Above Surveying vs QGIS Comparison
Compare Above Surveying vs QGIS features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Above Surveying
5.7/10
UK drone inspection and data company for utility-scale solar plants. It pairs aerial thermographic surveys with its SolarGain cloud platform for inspection, QA and digital twin data.
QGIS
7/10
QGIS is a free, open source desktop GIS. Organisations use it to view, edit, analyse and map spatial data, including vector, raster, mesh and point cloud layers.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 5.7/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 10/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Customization | 5/10 | 9/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free QGIS (open source) |
| Features | ||
| GIS and Mapping | ||
| Asset Registry | Not listed | |
| Digital Twin | Not listed | |
| Drone Inspection | Not listed | |
| Inspection Automation | Not listed | |
| Inspection Checklists | Not listed | |
| LiDAR Processing | Not listed | |
| SCADA and IoT Integration | Not listed | |
| Work Orders | Not listed | |
Above Surveying vs QGIS cost by team size
| Team size | Above Surveying | QGIS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | FreeQGIS (open source) |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | FreeQGIS (open source) |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | FreeQGIS (open source) |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | FreeQGIS (open source) |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | FreeQGIS (open source) |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Above Surveying
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (6/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose QGIS
- Has a free plan (Above Surveying does not)
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
Above Surveying
Pros
- Built only for solar: thermography finds hotspots, string faults, junction box failures and PID at the module level.
- One platform covers the full lifecycle, from topographic surveys and construction monitoring to O&M inspections.
- SolarGain accepts data from third-party providers as well as Above's own flights, so the platform is not tied to Above's survey service.
- Large track record: Above reports more than 10,000 sites, and its acquisition of ucair expanded its reach in Europe.
- ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certified.
Cons
- No public pricing; every engagement needs a quote.
- Only useful for solar assets, not other infrastructure.
- No published integrations list, API documentation or security and trust page.
- Few independent user reviews on G2, Capterra or similar sites.
QGIS
Pros
- No licence fees on any number of seats, under the GPLv2+ open source licence.
- Python and C++ plugins let teams add custom tools and database connectors such as PostGIS.
- It reads many data formats and standard web services, which makes it easy to connect to existing data.
- Its print layout, atlas and report tools suit organisations that produce a lot of maps.
- It loads LAS, LAZ and virtual point cloud datasets with classification-based rendering.
Cons
- Capterra reviewers report slow performance, freezes and crashes on heavy workloads.
- Newcomers describe a steep learning curve and say installation can be difficult.
- There is no vendor-backed support contract; help comes from the community or third-party providers.
- It cannot edit point clouds and has no asset maintenance features such as work orders.
- Some reviewers say it lacks tools that ArcGIS Pro offers.
Not sold on either?
Air Inspection Automation (AiA)Our product
Plans DJI drone inspection missions for power line towers from LiDAR scans: it finds the towers, places photo stops, checks clearance, and splits the route into battery flights.
Made by the team behind b stack radar. Shown here because it fits this topic. It is not part of our rankings. How we rank tools
Frequently Asked Questions
QGIS scores higher on our Industrial & Infrastructure Software criteria: 7/10 against 5.7/10 for Above Surveying. The largest gap is in Cost: 4/10 for Above Surveying and 10/10 for QGIS.
QGIS has a free plan; Above Surveying does not list one.
