PointCloudKit vs RTAB
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PointCloudKit
Capture and explore your surroundings using LiDAR-compatible devices. This utility app offers a new way to interact with your environment through advanced scanning technology.
- LiDAR scanning
- Environmental capture
- 3D exploration
- Feature requests
- User feedback
Read full descriptionHide full description
Using latest LiDAR compatible devices from Apple, explore and capture your surrounding in a new way! Contact for feature request or feedback Thanks for using!
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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
PointCloudKit and RTAB are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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.
| Parameter | PointCloudKit | RTAB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.8 (39 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 39 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 4 months |
| Ads | — | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 14.3 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexandre Camilleri | Mathieu Labbe |
Customer experience
PointCloudKit
RTAB
In-app purchases
PointCloudKit
No in-app purchases
RTAB
No in-app purchases









