CARTO vs QGIS
CARTO
carto.com
QGIS
qgis.orgSide by side
| Figure | CARTO | QGIS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · GIS and Mapping Software | 8.0 (#3) | 7.7 (#7) |
| Spec score · GIS Software | 8.1 (#17) | 7.9 (#24) |
| Spec score · Geo Tools | 8.0 (#8) | 7.7 (#13) |
| Spec score · Geographic Information Systems | 8.0 (#8) | 7.8 (#11) |
| Founded | 2012 | 2002 |
| Privacy | CARTO states that it complies with GDPR, CCPA, and other applicable data privacy laws. | The optional QGIS news feed records the request date, QGIS version, country, and operating-system platform; the IP address is discarded and no persistent or personally identifiable information is stored or shared. |
| Security | CARTO is SOC 2 Type II certified and undergoes annual audits by an independent third-party certified auditor. | QGIS says desktop and server are written to limit SQL injections and other known security vectors, and QGIS Server has been hardened against SQL injections. |
| Support | CARTO offers support options ranging from onboarding to ongoing platform guidance, plus professional services for spatial data science, app development, GIS, and cloud architecture. | QGIS provides community support through its Discourse forum, GIS StackExchange, chat channels, and local user groups. |
Plans
CARTO
- CustomPrice not published
- EnterprisePrice not published
- Pay As You GoPrice not published
- StrategicPrice not published
In their own words
QGIS
QGIS is free, open-source software for creating, editing, analyzing, visualizing, and publishing geospatial information. Its layout designer produces print maps, while reporting tools can assemble atlases and reports containing maps and tabular material. It includes hundreds of analysis tools and supports visual workflows that can be reproduced. QGIS works with many data sources and formats and can use or create web services based on industry standards. More than 2,000 community-developed plugins add capabilities. QGIS Server publishes projects and layers through OGC-compatible WMS, WMTS, WFS, and WCS services. The download page offers a Long Term Release for users who prefer stability over the latest features. The project lists third-party mobile field apps, including QField, Mergin Maps, and IntraMaps Roam; these are separate from QGIS mobile apps. QGIS is licensed under GNU GPL version 2 or later and has community support through forums, GIS StackExchange, chat channels, and local user groups. The free plan costs nothing.