Looking for an ESRI alternative?

CARTO is the leading Location Intelligence & GIS platform
for cloud natives. See why modern analytics professionals are making the switch.

Try it out!

Key Benefits

The leading cloud-native spatial analytics and GIS platform for companies using modern cloud data stacks.

With CARTO, all data is stored within your cloud data warehouse, wasting no time on data transfer or complex ETL. CARTO is a unified platform (available as SaaS, self-hosted and hybrid deployments) - providing an end to end solution for organizations looking to visualize & analyze geospatial data, at scale.

CARTO vs. ESRI at a glance

CARTO

The cloud-native Location Intelligence platform for teams of all sizes

Esri

Proprietary enterprise GIS with a broad range of products and services

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.

Esri

Connectors for BigQuery, Redshift and Snowflake for ArcGIS Pro. Data is queried then transferred and stored in ArcGIS Pro.

Performance
CARTO

CARTO leverages the same performance as in your data warehouse for queries and analysis, served via a simple API layer (no ODBC or JDBC connection). Our Analytics Toolbox runs and scales in the data warehouse. Flexible visualization options from simple to complex, including aggregations for large features.

Esri

Esri supports connectivity with BigQuery, Redshift and Snowflake, using legacy technologies like ODBC. Cloud support is limited, handling datasets with a few thousand features.

Data
CARTO

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

Esri

Demographic data for 130+ countries through Esri Demographics, and other datasets available for purchase such as Traffic Counts.

Analysis
CARTO

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

Esri

Proprietary analysis runs through toolbox services in ArcGIS Pro.

Cloud-native
CARTO

Fully cloud-native with serverless connections and deployment.

Esri

Not cloud native. Esri Enterprise includes duplication services and containerized deployments.

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.

Esri

Esri has a complex consumption based pricing model that is difficult to predict and budget for. In addition, much of the advanced capabilities of the Esri system come at a significant additional cost to end users.

Deployment
CARTO

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

Esri

Esri Enterprise requires management by internal IT resources and some cloud managed services.

Onboarding
CARTO

CARTO provides a simplified, intuitive UX that is easy to learn and adopt for the non-GIS user. Users can derive location insights faster and easier.

Esri

Esri creates products and solutions aimed at serving their core audience, the traditional GIS user. Specialized training is required.

Vendor lock in
CARTO

Flexible enterprise pricing plans, with all inclusive pricing.

Esri

Limited migration capabilities. Complex product portfolio and a credit-based pricing system.

API
CARTO

Data is not stored in CARTO. A single API layer used across all platform elements.

Esri

Various APIs depending on the product.

Open source
CARTO

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

Esri

Closed-source product, but can integrate with some open source tools.

Ready to try it out?

1
CLOUD CONNECTIVITY

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

Seamless connectivity to your tools
2
DATA ENRICHMENT

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, financial and much more.

Explore Spatial Data Catalog
3
SPATIAL ANALYTICS

Whether you’re a Data Analyst starting out in location analytics or a Data Scientist creating machine-learning models, CARTO’s services (including geocoding, routing, isolines and basemaps) speed up the process. With Workflows you can design, execute and automate analytics using a visual, no-code tool. Carry out analysis from Jupyter notebooks, or run advanced cloud-native analytics with our Analytics Toolbox.

4
SOLUTIONS & VISUALIZATION

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 OUR PARTNERS SAY

You're in good company

Market leaders rely on CARTO to solve spatial problems.

Jefferies
Yum

Move from seeing where to understanding why.