to Postgres, Snowflake, BigQuery and Databricks on Enterprise
  • Commenting and shareable map links
  • Embeddable maps and dashboards
  • Field data collection app
  • REST API and JavaScript SDK on Enterprise

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