Nearmap vs Pointly: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Nearmap and Pointly to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Nearmap
5.8/10
Nearmap captures high-resolution aerial imagery from aircraft and adds AI property data and 3D content. Governments, insurers, utilities, construction firms and solar teams use it through MapBrowser and APIs.
Pointly
7/10
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 | 5.8/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Customization | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 3/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | €99/mo Professional S |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| GIS and Mapping | Not listed | |
| Inspection Automation | Not listed | |
| Power Line Inspection | Not listed | |
| Digital Twin | Not listed | |
| Drone Inspection | Not listed | |
| LiDAR Processing | Not listed | |
Nearmap vs Pointly cost by team size
| Team size | Nearmap | Pointly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | 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 Nearmap
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for government (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Pointly
- Has a free plan (Nearmap does not)
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for utilities (9/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Nearmap
Pros
- Nearmap flies its own aircraft and captures imagery at 4 to 7.5 cm, recapturing key areas up to three times a year, so images are sharper and more current than typical satellite basemaps.
- Every subscription includes the historical archive, which goes back more than a decade, so users can compare a site over time.
- One AI model produces more than 130 property attribute layers, which insurers and governments can analyze at scale.
- Nearmap integrates with ArcGIS, AutoCAD, OpenSolar and roofing tools, so imagery can be used inside existing workflows.
- Reviewers on G2 say the MapBrowser interface and its measurement tools are easy to learn.
Cons
- There is no public pricing. A customer on Nearmap's own forum reported an oblique subscription rising from about 2,066 to 2,970 dollars between 2023 and 2025.
- Reviewers report auto-renewal with a 7-day cancellation notice and accounts restricted after usage passes contract limits.
- Support and value for money get low marks: about 2.3 out of 5 on Capterra, and SourceForge reviewers mention having no phone support.
- Capture dates are not guaranteed in advance, and 3D coverage is missing at some addresses.
- Coverage is limited to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
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 AI Software criteria: 7/10 against 5.8/10 for Nearmap. The largest gap is in Cost: 3/10 for Nearmap and 7/10 for Pointly.
Pointly has a free plan; Nearmap does not list one.
Pointly is the better fit for utilities: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 6/10 for Nearmap.
