DroneDeploy vs Propeller for earthworks teams, pricing, volumes and AeroPoints compared
DroneDeploy is a general cloud platform for flight planning, mapping and site documentation, with one printed survey plan (Flight & Analysis at $4,188 a year for a single admin user) and cut and fill on a quoted tier. Propeller is built for earthworks and aggregates, pairs its platform with AeroPoints smart ground control at $1,000 each, and quotes the platform price. Pick Propeller if your work is haul roads, pads and stockpiles and you want its hardware, DroneDeploy if you need one app for aerial and ground capture. If you want volumes and cut and fill for several people at a printed price, DroneMapping Team is $249 a month with 10 seats.
net volume
net volume
Side by side
DroneDeploy vs Propeller vs DroneMapping on price, control and volumes
DroneDeploy figures come from its own pricing page. Propeller figures come from its online store and help center, because Propeller does not publish a platform price. Both were checked in September 2026 in USD. Confirm them with each vendor before you sign.
| What you compare | DroneDeploy | Propeller | DroneMapping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price you can see | Flight & Analysis $4,188 per year | Platform quoted by sales, no public price | Starter $99 per month or $588 per year |
| Other published prices | Ag Lite $1,908 per year. Advanced and team plans are quoted | AeroPoint $1,000, 5-pack $5,000, PPK upgrade $2,200 | Team $249 per month, Business $599 per month |
| Ground control | Any GCP file you survey, unlimited GCPs on the quoted Advanced plan | AeroPoints smart targets. The corrections subscription is bundled with a Platform or PPK license, or $999 a year per group on its own after the first 12 months | Any GCP and checkpoint file from your rover, with an RMSE report on Team |
| Users | Single admin user on Flight & Analysis | Set in the quote | 3 seats on Starter, 10 on Team, 25 on Business |
| Stockpile volumes | Yes | Yes, built for it | Every plan, stockpile PDFs on Team |
| Cut and fill against a design | Quoted Advanced plan | Yes, a core feature | Team plan |
| Images per map | 3,000 on Flight & Analysis, 10,000 on Advanced | Set in the quote | Monthly quota, 3,000 on Starter and 15,000 on Team |
| LiDAR processing | Not on the printed plans | Yes, for supported DJI sensors | No |
| Machine and haul tracking | No | DirtMate sensors on machines | No |
| Flight app | Yes, its own flight app | Works with DJI flight apps and its own guidance | No, fly with DJI Pilot 2 or any planner |
| Client access | Share links | Share links | View links on every plan, no seat needed |
The short version: DroneDeploy is the broad platform, Propeller is the earthworks specialist with its own hardware, and neither prints a price for a multi-user plan with cut and fill.
Worked example
What an earthworks contractor pays for DroneDeploy, Propeller and DroneMapping over 3 years
Take a site contractor running 2 active jobs: a superintendent who flies weekly, an estimator who checks quantities and a project manager who reports to the owner. They fly about 4,000 images a month and need stockpile volumes and cut and fill against the design surface.
| Cost over 3 years | DroneDeploy | Propeller | DroneMapping Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software | Flight & Analysis is $12,564 for one user, and cut and fill means the quoted Advanced plan | Platform license quoted, not published | $4,464 on yearly billing ($1,488 a year) |
| Ground control hardware | Your own targets and a GNSS rover | One 5-pack of AeroPoints, $5,000 | Your own targets and a GNSS rover |
| Ground control renewals | None | Bundled with the Platform license, or $999 a year standalone after year one | None |
| Known total before the quote | $12,564, one user, no cut and fill | $5,000 in hardware, before the platform quote | $4,464, 10 seats, cut and fill included |
| People who can measure | 1 admin user | Per quote | 10 |
| What you still need | A quote for Advanced to get cut and fill | A platform quote, and AeroPoints left out on site each flight | A way to survey control points, such as an RTK rover or an RTK drone |
The honest read: if you have no surveyor and no rover, Propeller's AeroPoints are a real convenience, because a superintendent can lay out control without survey help. If you already own a rover or fly an RTK drone, you are paying for control hardware you do not need, and a seat-included plan with a printed price costs far less over three years.
Honest fit
When Propeller is the better choice than DroneDeploy
Propeller suits contractors and quarries whose whole drone program is about dirt and material:
- Your crew has no surveyor and needs simple ground control, which AeroPoints provide.
- You want haul and machine tracking from DirtMate sensors next to your drone surfaces.
- You report quantities to a site superintendent every week, not maps to a client.
- You process LiDAR from supported DJI sensors in the same platform.
- You are fine with a quoted contract and buying hardware up front.
The trade is cost visibility. The platform price is not published, and AeroPoints cost $5,000 for a 5-pack before the first flight.
