PLS-CADD vs Pointly Comparison
Compare PLS-CADD vs Pointly features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
PLS-CADD
6.4/10
Windows software from Bentley's Power Line Systems for 3D design, sag-tension and structural analysis of overhead transmission, distribution and telecom lines.
Pointly
6.8/10
Pointly is AI software from Berlin that classifies large LiDAR point clouds and extracts vector objects for utilities, railways, mapping agencies and surveyors.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | P PLS-CADD | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.4/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 3/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 9/10 | 5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | €99/mo Professional S |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| LiDAR Processing | ||
| Digital Twin | Not listed | |
| Drone Inspection | Not listed | |
| Engineering Design | Not listed | |
| Engineering Simulation | Not listed | |
| Power Line Inspection | Not listed | |
PLS-CADD vs Pointly cost by team size
| Team size | PLS-CADD | Pointly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
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?
PWhy choose PLS-CADD
- Higher Analytics score (9/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Support score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for engineering firms (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Pointly
- Has a free plan (PLS-CADD does not)
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Security score (8/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
PPLS-CADD
Pros
- Bentley says it is used by more than 1,600 organizations in over 125 countries, and the acquisition announcement called it the US industry standard for transmission line design.
- Combines terrain modeling, sag-tension and thermal ratings (IEEE 738 and CIGRE 207) in one tool.
- Imports and classifies large LiDAR point clouds, and its AMBER tool builds line models from them automatically.
- Plan and profile drawings regenerate automatically when the design changes.
- Links directly to PLS-POLE, TOWER and the SAPS finite element engine for structural checks.
Cons
- No public pricing; buyers must request a quote.
- Bentley recommends about five days of training, so new users face a steep learning curve.
- Runs on Windows only.
- Covers design only: there are no work orders, maintenance or field inspection tools.
Pointly
Pros
- Monthly prices are published, from 99 euros for 500 million points, and there is a free tier for testing
- Pointly Box allows on-premise and air-gapped processing for data-sensitive operators
- It holds ISO 27001 certification, and cloud processing defaults to EU data centers on Azure
- Custom classifiers can be trained on a customer's own class catalog
- There are extensions for Esri ArcGIS and Bentley MicroStation, and it exports in many formats
Cons
- It only covers classification, with no asset management, work orders or maintenance tools
- Vectorization and custom classifier training are quoted per project, not list-price items
- There are few independent user reviews on G2, Capterra or Reddit
- The pricing page has a yearly billing toggle but shows no annual prices
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
Pointly scores higher on our Industrial & Infrastructure Software criteria: 6.8/10 against 6.4/10 for PLS-CADD. The largest gap is in Analytics: 9/10 for PLS-CADD and 5/10 for Pointly.
Pointly has a free plan; PLS-CADD does not list one.
PLS-CADD is the better fit for engineering firms: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 7/10 for Pointly.
