Comparison

ArcGIS Earth vs SW Maps

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ArcGIS Earth

Explore and visualize geographic data in an intuitive 3D environment. Supports a wide range of data sources, including online services and local files. Offers tools for analysis, placemark management, and creating immersive tours.

Highlights
  • 3D geographic data visualization
  • Connect to ArcGIS Online/Enterprise
  • Support for local data files
  • Interactive analysis tools
  • Placemark collection and sharing
  • Create and share tours
Features
Read full description

ArcGIS Earth is designed for everyone and provides user-friendly 3D experiences. Data support ArcGIS Earth allows you to use a variety of items from ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, local data, and web services: • Browse web scenes, map services, image services, scene services, and feature services. • Browse local files including mobile scene packages (MSPK), KML, KMZ, tile packages, and scene layer packages (SLPK). • Support has been added for Living Atlas of the World. Key features • Connect to ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. • Tap to identify features. • Support has been added for collecting, editing, and sharing placemarks. • Interactive analysis tools include Measure, Line of Sight, and Viewshed. • Create and share tours with geotagged photos. • Search for places and switch locators. • Start-up tips and guidance for hand gestures are included. • Record and preview GPS tracks, and share with your organization.

About

SW Maps

This app allows users to collect, present, and share geographic information. It supports recording points, lines, polygons, and associated data like photos and audio. High-accuracy GPS surveys are possible with external receivers, and data can be shared in various standard formats.

Highlights
  • Collect points, lines, and polygons
  • Attach custom attributes (text, photo, audio, video)
  • High-accuracy GPS surveys with external receivers
  • Offline map support
  • Export data in multiple formats (Shapefile, GeoPackage, CSV)
  • Create and share project templates
Features
Read full description

SW Maps is a free GIS and mobile mapping app for collecting, presenting and sharing geographic information. Whether you are conducting a full scale GNSS survey with high precision instruments, need to collect large amount of location based data using nothing but your phone, or just need to view a few shapefiles with labels over a background map on the go, SW Maps has it all covered. Record points, lines, polygons and even photos and have them displayed over your choice of background map, and attach custom attribute data to any feature. Attribute types include text, numbers, an option from a predefined set of choices, photos, audio clips and videos. Conduct high accuracy GPS surveys using external RTK capable receivers over Bluetooth LE. Draw features on the map by adding markers, and measure distance and area. Reuse the layers and attributes of a previous project for another survey, or create templates and share them with other users. Share the collected data with other users as Geopackages, KMZ or shapefiles, or export them to your device storage. Also share and export recorded data as Spreadsheets or CSV files. All data is recorded and exported in the standard WGS84 Geographic coordinate system (EPSG:4326). Features -Online Base maps: Apple Maps or Open Street Map -Support for multiple mbtiles and KML overlays -Shapefile and Geopackage layers, with attribute categorized styling. View shapefiles in any coordinate system supported by the PROJ.4 library. -Add multiple online WMTS, TMS, XYZ or WMS layers and cache tiles for offline use. -Connect to external GPS receivers using Bluetooth for high accuracy surveying using RTK with built-in NTRIP client. Also record data from external receiver for post processing. -Define multiple number of feature layers, each with a set of custom attributes Feature Types: Point, Line, Polygon Attribute Types:Text, Numeric, Drop down Options, Photos, Audio, Video Save as Template for re-use or sharing -Record GPS tracks, with distance measurement -Label features based on attribute values. -Import feature layers from templates or existing projects. -Share or export collected data as KMZ (with embedded photographs) , shapefiles, GeoJSON, Geopackage (GPKG), XLS/ODS spreadsheets or csv files. -Share templates or projects with other users -Supports use of GTX geoid files. To use custom geoids, prepare a GTX file with offsets in meters from WGS84. This product is made in Nepal and is FREE (no Ads). If you find this useful, please let your friends know that you have used a product from Nepal. Spare sometime to visit this wonderful country and know the Nepali people.

Screenshots

ArcGIS Earth4 screens
SW Maps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SW Maps at 3.8 against ArcGIS Earth's 3.5. SW Maps also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SW Maps holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 45 and 25 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 35% of ArcGIS Earth's written reviews are positive against 30% of SW Maps's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ArcGIS Earth ships an update every 3 months, SW Maps every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ArcGIS Earth versus SW Maps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArcGIS EarthSW Maps
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (45 ratings)3.8 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews35.3% of reviews — better30.0% of reviews
Number of ratings45 — better25
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size145 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperESRIAviyaan Tech

Customer experience

ArcGIS Earth

All ratings44 ratings
Positive52.3%
Neutral13.6%
Negative34.1%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive35.3%
Neutral26.5%
Negative38.2%

SW Maps

All ratings25 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive30.0%
Neutral35.0%
Negative35.0%

In-app purchases

None

ArcGIS Earth

No in-app purchases

None

SW Maps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ArcGIS Earth free?
ArcGIS Earth is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SW Maps free?
SW Maps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ArcGIS Earth or SW Maps?
SW Maps is rated higher. ArcGIS Earth averages 3.5 out of 5 from 45 ratings, while SW Maps averages 3.8 from 25 ratings.
Do ArcGIS Earth or SW Maps have ads?
Neither ArcGIS Earth nor SW Maps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ArcGIS Earth or SW Maps?
ArcGIS Earth ships an update every 3 months, and SW Maps every 2 months. Most recently, ArcGIS Earth was updated on October 27, 2026 and SW Maps on October 30, 2026.

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