Honest fit
When DroneDeploy is the better choice than Propeller
DroneDeploy suits general contractors and operations teams that capture more than earthworks:
- You want flight planning, processing and sharing in one app.
- You document interiors and progress from the ground as well as from the air.
- You run inspections and roof or facade work next to site maps.
- You want to start on a printed single-user plan before talking to sales.
The trade is the tier wall. Cut and fill, unlimited GCPs and more than 3,000 images per map sit on the quoted Advanced plan.
The third option
Why earthworks teams pick DroneMapping over both
Most contractors comparing DroneDeploy and Propeller want four things on one printed plan.
-
01
Volumes and cut and fill without a quote: stockpile volumes on every plan, cut and fill against your design surface on Team at $249 per month.
-
02
Seats for the whole site team: the superintendent, estimator and PM all measure the same surface.
-
03
Any ground control: load GCPs and checkpoints from your rover or RTK drone, and read the RMSE in X, Y and Z.
-
04
Reports the owner can open: a view link with the orthomosaic, surfaces and volumes, plus stockpile PDFs.
What we do not do: we do not sell ground control hardware, track machines or process LiDAR. Fly with DJI Pilot 2 or your planner, then upload the geotagged JPEGs.
Switching
How to test DroneDeploy, Propeller and DroneMapping on one stockpile
The fair test is one real site with a number you already trust.
- Pick a known pile: use a stockpile with a recent ground survey or a scale-house tonnage you can convert to volume.
- Keep the same control: use the same GCP coordinates in every tool and hold two points back as checkpoints.
- Use the same base: measure each volume against the same base plane type, because a different base changes the result more than the software does.
- Price the real crew: count everyone who needs to measure and price three years for that team.
Try it on a real surface
Measure a stockpile before you create an account
The demo loads a sample stockpile yard, an earthworks pad and a field. Draw a volume, toggle contours and read an elevation profile in the browser, with no signup.
Pricing
What DroneMapping costs next to DroneDeploy and Propeller
Starter is $99 per month or $588 per year: orthomosaic, DSM and DTM, measurements and volumes, view links, 3 seats and 3,000 processed images a month. Team is $249 per month or $1,488 per year and adds GCP and checkpoint reports, DXF and SHP contours, stockpile PDFs, cut and fill, 10 seats and 15,000 images a month. Business is $599 per month with 25 seats.
Questions
DroneDeploy vs Propeller FAQ
Propeller is better for earthworks, quarries and landfills, because volumes, cut and fill, AeroPoints ground control and DirtMate machine tracking are built for that work. DroneDeploy is better for general construction teams that also capture interiors, inspections and progress photos. For a team that only needs volumes and cut and fill at a printed price, DroneMapping Team costs $249 a month with 10 seats.
DroneDeploy prints one survey plan, Flight & Analysis, at $4,188 a year for one user. Propeller does not publish its platform price, so you get a quote, and AeroPoints cost $1,000 each or $5,000 for 5, and their corrections subscription is $999 a year after the first 12 months unless it is bundled with a Platform license. Cut and fill on DroneDeploy also needs a quoted plan.
No. Propeller processes surveys with other ground control or with a PPK or RTK drone, and AeroPoints are its own optional smart targets. They are popular because a site crew can lay them out and collect corrected positions without a separate surveyor and rover.
Both measure stockpile volumes accurately when the flight has good overlap and ground control. Propeller is designed around stockpile and haul workflows and reports them per material, while DroneDeploy treats volumes as one measurement tool among many. The base plane you choose affects the number more than the brand does.
Yes, but not on its printed Flight & Analysis plan. Cut and fill against a design surface sits on DroneDeploy's quoted Advanced plan, together with unlimited GCPs and 10,000 images per map. DroneMapping includes cut and fill on the Team plan at $249 a month.
Yes. DroneMapping Team is $1,488 a year on yearly billing, $4,464 over three years, with 10 seats, stockpile PDFs, cut and fill, contours and GCP and checkpoint reports. You use your own ground control or an RTK drone instead of buying control hardware.
Related pages
More on choosing earthworks drone software
- Propeller Aero alternative with a cost breakdown for contractors and aggregates yards
- DroneDeploy alternative compared plan by plan
- Propeller Aero pricing with AeroPoints and renewal costs
- DroneDeploy pricing and cost with every published plan and limit
- Stockpile inventory software for monthly volume counts
- Construction drone software for cut and fill and progress surveys
- Pix4D vs DroneDeploy if you are also weighing desktop processing
Measure your next stockpile with seats for the whole site team
Upload a flight you already processed in DroneDeploy or Propeller and compare the volume and checkpoint error side by side.