Blue Marble Geographics vs Litchi (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict

Why choose Blue Marble Geographics

• Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 2/10)
• Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 4/10)

Why choose Litchi

• Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 8/10)

Blue Marble Geographics

Pros

• Global Mapper reads and writes more than 300 spatial formats, and none of them need an extra license.
• Lidar classification, cleanup and feature extraction come in a desktop tool that costs far less than enterprise GIS suites.
• The GeoCalc geodetic engine includes more than 12,000 definitions and time-dependent transformations, which suits survey-grade work.
• Since the Avenza merger, field data from the Avenza Maps offline app flows back into Global Mapper for analysis.

Cons

• It is not an asset management or maintenance system. There are no work orders, maintenance scheduling or condition monitoring.
• Licensing has changed recently, and third-party listings show conflicting perpetual and subscription prices.
• Global Mapper is a Windows desktop tool, so collaboration across teams is limited compared with cloud GIS platforms.

Litchi

Pros

• The one-time licence of roughly USD 25 to 27 is far cheaper than subscription-based drone flight platforms.
• Missions are uploaded to the aircraft, so a pre-planned route keeps flying if the controller signal drops.
• Detailed waypoint control covers speed, curve size, heading, gimbal pitch and up to 15 actions per waypoint.
• Litchi Hub allows desktop planning with CSV and KML import and terrain-relative altitude from elevation models.
• Supports a wide range of DJI aircraft, from older Phantom 3 models to Matrice 300, 350 and 4 series through Litchi Pilot.
• Flight logs upload automatically to Airdata UAV for record keeping.

Cons

• Newer DJI drones need the separate Litchi Pilot app, which is still an Android-only beta with reported crashes.
• iOS and Android licences are bought separately, so teams using both platforms pay twice.
• It has no inspection reporting, asset records, photogrammetry or team management, so it must be paired with other tools.
• Forum users report curved paths overshooting waypoints and photo actions not firing when corners are smoothed.
• Support is mainly through a forum and contact form, with no published SLA or security documentation.
• Several current DJI drones, such as the Mini 5, Air 3 and Mavic 4, can only receive missions exported to DJI Fly.