FARO RevEng vs WhiteboxTools

FARO RevEng is Windows software for creating and editing meshes and CAD surfaces from 3D point clouds. It supports reverse-engineering, further design and 3D-printing workflows. RevEng connects with FARO ScanArms and the 8-Axis Quantum ScanArm, including real-time capture, and imports point-cloud data from PC, ASC, XYZ, PTS, E57, NPTS, VTX, PCS and PWN files. Mesh inputs include STL, PLY, OBJ, OFF, OM, GLTF and GLB. Tools provide automatic mesh fixing, repair, adjustment, smoothing and fitting. The Sketch Tool can produce editable NURBS surfaces from point clouds. Hole filling, simplification, offsets and shell operations help prepare watertight meshes for printing. Exports include the listed point-cloud and mesh formats plus STEP. The recommended system is Windows 10/11 64-bit with an Intel Core i7 or equivalent sixth-generation processor or later, at least 16 GB RAM and 1 GB free disk space. Virtual-machine installation and remote desktop access are supported. Pricing is on request, with no free plan; FARO offers a fully functional 30-day trial. A license is complimentary with new CAM2 Scan Professional or Expert purchases.

WhiteboxTools is geospatial software for terrain analysis, hydrology, LiDAR, remote sensing, and vector GIS. Its Whitebox Next Gen library includes more than 700 tools, with open tools accessible through Python, R, and a QGIS plugin. Functions include terrain derivatives from digital elevation models, watershed delineation, flow routing, point-cloud classification, image analysis, change detection, and vector operations. It fits into QGIS, Python notebooks, R workflows, scripts, and local desktop processing. Listed formats range from GeoTIFF, Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF, LAS/LAZ, and COPC to GeoPackage, FlatGeobuf, GeoParquet, GeoJSON, and Shapefile. The maker says processing runs locally, which can support on-premises or offline workflows. Windows, macOS, and Linux are listed. The open core is free; paid Entry plans are $740 a year to $995 a year, and Standard plans are $1,270 a year to $1,795 a year. Pro EULA terms allow opting out of optional telemetry, but not license-validation reporting.