Agisoft Metashape alternative in the cloud, with the Metashape price compared line by line
Dronemapping is a cloud drone mapping platform for survey firms and contractors that want Metashape Professional deliverables without buying a license per workstation and tuning a processing PC. Upload geotagged JPEGs in any browser and get an orthomosaic, surface and terrain models, volumes, contours, a GCP accuracy report and a map link your client can open. Plans start at $99 per month for 3,000 images and 3 seats, and every price is printed on the pricing page.
net volume
net volume
Side by side
Metashape Professional vs Dronemapping, price, licensing and outputs
The Metashape column uses Agisoft's own online store and Agisoft Cloud billing article as checked in September 2026 (USD). Our column is the published Dronemapping plan list.
| What you compare | Agisoft Metashape | Dronemapping |
|---|---|---|
| Price for survey work | Professional, $3,499 once per node-locked license | Starter $99 per month, Team $249, Business $599 |
| Cheaper edition | Standard, $179, but it has no orthomosaic, DEM or GCP georeferencing | Every plan builds the orthomosaic, DSM and DTM |
| License model | One computer per node-locked license, floating licenses through resellers | 3 seats on Starter, 10 on Team, 25 on Business, any browser |
| Hardware you need | Your own workstation, with processing time on your machine | Any computer with a current browser, including a Mac or iPad |
| Cloud processing | Agisoft Cloud, needs a Professional license, compute from $4.25 to $5 per hour plus storage from $10 per month | Included in every plan, with a monthly image quota |
| Updates | Free within version 2.x, a later major version is not covered by the license | Always the current version |
| Ground control and checkpoints | Yes, full GCP and checkpoint workflow in Professional | GCPs and checkpoints with an RMSE report on Team |
| Volumes and cut and fill | Volume measurement on the DEM | Volumes on every plan, stockpile PDFs and cut and fill on Team |
| Client access | Agisoft Cloud project sharing, or you export files and send them | View links on every plan, no seat or login needed |
| LiDAR, multispectral, satellite imagery, Python scripting | Yes, in Professional | Multispectral indices on Business. No LiDAR, no scripting inside the app, API on Business |
| Operating systems | Windows, macOS and Linux | Any operating system with a browser |
| Trial | 30-day full trial license | Interactive demo in the browser, no account |
Metashape is a desktop photogrammetry engine you run and tune yourself. Dronemapping sells processing, measuring and sharing as one subscription with seats included.
Worked example
What a 3-person survey team pays for Metashape and for Dronemapping over 3 years
Take a small survey firm: a pilot, a CAD technician and a project manager. They fly 6 to 8 sites a month, about 5,000 images, and every client wants a map link and a contour file the week after the flight. Two people need to measure at the same time on busy weeks.
| Cost over 3 years | Metashape Professional | Dronemapping Team |
|---|---|---|
| Software | $3,499 per license. Two people measuring at once means $6,998 | $7,470 on yearly billing ($2,490 a year) |
| Processing workstation | One capable PC per license, bought and maintained by you | Not needed |
| Processing time | Hours on your own machine per job, or Agisoft Cloud compute hours on top | Included in the 15,000 image monthly quota |
| People who can measure at once | One per licensed computer | 10 seats |
| Client deliverable | You export GeoTIFF, DXF and PDF and send them | A view link, plus DXF and SHP contours and stockpile PDFs |
| Major version upgrade inside 3 years | Not covered if Agisoft ships version 3 | Included |
The honest read: on software alone, one Metashape Professional license is cheaper than 3 years of our Team plan. A single analyst who likes controlling every processing parameter, owns a strong workstation and sends clients files should keep Metashape. The math turns once two people need licenses, once the workstation needs replacing, or once the client expects a link instead of a folder of files. A solo operator flying under 3,000 images a month can run on our Starter plan at $99 per month, $2,970 over three years, with no PC to buy.
Honest fit
When Agisoft Metashape is still the better choice
Metashape is a mature, accurate photogrammetry engine and many experienced analysts should stay on it:
- You want a one-time purchase and you are happy to own and upgrade the hardware.
- You process LiDAR, satellite imagery or close-range objects, not only drone survey photos.
- You script batch processing in Python or run network processing across your own nodes.
- Your data cannot leave your own network, so cloud processing is off the table.
