Blue Marble Geographics
6.6/10Blue Marble Geographics makes geospatial software. Its products are Global Mapper for desktop GIS and LiDAR processing, Geographic Calculator for coordinate conversion, and the Avenza Maps offline field app.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Blue Marble Geographics is a geospatial software company in Hallowell, Maine. Its main product is Global Mapper, a Windows desktop GIS application that Blue Marble acquired at the end of 2011. Global Mapper reads and writes more than 300 vector, raster, elevation and point cloud formats without extra modules. It handles lidar classification, noise removal, thinning and vector extraction, and creates orthoimagery and 3D models. AI-assisted extraction can pick out roads, buildings, vegetation and power lines. Geodetic work runs on the company's GeoCalc engine, which is also sold on its own as Geographic Calculator. In April 2026 Blue Marble merged with Avenza Systems, so the Avenza Maps mobile app is now part of the lineup. It gives field crews offline GPS maps and data collection, and that data can go back into Global Mapper. The Global Mapper 27 release added lidar QA and validation tools, ASPRS density measurement and guided breakline extraction. The software suits surveyors, drone mapping providers, engineering firms, utilities and government GIS teams that want strong desktop processing at a lower price than enterprise GIS suites. The current purchase page lists Global Mapper as an annual license starting at $599 for Essentials, $1,199 for Advanced and $2,199 for Professional. Avenza Maps costs $0 to $169.99 per device per year, and Enterprise is priced on request. The main limitation is that Global Mapper is a desktop analysis tool, not a system for asset management or maintenance operations. It has no work orders, maintenance scheduling or live asset monitoring.
Our Rating
Who Blue Marble Geographics is best for
Good fit
It produces point clouds, orthoimagery and 3D models from drone imagery, and it has lidar QA tools.
It handles terrain, lidar and breakline extraction, and it supports precise geodetic transformations.
Avenza Maps provides offline GPS maps and data collection that sync back to the office.
It supports a wide range of formats, and Blue Marble publishes pricing for government purchasing such as Texas DIR.
Less suited
It offers AI extraction of power lines and vegetation, but it has no tools for managing assets.
Pros & Cons
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.
Key Features
Blue Marble Geographics Pricing
Global Mapper Essentials
- Starting price per year
- Desktop GIS with support for 300+ formats
Frequently Asked Questions
The purchase page lists annual prices starting at $599 for Essentials, $1,199 for Advanced and $2,199 for Professional, with volume discounts available.
Yes. The Global Mapper product page links to a free trial and a demo request.
Yes. It classifies point clouds, removes noise, thins data, extracts vectors and creates orthoimagery and 3D models, and Global Mapper 27 added lidar QA tools.
Yes. Avenza Maps runs on iOS and Android and works offline with GeoPDF and GeoTIFF maps. It has a free tier and paid tiers from $34.99 per device per year.
Blue Marble and Avenza Systems merged in April 2026, and the combined company operates under the Blue Marble Geographics brand.
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