Overview

Locus brings population, foot-traffic patterns, nearby competition, demand and accessibility signals, and available commercial premises into one map. Reports put local context, trade-offs and supporting evidence together, making the product more useful for weighing candidates than treating an AI score as a decision on its own.

Pulse tracks neighbourhood reviews, competitor movement, reputation and market rank. Ask Locus can adjust catchments, inspect evidence, find commercial premises and help move options into comparisons, shortlists or projects. Together, these features connect site discovery with ongoing monitoring, though access depends on the plan.

Demographic coverage is deepest in the UK and US. Other markets may draw on global population and age estimates through WorldPop and supported regional sources, so cross-market comparisons may have less consistent depth. Locus frames its recommendations as decision support, not a valuation, planning opinion or guarantee of business performance.

Key features

Location research: Population, footfall, competition, demand and accessibility signals help teams examine the context around a candidate site.
Reports and comparisons: Reports present evidence and trade-offs; higher plans add multi-location comparisons, shortlists and projects.
Pulse monitoring: Neighbourhood changes in reviews, competitor activity, reputation and market rank can inform follow-up after a location is selected.
Ask Locus: Map navigation, catchment changes and evidence inspection can streamline exploration, while property search and organizing options support the move from research to a shortlist.
Drive-time and territory planning: These capabilities suit teams assessing catchments and planning geographic coverage.

Pricing

Locus has a free map tier, a one-time report and monthly subscriptions. The free option is useful for initial exploration, but it does not include the fuller research workflows of paid plans.

Free map access — 0.00 USD per free: Browse the map and use measuring tools; a free account adds population, density and gender snapshots. Best for basic orientation, not repeatable location research.
One-time location report — 15.00 USD per once: One location with full location data, an AI score and analysis. A low-commitment choice for a single candidate, but it does not provide a monthly research allowance.
Explore — 49.00 USD per month: Five research runs per month, direct competitors, footfall, demand and accessibility signals, AI score and recommendation, and PDF export. It fits teams doing occasional site research and is the entry subscription for recurring analysis.
Monitor — 79.00 USD per month: Up to three monitored businesses, three research runs per month, a Pulse neighbourhood brief, Ask Locus, weekly digest emails and alert notifications. Choose it for ongoing oversight rather than a high volume of new site studies.
Research — 99.00 USD per month: Ten research runs per month, white-label reports, comparisons of up to five locations, projects, shortlists and network map, heatmaps, travel time and catchments, and competitor sentiment. Its higher run allowance and comparison tools suit teams evaluating multiple candidates.
Grow — 199.00 USD per month: Twenty research runs per month, Locus AI Agent (Beta), commercial properties inventory (Beta), Underserved Areas and priority support. The extra capacity and beta features are aimed at heavier research needs.

Platforms

Locus runs on the web. Its terms say API access requires a valid key and is subject to rate limits. The privacy policy says it uses Google Places API for business and competition data and OpenAI technology to analyse aggregated, non-personal location data. Locus says it uses technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, while acknowledging that absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

Who it's for

Commercial real estate advisers can use Locus to assemble local evidence for site evaluations. Franchise and multi-site retail teams can use its location comparisons, catchments and territory planning to structure expansion decisions. Business owners and marketing teams may find it useful when assessing local opportunity or monitoring neighbourhood changes. It is a weaker fit for readers seeking a definitive forecast: the product explicitly treats its recommendations as decision support.

Pros and cons

Pro: Demographics, footfall, competition, access and premises are brought into one map, reducing the need to assess each signal in isolation.
Pro: Reports, comparisons and monitoring support both initial site evaluation and continued attention to neighbourhood changes.
Pro: A free map tier and a 15.00 USD per once report let readers start without a monthly subscription.
Con: Demographic depth is strongest in the UK and US, which can make comparisons involving other markets less even.
Con: Monthly research is capped at 3 to 20 runs depending on plan, so teams with heavier workloads need to choose a higher tier.
Con: Some Grow capabilities, including the AI Agent and commercial property inventory, are in beta, and recommendations do not replace valuation or planning advice.

Alternatives

Consider Mapline if you want to compare another freemium mapping platform with web and API access. Maptive is worth considering if its broad platform support or one-time access model better fits your setup. NIQ is a paid alternative without a free plan. Smappen offers a free web plan with 10 active areas, basic population data, one POI search and up to 100 imported pins, making it a simpler starting point for area mapping. Stadia Maps has a free tier with 200,000 monthly credits and a Starter plan at 20.00 USD per month for 1,000,000 credits. Maptitude is a paid option with a free trial and desktop and web offerings. Kalibrate Location Intelligence is a paid alternative whose pricing depends on licensed third-party data, user seats and analytics. eSpatial is another paid option, with a free trial and a Mapping Pro plan requiring at least three users. For more choices, see Location Intelligence Software.

Verdict

Locus is a strong fit for advisers and expansion teams that need mapped location signals, evidence-backed reports and tools to monitor neighbourhood change in one web product. Its tiered plans cover occasional reports through higher-volume research, but buyers should weigh the monthly run limits and uneven coverage beyond the UK and US. Look elsewhere if you need a guaranteed performance forecast or equally deep demographic coverage across markets.

	CBRE CostLab	Locus
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	—	$49/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Web	Web
Free plan	No	Yes
Drive-time analysis	—	Yes
Territory planning	—	Yes
Demographic data	—	Yes
API access	—	Yes

CBRE CostLab vs Locus

CBRE CostLab

Locus