ArcGIS AppStudio Player vs RTAB
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ArcGIS AppStudio Player
Instantly view and test mapping applications created with ArcGIS AppStudio. Sign in with your ArcGIS credentials to access and evaluate your own creations or those shared with you before distribution.
- View mapping applications
- Test app creations
- Sign in with ArcGIS credentials
- Download shared applications
- Evaluate before distribution
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AppStudio Player lets you instantly view mapping applications created with ArcGIS AppStudio. It offers you a great way to quickly test your own creations before you build and distribute them. To get started: 1. Install the ArcGIS AppStudio for Player app 2. Open and sign in with your ArcGIS Online or Enterprise credentials. 3. Select, download and test the mapping applications you have created or that have been shared with you.
RTAB
This utility app enables real-time 3D scanning and mapping of environments using LiDAR or RGB-D sensors. It features online loop closure detection and map optimization for immediate feedback, with export options for various 3D formats.
- Online 3D scanning and mapping
- Loop closure detection and map correction
- Save maps in DB format
- Export in PLY, LAS, or OBJ
- Multi-session mapping
- AR/VR visualization mode
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RTAB-Map (Real-Time Appearance-Based Mapping) is an Open Source LiDAR / RGB-D / Stereo Graph-Based SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) approach based on an online incremental appearance-based loop closure detector. The loop closure detector uses a bag-of-words approach to determinate how likely a new image comes from a previous location or a new location. When a loop closure hypothesis is accepted, a new constraint is added to the map's graph, then a graph optimizer minimizes the errors in the map in real-time. An optional memory management approach can be used to limit the number of locations used for loop closure detection and graph optimization, so that real-time constraints on large-scale environnements are always respected. ARKit's visual inertial odometry (VIO) is used as the SLAM front-end for RTAB-Map (the SLAM back-end). * Note that unlike other scanning apps that optimize the map only after mapping, with RTAB-Map you get loop closure detection and map optimization online so you can have a live feedback to know when you have enough constraints in the map for good global optimization before stopping the scan. *** 3D reconstruction available only with LiDAR sensor. Features: * Online 3D scanning/mapping of the environment. * Online loop closure detection and map correction. * Save in DB format (RTAB-Map desktop and rtabmap_ros format). * Export in PLY, LAS or OBJ. * Multi-session mapping (save and continue later). * Use Apriltags to help finding loop closures in textureless environments. * Mixed AR/VR First-Person in visualization mode. * Raw ARKit data recording (up to 60 Hz!), useful to record long sessions without comprising battery life.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: RTAB at 4.8 against ArcGIS AppStudio Player's 4.2. RTAB also leads on ratings volume (41 vs 12). ArcGIS AppStudio Player's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
RTAB holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12 and 41 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
ArcGIS AppStudio Player ships an update every 3 months, RTAB every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ArcGIS AppStudio Player | RTAB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (12 ratings) | 4.8 (41 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 12 | 41 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 174 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ESRI | Mathieu Labbe |
Customer experience
ArcGIS AppStudio Player
RTAB
In-app purchases
ArcGIS AppStudio Player
No in-app purchases
RTAB
No in-app purchases








