Looking for an alternative to Kinetica?

The leading Location Intelligence for cloud natives. See why modern analytics professionals are making the switch.

Why is CARTO the best Location Intelligence platform?

CARTO connects directly to your data warehouse so you can run queries and spatial analytics natively in the cloud. Avoid the cost of expensive GPU server-based infrastructures and eliminate time spent on data transfers or complex ETL. CARTO is available as a SaaS, self-hosted or hybrid deployment, providing an end-to-end solution for organizations looking to analyze and visualize geospatial data at scale.

CARTO vs. Kinetica at a glance

Connectivity

CARTO

Direct cloud connections with no limitations on multiple data warehouses and databases. All queries are run natively on the data warehouse and no data is stored in CARTO.

KINETICA

Data is stored in the GPU powered database. Connection service to data sources via JDBC to replicate data in Kinetica.

Data

CARTO

CARTO Data Observatory provides over 12,000 public and premium datasets from a variety of vetted data providers.

KINETICA

No data offering.

Analysis

CARTO

Analysis is run natively using Spatial SQL directly in the cloud data warehouse environment.

KINETICA

Analysis via SQL statements against the Kinetica proprietary database.

Map Tiling/Rendering

CARTO

Create cached map tiles using native data warehouse connections in SQL or in the CARTO Workspace UI. Render tiles on the fly within CARTO Builder. Vector tile support and no server callback.

KINETICA

Render tiles using GPU services in Kinetica as an exposed web map service using image/raster tiles.

Geospatial Functions

CARTO

More than 100 geospatial functions run natively using spatial SQL, directly in the data warehouse connection.

KINETICA

100 plus geospatial functions for basic analysis, measurement, relationships, and geometry construction/accessors using a non-standard function format.

Data Enrichment

CARTO

Complete enrichment support for all 12,000+ datasets in the CARTO Data Observatory, including area weighted interpolation.

KINETICA

No data enrichment available.

Cloud-native

CARTO

Fully cloud-native with serverless connections and deployment.

KINETICA

Not cloud-native. Uses a GPU accelerated database hosted within cloud services.

Pricing

CARTO

CARTO sets out clear pricing with no hidden fees. Our flexible license model allows for unlimited users and map viewers, without requiring named user accounts.

KINETICA

Deployment requires hefty, fixed cost investment in server infrastructure to support GPU processing, regardless of usage.

Deployment

CARTO

SaaS cloud hosted or a self-hosted option deployed with Docker Compose or Kubernetes.

KINETICA

Deployments in Docker, Kubernetes, or Manual. Cloud marketplace options in AWS and Azure.

Vendor Lock In

CARTO

Data is not stored in CARTO, only returned via API. Flexible enterprise pricing plans, with all inclusive pricing.

KINETICA

Data must be stored in the Kinetica database.

API

CARTO

Single API layer used in all platform products.

KINETICA

Multiple APIs, each for individual endpoints.

Open source

CARTO

CARTO uses and contributes to open source libraries such as Deck GL, React, Geoparquet…

KINETICA

Open source version is available with some constraints.

Ready to try it out?

CLOUD CONNECTIVITY

Easily connect your spatial data

CARTO integrates with the leading cloud data platforms and analytics tools, including Google BigQuery, Snowflake, Amazon Redshift and Databricks

DATA ENRICHMENT

Access more than 12,000 geospatial datasets

Our Data Observatory makes it simple for enterprise organizations to access thousands of “always-on” public & premium datasets, enhancing their spatial analysis with data such as demographics, POIs, human mobility, credit card transactions and much more.

Explore Spatial Data Catalog

Behavioral ... and more

SPATIAL ANALYTICS

Rapidly carry out spatial analysis

Whether you’re a Data Analyst starting out in location analytics or a Data Scientist creating machine-learning driven spatial models, CARTO’s services (including geocoding, routing, isolines and basemaps) speed up the process. Carry out analysis from your Jupyter notebooks, or run advanced analytics natively in the leading cloud platforms with our Analytics Toolbox.

SOLUTIONS & VISUALIZATION

Build intuitive Location Intelligence apps

Visualization shouldn’t just be pretty maps, it should answer a business question. With CARTO, you can rapidly build Location Intelligence apps or use one of our app templates, providing a solution that your business stakeholders will actually want to use in their day to day, whether it’s for Market Analysis, Site Selection, Out of Home Advertising or Supply Chain Optimization.

What CARTO customers say

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“CARTO makes map making easy. I can quickly pull the data in, get it on a map, do some light SQL & then share. Collaboration is easy & within a couple of hours we can have a really great visual product to share with decision-makers.”
Jason McVay,
Associate Data Scientist at Indigo Ag
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SEE THE STORY
“In a competitive landscape we need to be smart about where we place lockers across our estate, ensuring we land in the catchment areas of our target demographics. CARTO has made this a much easier process, both in terms of data & their professional services team.”
Neil Drake,
Senior Manager Parcel Service & Format Development, ASDA
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SEE THE STORY
“Using CARTO has enabled us to analyze service qualification at a much larger scale due to its comprehensive support for a wide range of functions and libraries including spatial indexes. This is a gamechanger, modernizing our GIS stack.”
Kendra Lord,
Director of Geospatial Engineering & Analytics at T-Mobile
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You're in good company

Market leaders rely on CARTO to solve spatial problems.

Move from seeing where to understanding why.

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