DroneDeploy Ground App vs Expansion Lab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DroneDeploy Ground App
Capture ground-level data for construction and industrial projects. Log in, connect a 360 camera or use your device's camera to take photos, and sync to the platform for processing and analysis. Collaborate, inspect, and integrate with industry tools.
- 360° panorama and walkthrough capture
- Standard photo capture
- Sync to DroneDeploy platform
- Team collaboration
- Project data inspection and annotation
- Integration with industry tools
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The DroneDeploy Ground app empowers businesses in construction, engineering, and other industrial sectors to efficiently document and manage ground-level data, providing a powerful complement to drone-based insights. DroneDeploy Ground is the next-generation ground capture app for project teams, including former StructionSite users. Note: This app is intended for enterprise users with an active DroneDeploy license. Simplify Ground-Level Data Capture in 3 Easy Steps: 1. Log in to your DroneDeploy account (trial or active license required). 2. Connect your 360 camera to capture 360° panoramas and 360° Walkthroughs, or use your device's camera to capture standard photos. 3. Sync your captures to the DroneDeploy platform for processing, sharing, and analysis. Once uploaded, your captures are processed and accessible through the DroneDeploy platform, where you can: • Collaborate with your team and stakeholders. • Inspect, compare, and annotate project data over time. • Integrate seamlessly with leading industry tools like Procore, Autodesk Build, and more. Supported Hardware: • Insta360 X5 • Insta360 X4 • Insta360 RS 1-inch • Ricoh Theta X • Ricoh Theta Z1 Visit our website for a complete list of supported hardware and to learn more about the DroneDeploy ecosystem. For Business and Professional Use: The DroneDeploy Ground app is a free companion tool for licensed DroneDeploy enterprise customers. A valid enterprise account is required for uploading and processing captures
Expansion Lab
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Inside the Expansion Lab app, you can: Access all of your videos in one easy to use app Receive push notifications with the latest news and updates Access to all of your videos without having to remember your password Save your favorite posts so you can quickly find them later END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
DroneDeploy Ground App and Expansion Lab are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DroneDeploy Ground App | Expansion Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (37 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 41.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 37 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 435 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DroneDeploy | Expansion Lab |
Bugs and requests
DroneDeploy Ground App
Reported bugs
68 issues- Spam email
- Freezes, lags, slow
- Constantly have to fight to log in
- Processing walks takes forever and is unreliable
- Fails to process a walk
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- Extremely hard to login into
- Lots of errors
- Reset password and still 50/50 shot
- Massive pain to get back into the app
- Have to redownload the app
- Glichy
- App doesn’t work on the new iPhone
- Won’t even open
- Very difficult if not impossible to use at times
- Won’t select the correct icon
- Can’t zoom in anymore
- Selection something approx an inch up and left from where clicking
- App constantly crashes
- Won’t load selected items
- Still feels like a beta version
- App often crashes and becomes unusable
- Disconnects from the camera
- States universal link is not recognized
- Does not upload
- Footage is sped up and unusable
- Only works on apple devices
- Does not stay connected to camera
- Cannot get any walks to stay active
- Camera has disconnected from the app automatically
- Cannot sync walks unless iPad is connected to WiFi
- Drawings need more than two supported file formats
- Need to upload drawing in advance
- No photos of the drawing supported
- New interface is glitchy and does not work well
- Crashes constantly
- Will not let you upload photos
- Does not allow you to sync
- Error message saying there’s no space on the device
- Force closes
- Never works
- Fails constantly
- Can’t login half the time
- App crashes a lot
- Crosshairs misalign all the time
- When clicking an existing pin, crosshairs put you way below the pin and create a new pin
- Very high chance of having to do a 360 walk again because of an error
- Difficult to upload in the background
- App needs to be open to upload
- Takes a long time to upload
- App and website are always crashing
- App doesn’t stay connected to the camera
- Icons don’t show up after you’ve taken photos
- App crashes frequently
- Takes 30 + seconds between photos
- Takes a good 10+ seconds to take your next photo
- Persistent bugs
- Frustrating user interface
- Logging points takes almost twice as long
- Deleting images or removing false points is unnecessarily complicated
- App freezes while a photo uploads
- Missing folders on ground app
- Cannot upload any photos because folders are missing
- Issues with the app not uploading data
- Occasionally completely loses photos
- Cannot delete anything on the app
- Have to delete the app to redownload
- Won’t save good uploads
- Not optimized for iPad
Requested features
8 requests- New update for Insta X4 air compatibility
- Android app support
- Downloadable PDF with active 360 photos
- Support for Insta360 One R camera
- iPad optimization
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- Ability to add pins to drawings in the app without internet
- Support for more than two drawing file formats
- Background uploads
Expansion Lab
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
DroneDeploy Ground App
No in-app purchases
Expansion Lab
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is DroneDeploy Ground App free?
Is Expansion Lab free?
Do DroneDeploy Ground App or Expansion Lab have ads?
Which is updated more often, DroneDeploy Ground App or Expansion Lab?
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