GRASS GIS vs Mapbox Studio
GRASS GIS
grass.osgeo.orgMapbox Studio
mapbox.comSide by side
| Figure | GRASS GIS | Mapbox Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · GIS Software | 8.2 (#13) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Spec score · GIS and Mapping Software | 8.0 (#4) | 8.3 (#1) |
| Spec score · Geo Tools | 8.0 (#10) | 8.4 (#3) |
| Audience | GRASS is used by scientists, developers, researchers, government agencies, universities and private companies. | Mapbox describes its services as serving industries including logistics, delivery, automotive, retail, travel, manufacturing, and enterprise software. |
| Founded | 1982 | 2010 |
| Platforms | Official downloads cover Linux, macOS and Windows, with Docker images and conda packages also available. | Studio styles can be used with Mapbox SDKs for web, iOS, Android, and embedded devices. |
| Purpose | GRASS is a computational engine for raster, vector and geospatial processing, including terrain, ecosystem, hydrology, data management and imagery work. | Mapbox Studio is a suite of applications for designing custom map styles and managing location data. |
| Security | The roadmap commits to vulnerability detection tools, fixing reported security issues and maintaining CI workflows for standards compliance. | Mapbox says it is SOC 2 Type 2 and SOC 3 compliant and serves its APIs over HTTPS and TLS 1.2 or higher by default. |
| Support | GRASS offers worldwide community support plus commercial consulting, training and custom-development services. | Mapbox lists self-serve resources, account help, and technical assistance among its support options. |
Plans
Mapbox Studio
- Mapbox GL JS (Map Loads)Free
- Mapbox StudioFree
- Maps SDKs for MobileFree
- Pay-as-you-goFree
- Static Images APIFree
In their own words
GRASS GIS
GRASS GIS is a geospatial processing system for raster, vector, and other geographic data, including terrain, ecosystem, hydrology, data management, and imagery work. It contains more than 500 modules for processing and rendering geographic data, with tools for 3D voxel, temporal, image-processing, and spatial-statistics tasks alongside raster, terrain, hydrological, and vector analysis. Through GDAL-OGR, it supports nearly all common GIS file formats. Interfaces include a graphical user interface, command line, C API, Python, Jupyter Notebook, and WPS. GRASS integrates with QGIS and R and provides PostgreSQL and SQLite database interfaces; its official Addons repository has more than 300 extensions. It is free and open source under GPL (>=v2), with no warranty. The listed platforms include Linux, macOS, Windows, API, web, and self-hosted deployment. Prebuilt macOS applications are signed and notarized. Support includes a worldwide community as well as commercial consulting, training, and custom development.
Mapbox Studio
Mapbox Studio is a suite for designing custom map styles and managing location data. You can upload and edit Shapefiles, GeoJSON, and CSV data, which Studio converts into vector tiles. Style controls cover colors, typography, road width, point-of-interest density, sky, 3D buildings, and terrain. Studio can visualize point, line, and polygon data through options such as choropleths and scaled point maps. You can add your own fonts, icons, and textures to a map design. Published styles can be used through Mapbox SDKs and APIs; a stylesheet can also be downloaded or a high-resolution image exported for print. Component styles work with Maps SDK for Web v1.0+, iOS v5.0+, and Android 8.0+. Users cannot author their own Style Components, and components cannot be restored after they are ejected from a style. The plan costs nothing and is available to all Mapbox users, though related API and custom tileset usage may be billed separately. Mapbox says it was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco.