Trimble Stratus cost at a glance
Hardware figures come from Propeller's online store and help center. Stratus details come from Propeller's own posts about the Trimble partnership and from SITECH dealer product pages. All were checked in October 2026. A dealer can price and bundle differently, so treat the table as the shape of the bill, and get your own figures in writing.
| Line on the bill | Trimble Stratus through a dealer | Public figure | DroneMapping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform license | Quoted by the SITECH dealer | None published | Starter $588, Team $1,488, Business $3,588 a year |
| Ground control hardware | AeroPoints | $1,000 each, $5,000 for 5 in Propeller's store | None to buy, use any GCP file |
| Control corrections | Bundled with a platform license | $999 a year per group when bought alone, after the first 12 months | None |
| PPK workflow | Add-on | $2,200 upgrade in Propeller's store | RTK and PPK geotags read from the photos |
| Users | Unlimited team members, per dealer pages | Not applicable | 3, 10 or 25 seats |
| Processing | Cloud, results in about 24 hours | Not applicable | Cloud, about 1.5 to 3.6 hours for 500 photos |
| Trimble file formats | TTM surfaces and JXL job files, push to Trimble Connect | Not applicable | DXF, SHP, GeoTIFF, LAS and LAZ |
| Contract | Set in the quote | Not applicable | Monthly or yearly, price on the page |
The only software number in public for this platform is anecdotal. A construction surveyor on the RPLS forum reported a Propeller quote of $9,000 for 30 flights a year, about $300 a flight. That was a Propeller quote, not a dealer quote for Stratus, and it comes from an older thread. Use it to judge the scale and nothing more.
How much does Trimble Stratus cost?
Trimble Stratus is priced by quote, so the answer comes from your SITECH dealer and depends on the number of sites, how often you fly and whether AeroPoints and PPK are in the bundle. Expect at least $5,000 in control hardware if you start with a five-pack of AeroPoints, plus a platform subscription that the dealer sets. No dealer or Trimble page prints the subscription.
Is Trimble Stratus the same as Propeller?
Yes, underneath. Propeller describes Trimble Stratus as its platform licensed under the Trimble name and sold through Trimble dealers around the world, tuned to work with Trimble's GPS and office software. The processing, the 3D site viewer and the AeroPoints are Propeller's. What differs is who sells and supports it, and the Trimble file handling: TTM and JXL files and a direct push to Trimble Connect.
What a Trimble Stratus quote usually contains
Ask the dealer to break the quote into these lines, because a single bundled number hides which part you are paying for.
- The platform subscription: the term in months, what it covers (sites, flights or data volume) and what happens when you go over.
- AeroPoints: how many units, and whether their corrections are included for the whole term or only the first 12 months.
- PPK: whether the $2,200 upgrade is in or out, and which drones it supports.
- A drone: some dealers bundle an aircraft. Price it against buying the same model yourself.
- Training and support: hours included and who delivers them, the dealer or Propeller.
- Renewal: the price in year two and three, and the notice period to cancel.
The renewal line matters most. Propeller's help center says AeroPoints keep recording after a subscription lapses, but you cannot process or download new data until you renew. A dealer subscription usually arrives as a recurring invoice, so set it up in your accounts payable automation software with the renewal date flagged, and nobody is surprised when the term rolls over mid-project.
Trimble Stratus vs Propeller bought direct
Because the platform is the same, the choice is about the seller. A contractor already running Trimble machine control and Trimble Business Center with a SITECH dealer gets one vendor for grade control, rovers and drone surveys, plus surfaces that move to machines as TTM files without conversion. A contractor with mixed-brand equipment and no dealer relationship has less to gain from the Trimble label and can ask Propeller for its own quote. Get both if you can. Our Propeller Aero pricing breakdown lists every published Propeller figure, and Propeller vs Pix4D pricing compares it with a printed desktop license.
What a 3-person earthworks team pays over 3 years
Take a site contractor with two active jobs: a survey lead, an estimator and a superintendent. They fly each site weekly, about 6,000 photos a month, and need monthly stockpile volumes and cut and fill against the design surface.
| Cost over 3 years | Trimble Stratus through a dealer | DroneMapping Team |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Platform quote, not published | $4,464 at $1,488 a year |
| Ground control | $5,000 for 5 AeroPoints at store price, corrections per the quote | Your existing rover and targets |
| PPK | $2,200 if added | Not needed, geotags are read from the photos |
| Photos included | Set in the quote | 15,000 a month |
| People who can measure | Unlimited team members | 10 seats |
| Trimble Business Center handoff | TTM and JXL, direct | DXF and GeoTIFF import |
| Known total before the quote | $5,000 to $7,200 in hardware, plus the platform | $4,464 |
The honest read: you cannot compare totals until the dealer's number is on paper. What you can compare now is the floor. Stratus starts with hardware before any software is billed, and our whole three-year bill is below that hardware line. The AeroPoints do earn their price on a large site where walking a rover to every target takes a morning.
When Trimble Stratus is worth the quote
- Your machines run Trimble grade control and your office runs Trimble Business Center, so TTM surfaces and JXL calibrations matter every week.
- You want one dealer accountable for rovers, machine control and drone surveys.
- The people reading results are superintendents and foremen, and you want a platform built around haul roads, cut and fill and progress.
- You do not own GNSS equipment, and AeroPoints cost less than a rover plus someone to run it.
- You are comfortable with a quoted, multi-year subscription.
When a printed price is the better buy
- You already own a rover and set your own control, so AeroPoints add cost without adding accuracy.
- You have one to five sites and need volumes, cut and fill, contours and a link for the owner, not a platform rollout.
- You want to start this week on a card, and cancel without a notice period.
- Your equipment is mixed-brand, so the Trimble file handling is not a reason to pay more.
DroneMapping Team at $249 a month or $1,488 a year includes 10 seats, 15,000 photos a month, GCP and checkpoint reports, DXF and SHP contours, stockpile PDFs and cut and fill software against your design surface. Stockpile-only yards can start on Starter at $99 a month with our stockpile volume measurement tools.
What we do not do: one flight takes up to 500 photos, so a large site goes up as several flights. We do not sell control hardware, process LiDAR or write TTM files. If you keep AeroPoints you already own, export their corrected coordinates while the subscription is active and load them as a GCP file, which our Propeller alternative page walks through.
Questions to ask a SITECH dealer before you sign
- Is the price per site, per flight, per gigapixel or flat, and what does an extra site cost?
- Are AeroPoints corrections bundled for the full term?
- What is the year two and year three price, in writing?
- Can I export every survey, surface and report if I leave, and for how long after the term ends?
- Who answers a support ticket, the dealer or Propeller, and in what time?
- Is there a paid pilot on one site before a multi-year term?