Equator vs Pointly: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Equator and Pointly to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Equator
5/10
Browser-based mapping software from Equator Studios that lets civil engineers, architects and builders pull LiDAR, contours, DEMs and parcel data for a site and export CAD-ready base plans.
Pointly
6.8/10
Pointly is AI software from Berlin that classifies large LiDAR point clouds and extracts vector objects for utilities, railways, mapping agencies and surveyors.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 5/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Analytics | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 4/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 4/10 | 9/10 |
| Security | 3/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $67/mo Basic | €99/mo Professional S |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| LiDAR Processing | ||
| Digital Twin | Not listed | |
| Drone Inspection | Not listed | |
| GIS and Mapping | Not listed | |
| Power Line Inspection | Not listed | |
Equator vs Pointly cost by team size
| Team size | Equator | Pointly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $67/moBasic | FreeFree |
| 5 users | $169/moPro | FreeFree |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Equator
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for engineering firms (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Pointly
- Has a free plan (Equator does not)
- Higher Scalability score (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Security score (8/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
Equator
Pros
- A built-in library of public LiDAR, DEM and contour data for the US and Canada saves engineers from hunting across government data portals.
- Contours export directly as DWG, DXF or GeoJSON formatted for Civil 3D and AutoCAD.
- Entry pricing is low: 67 USD a month, or 30 USD for a single site with no subscription.
- Runs in the browser, and a free trial lets users build a site with contours, point clouds or DEMs before paying.
Cons
- Plans are capped by sites per month, and the top public plan allows only five users.
- Accuracy depends on the public LiDAR available for an area, which can range from about 5 to 30 cm vertically.
- Very few independent reviews or user discussions exist to confirm the vendor's claims.
- Small company, reported at about seven staff, and the vendor publishes no security or compliance documentation that we could find.
Pointly
Pros
- Monthly prices are published, from 99 euros for 500 million points, and there is a free tier for testing
- Pointly Box allows on-premise and air-gapped processing for data-sensitive operators
- It holds ISO 27001 certification, and cloud processing defaults to EU data centers on Azure
- Custom classifiers can be trained on a customer's own class catalog
- There are extensions for Esri ArcGIS and Bentley MicroStation, and it exports in many formats
Cons
- It only covers classification, with no asset management, work orders or maintenance tools
- Vectorization and custom classifier training are quoted per project, not list-price items
- There are few independent user reviews on G2, Capterra or Reddit
- The pricing page has a yearly billing toggle but shows no annual prices
Not sold on either?
Air Inspection Automation (AiA)Our product
Plans DJI drone inspection missions for power line towers from LiDAR scans: it finds the towers, places photo stops, checks clearance, and splits the route into battery flights.
Made by the team behind b stack radar. Shown here because it fits this topic. It is not part of our rankings. How we rank tools
Frequently Asked Questions
Pointly scores higher on our Industrial & Infrastructure Software criteria: 6.8/10 against 5/10 for Equator. The largest gap is in Scalability: 4/10 for Equator and 9/10 for Pointly.
Pointly has a free plan; Equator does not list one.
Equator is the better fit for engineering firms: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 7/10 for Pointly.
