QGIS or ArcGIS to produce the survey. Maptainer to deliver and operate it.
An engineering firm that delivers inventories already works with a GIS, and has no reason to drop it. The question is not which tool replaces which, but where the inventory lives after handover: in a folder, in the customer's GIS organisation or in a system where it is consulted and maintained. This page compares the three routes capability by capability.
Reviewed on 22 October 2026 against each product's public documentation. If something has changed, write to us and we will correct it.
What each route covers in an inventory project.
All three capture in the field without coverage. The differences show up in what happens after capture.
| Capability | QGIS with QField or Mergin Maps | ArcGIS with Field Maps | Maptainer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Producing and editing the survey | Its home ground: advanced editing and analysis, with complete freedom over the data model. | Its home ground, with ArcGIS Pro and the geodatabase. | Geometry and record editing. Advanced cartographic editing is still better in your GIS. |
| Field capture without coverage | Yes, on the QGIS project, synchronised through QFieldCloud or Mergin Maps. | Yes, with maps prepared for offline work. | Yes: creating, editing and retiring assets, forms, photographs and incidents, with corrections pending approval. |
| Validating data at capture | Constraints and forms configured in the QGIS project. | Domains, subtypes and forms configured on the layer. | A record per asset type: mandatory fields, data type, allowed values and dependent fields. |
| Handover to the end customer | A QGIS project or files; a web viewer for the customer is a separate development. | Web maps and apps inside an ArcGIS organisation with its licences. | A customer portal with their logo and their own user, in the browser. |
| Maintenance after handover | Not included: a separate CMMS or a custom development. | Field Maps does not manage work orders, SLAs, stock or cost; that is solved with other products or an integrated CMMS. | A complete CMMS on the same data: incidents, work orders, planning and true cost per work order. |
| Formats and data exit | Open by nature: GeoPackage, PostGIS and QGIS formats. | Export to open formats is possible; the data lives in the ArcGIS organisation. | Full export always included, geometries in GeoJSON in EPSG:4326, one CSV per entity and 90 days of access when the contract ends. |
| Licensing model | Free software; cloud synchronisation has paid plans depending on use. | By user type within ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. | Published price per internal user, with no charge per number of assets; customer portal users are not charged as users. |
None of the three routes is better in the abstract. QGIS and ArcGIS are excellent for producing the data; what they do not bring out of the box is the layer where the customer consults it and where it is maintained.
How your GIS and Maptainer work together.
You survey and clean the data in your GIS
In QGIS or ArcGIS, with your usual data model and quality checks.
You load the result into Maptainer
From GeoPackage, Shapefile, GeoJSON, DXF or CSV, without redrawing anything. Your WMS layers can still show on top.
The customer gets a portal, not a folder
They see their assets on the map with records and photographs, and raise incidents by pointing at the spot.
The project carries on as a service
Keeping the inventory up to date or running full maintenance on the same data, with nothing to migrate.
The data goes back to your GIS when you need it
Export in GeoJSON in EPSG:4326 and CSV, ready to open in QGIS or ArcGIS.
When you do not need Maptainer.
- The job is a one-off survey If the customer only wants the files and there will be no consultation or maintenance afterwards, your GIS is enough.
- The customer has its own ArcGIS organisation and runs it Delivering inside their platform is the natural choice.
- The deliverable is advanced analysis or cartography For studies, models and drawings, your GIS is the tool.
When adding Maptainer makes sense.
- The inventory will be consulted after handover The customer has no GIS and does not want one, but needs to find their assets and see their status.
- You want the project to continue as a recurring service Keeping the inventory, or the assets, maintained with the same customer.
- Your assets are outdoors and spread out Solar plants, industrial estates, private networks: places where the technician works without coverage, far from the office.
Frequently asked questions
Does Maptainer replace QGIS or ArcGIS?
What happens to the inventory if the customer leaves Maptainer?
Why does this page name products when the other comparisons do not?
Last updated:
See what your next deliverable could look like.
Tell us what you survey, which GIS you work with and in what format you deliver today. With that we prepare the session on a demo environment close to your case.