- You tune alignment, depth map and filtering settings per project and want full control of every step.
If your work is aerial maps, surfaces, volumes and contours for clients, and more than one person touches each job, a cloud platform removes the parts of Metashape you pay for in time rather than money.
Why teams switch
Why survey firms look for a Metashape alternative
The reasons we hear are rarely about map quality. They are about who runs the processing and who can see the result.
- No processing PC in the loop: jobs run in the cloud, so the office machine is free while a 3,000 image flight processes.
- Seats come with the plan: the pilot, the CAD tech and the project manager can all measure without buying a license each.
- Clients open a link: the orthomosaic, surface and volumes open in any browser, with an optional expiry date.
- Survey outputs without setup: GCPs, checkpoints and an RMSE report in X, Y and Z, plus DXF and SHP contours, sit on Team.
- Stockpile and earthworks reports: volume PDFs and cut and fill against an earlier flight or a design surface are built in.
- Mac and iPad friendly: nothing to install, so the field team can review a map on the device they carry.
Switching
How to move from Metashape to Dronemapping
You do not import Metashape project files. You reprocess from the original photos, which you already keep.
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01
Pick a site you know: choose a flight where you have a Metashape orthomosaic, a checked elevation or a stockpile volume.
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02
Export your control: save the GCP coordinates you used in Metashape as a CSV with the same coordinate system.
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03
Upload and compare: drag the photos into the browser, load the control file, mark the targets and compare the checkpoint RMSE with your Metashape report.
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04
Run both for a month: keep your Metashape license, it is perpetual, and move client jobs over once the numbers match.
Try it on a real surface
Measure a surface before you create an account
The demo loads a sample stockpile yard, an earthworks pad and a field. Toggle contours, draw a volume and read an elevation profile in the browser, with no signup.
Pricing
What a Metashape alternative costs per month
Starter is $99 per month or $990 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 and adds the 3D textured model, the dense point cloud as LAS or LAZ, GCP and checkpoint reports, DXF and SHP contours, stockpile PDFs and cut and fill, with 10 seats and 15,000 images. Business is $599 per month for 50,000 images, 25 seats, multispectral indices, the progress timeline and the API. Yearly billing gives 2 months free.
Questions
Agisoft Metashape alternative FAQ
For survey, construction and aggregates teams that mainly need aerial maps, surfaces, volumes and contours, a cloud platform with seats included is the closest swap. Dronemapping processes geotagged JPEGs in the browser from $99 per month with 3 seats. Pix4D suits teams that want another desktop engine, and DroneDeploy suits teams that want flight planning in the same app.
Agisoft's online store lists Metashape Standard at $179 and Metashape Professional at $3,499, both as one-time node-locked licenses. Floating licenses are sold through resellers. Agisoft Cloud processing needs a Professional license and bills compute from $4.25 to $5 per hour, plus storage from $10 per month for 100 GB.
No, not for survey work. Metashape Standard builds 3D models and textures, but orthomosaics, digital elevation models and georeferencing with ground control points are in the Professional edition. Anyone delivering maps, surfaces or volumes to a client needs Professional at $3,499 or a platform that includes those outputs.
A Metashape 2.x license includes every 2.x update free of charge, according to Agisoft's license agreement. It does not cover a later major version such as 3.x. A subscription platform like Dronemapping always runs the current version, so there is no upgrade purchase to plan for.
Yes. Metashape runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, but processing speed depends on the computer, and large flights need a lot of memory and a strong graphics card. A cloud platform processes on its own servers, so a MacBook or an iPad only needs a browser to upload photos and measure.
For one person, Metashape Professional is hard to beat on price. For two or more people who measure at the same time, Dronemapping Team at $249 per month includes 10 seats, GCP reports, contours and cut and fill, with no second license or second workstation to buy.
Related pages
More on choosing photogrammetry software
- Photogrammetry software for drone survey processing in the cloud
- Photogrammetry software for Mac with nothing to install
- Drone survey software with GCPs, checkpoints and contours
- Pix4D alternative compared plan by plan
- DJI Terra pricing with every license and a 3-year team cost
- Best drone mapping software buyer's guide with a trial checklist
Process your next flight without a workstation
Upload a flight you already processed in Metashape and compare the checkpoint error side by side.