Litchi vs Picterra (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
Picterra is our pick, scoring 6.5/10 against 4.8/10 for Litchi on our Industrial & Infrastructure Software criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 2/10). Only Litchi has a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
Litchi
4.8/10
Autonomous flight and waypoint mission planning apps for DJI drones, used by solo pilots and small operators for repeatable aerial capture and inspection flights.
Picterra
6.5/10
Swiss GeoAI platform for training no-code deep learning detectors on satellite, aerial, and drone imagery, used for infrastructure inspection, land monitoring, and supply chain compliance.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 4.8/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Integration | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 3/10 | 4/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 4/10 |
| Analytics | 2/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 3/10 | 8/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Litchi Hub | Contact for pricing |
| Features | ||
| Drone Inspection | ||
| GIS and Mapping | Not listed | |
| Inspection Automation | Not listed | |
| Offline Field App | Not listed | |
Litchi vs Picterra cost by team size
| Team size | Litchi | Picterra |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeLitchi Hub | Contact for pricing |
| 5 users | FreeLitchi Hub | Contact for pricing |
| 10 users | FreeLitchi Hub | Contact for pricing |
| 25 users | FreeLitchi Hub | Contact for pricing |
| 50 users | FreeLitchi Hub | Contact for pricing |
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.
Who Litchi and Picterra suit
Picterra fits enterprise better than Litchi.
| Audience | Litchi | Picterra |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | 2/10There is no team administration, compliance documentation or enterprise support, and enterprise-drone support is still in Android beta. | 7/10Large customers use the auto-scaling cloud and country-scale analysis, and pricing is negotiated through sales. |
| Drone Service Providers | 7/10Cheap, repeatable waypoint missions on DJI hardware suit small operators doing routine capture work, though it lacks fleet and client management. | 7/10Forge processes drone imagery and turns it into custom detections and shareable reports that can be delivered to clients. |
| Energy Companies | Not rated | 6/10Solar panel detection and infrastructure inspection are among the documented use cases. |
| Engineering Firms | Not rated | 6/10Crack assessment and railway component detection show it can be used for inspecting civil assets. |
| Freelancers | 8/10A one-time licence of about USD 25 and support for consumer DJI drones make it accessible to solo pilots. | Not rated |
| Government | Not rated | 7/10Government agencies such as the UK RPA use it to monitor more than 130,000 km2 of land. |
| Real Estate | 6/10Orbit, POI and cable-cam style missions are often used for property shoots, though some users report gimbal accuracy issues on POI missions. | Not rated |
| Small Business | 6/10Low cost and simple licensing fit small firms that fly their own DJI drones occasionally. | Not rated |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Litchi
- Has a free plan (Picterra does not)
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose Picterra
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 2/10)
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (7/10 vs 2/10)
Pros & Cons
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.
Picterra
Pros
- Users with no machine learning background can train custom detectors by annotating imagery in the browser.
- Accepts many imagery types: satellite, aerial, drone, multispectral, thermal, SAR, and height maps.
- Works with ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Image servers, has REST and Python APIs, and supports FME automation for scheduled detection runs.
- Auto-scaling cloud processing supports analysis across large areas, up to country scale.
- Results can be shared by link with people who do not have a Picterra account.
Cons
- No public pricing; the product is sold through sales and custom quotes.
- Recent marketing focuses on agriculture and EUDR compliance, so infrastructure inspection gets less product attention.
- No work orders, asset registry, sensor monitoring, or offline field app.
- Very few independent user reviews and no public security certifications.
- An aggregator notes that results depend heavily on the quality of the input imagery.
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
Picterra scores higher on our Industrial & Infrastructure Software criteria: 6.5/10 against 4.8/10 for Litchi. The largest gap is in Cost: 10/10 for Litchi and 4/10 for Picterra.
Litchi has a free plan; Picterra does not list one.
Picterra is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 2/10 for Litchi.
