Felt

Felt is a cloud GIS platform for building maps, dashboards, and apps from spatial data. It suits GIS and operations teams that need analysis, field collection, and shared map work in one service. Its breadth is compelling, but the free plan is for personal use and does not allow your own data uploads.

Overview

Felt goes beyond map display, combining spatial SQL, analysis across tables, and plain-language analysis with Felt AI. It connects to services including Amazon S3, BigQuery, Databricks, Esri, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, MS SQL, Postgres, Snowflake, STAC, WFS, WMTS, Wherobots, and Amazon Redshift; data refresh is live. That range makes it relevant to teams working across varied spatial data sources, though the business-oriented plan structure makes it a poor fit for someone seeking a capable free personal GIS.

Maps support real-time collaboration, threaded comments, sharing, and role-based access controls. You can embed maps with an iframe and apply custom branding. The QGIS plugin preserves styling, symbology, and layer structure when publishing, which helps teams carry existing project organization into Felt.

Key features

• Spatial analysis: Spatial SQL, cross-table analysis, and plain-language Felt AI analysis offer several ways to investigate geographic data.
• Data connections: The listed connectors span cloud storage, databases, GIS services, and imagery catalogues, with live refresh for connected data.
• Field collection: The iOS and Android Field App supports surveys, GPS capture, geotagged photos, offline work, and later syncing. That is useful for field teams working beyond reliable connectivity.
• Collaboration and publishing: Real-time map work, comments, permissions, iframe embedding, and custom branding make Felt suitable for maps shared across teams or with viewers.
• Development and deployment: Enterprise lists a REST API and JavaScript SDK; Felt's app development page also describes a Python SDK and webhooks. Enterprise also offers regional hosting, data residency options, and customer VPC deployment.

Felt states that it is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant, encrypts web traffic and credentials, and monitors systems 24/7. Data is hosted in the U.S. by default; organizations with regional or VPC requirements can consider Enterprise deployment options.

Pricing

• Personal: free, billed Free, forever. It includes unlimited maps and sharing, but prohibits business use and does not allow your own data file uploads. It is suitable for personal exploration, not team or commercial work.
• Professional: Custom pricing on an annual contract, with 10 full seats, unlimited free viewers, 25 GB monthly data processing, and 100K monthly map views. It includes a 7-day trial, one-hour onboarding, and priority email and chat support. The quotas make it a defined step up for teams, and Felt says it does not automatically bill overages or throttle maps.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing on an annual contract, with 10 full seats, unlimited free viewers, and usage scaled to the plan. It adds live cloud sources, REST API and JavaScript SDK, SSO/SAML, regional hosting, and VPC deployment, plus a dedicated customer success manager, technical support, and custom onboarding. Larger GIS organizations needing these controls and deployment choices are its clearest audience.

Professional and Enterprise both start with 10 full seats; viewers are free and unlimited. The published plan structure gives no per-seat or quota expansion price, so teams should contact sales to evaluate annual costs against their usage needs.

Platforms

Felt lists web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, API, and self-hosted platforms. The Field App specifically supports iOS and Android collection.

Who it's for

Felt names GIS teams, field and operations teams, data science and analytics teams, product and engineering teams, and large GIS organizations as its audiences. It is strongest for groups that need spatial analysis alongside collaborative maps, connected data, or field capture. A solo user wanting to upload personal files for free should look elsewhere, as should a business that needs a published price before evaluating an annual commitment.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Broad data connections and live refresh can bring multiple spatial sources into one mapping workflow.
• Pro: Offline field capture with later syncing supports collection where connectivity is unreliable.
• Pro: QGIS publishing preserves styling, symbology, and layer structure, reducing disruption to established projects.
• Pro: Free unlimited viewers and real-time collaboration suit maps shared across a team without requiring every viewer to hold a full seat.
• Con: Personal is restricted to personal use and excludes own-file uploads, limiting its value as a no-cost route into business GIS.
• Con: Professional and Enterprise require annual contracts with custom pricing, so budget fit cannot be judged from a published plan price.
• Con: Professional caps monthly processing at 25 GB and views at 100K, which may constrain heavier workflows even though overages are not automatically billed and maps are not throttled.

Alternatives

Consider QGIS if you want free, open-source GIS software under GNU GPLv2+ rather than Felt's annual business plans. Choose QGIS Cloud if you want a freemium service with a free plan from Sourcepole AG. GIS Cloud is another freemium option with a free plan and a $5 a month Track plan per asset; its Publisher plugins include QGIS and ArcMap options and preserve symbology.

GRASS GIS is a free, open-source alternative under GPL (>=v2) with no warranty. NextGIS Web offers a Mini plan at €180 a year for one user, 10 GiB storage, unlimited layers, one tracker, and one collector. For a non-commercial StatPlanet Cloud option, StatSilk lists $495 a year with unlimited users. Google Earth Engine is a freemium alternative with usage-based storage and compute charges. geemap is a free alternative.

Verdict

Felt is a strong choice for GIS and operations teams that want analysis, connected data, offline field collection, and collaborative publishing in a shared platform. Its field tools, QGIS handoff, and unlimited free viewers make a persuasive team workflow. Look elsewhere if you need free business use or a transparent annual price before sales contact: Personal bars business use and file uploads, while paid plans are custom-priced annual contracts.