Agisoft Metashape vs OpenMVG

Agisoft Metashape processes digital images into 3D spatial data for GIS, cultural heritage documentation, visual effects, and indirect measurement. It works with aerial, close-range, and satellite imagery, including automatic camera calibration and multi-camera projects. Professional Edition can create and edit terrain and surface models, georeferenced orthomosaics, and EPSG-based outputs. Its surveying functions include aerial LiDAR point attributes, laser scan registration, ground control points, targets, and scale bars. It also handles RGB, NIR, thermal, multispectral, and satellite imagery, and can calculate user-defined indices such as NDVI. Professional Edition adds Python scripting, Java bindings, distributed calculations on a local network, and a cloud processing interface. Standard and Professional installers are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. A 30-day full-function trial is available; demo mode blocks saving and exporting. Standard Edition costs $179, paid once, and Professional Edition costs $3,499, paid once. Regular licenses are not time-limited and include 12 months of email technical support and free updates through version 2.x.x.

OpenMVG is an open-source C++ library for multiple-view geometry, 3D computer vision, and structure from motion. It provides libraries, binaries, and pipelines for reconstructing 3D scenes from images. Library areas include image manipulation, feature description and matching, feature tracking, camera models, multiple-view geometry, robust estimation, and structure-from-motion algorithms. Its binaries can initialize scenes, detect and match features, perform reconstruction, and export scenes to other multiple-view-stereo frameworks. Those frameworks can compute dense point clouds or textured meshes from exported scenes. OpenMVG is released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 and is listed as free. The project says it aims to support reproducible research through readable implementations of classic and state-of-the-art algorithms. It is designed for reading, learning, modification, and use, with test-driven development and samples. Tutorials cover data structures, library use, and processing an image dataset. Platforms listed are Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and self-hosted, with desktop deployment, API access, point-cloud export, and ground control point support.