Lizmap vs ArcGIS Online: a local government's choice

Two different models

ArcGIS Online is Esri's online mapping platform, sold by subscription. The software, hosting and updates come from the same vendor. You publish layers, maps, apps and dashboards there, closely tied to ArcGIS Pro on the desktop.

Lizmap is open source software, developed by 3Liz, that publishes QGIS projects on the web, served by QGIS Server. The software is free; you then choose where and how it runs: on your own servers, or with LizPack, an open source geospatial infrastructure that installs and maintains it without being its publisher. The guide What LizPack does explains that division of roles.

So the comparison is less about two programs than about two approaches: one vendor's integrated ecosystem, or an assembly of standard open source software that you can have hosted or host yourself.

• On the Esri side: ArcGIS Pro on the desktop, ArcGIS Online to publish and share, and apps such as Dashboards, Field Maps, Survey123 or StoryMaps, all from the same vendor.
• On the open source side: QGIS on the desktop, QGIS Server and Lizmap to publish, PostgreSQL and PostGIS to store, QField for field work, each developed by its own project and connected to the others through standard formats.

Licensing and cost: two logics

ArcGIS Online works with named user licenses by user type, and a system of credits consumed by certain operations, such as storage, analysis or geocoding. The budget therefore depends on how many people create or edit content and on how it is used.

With Lizmap, there is no software license: QGIS, QGIS Server, Lizmap and PostGIS are open source. The cost is hosting and time. The number of users who view or edit maps does not change the software price. With LizPack Map, LizPack's Lizmap hosting, the subscription starts with a 30-day free trial, then costs 10 USD per month (Basic) or 20 USD per month for two instances (Pro).

We do not quote Esri prices: they depend on user type, volume and agreements, and they change. Check esri.com or your distributor for a current quote. To estimate an open source option, see the guide How much does an open source web GIS cost.

The two logics do not affect the budget in the same way. With named user licenses, opening the tool to ten more staff members has a direct cost, which sometimes leads organizations to restrict access to fewer people than would benefit. With Lizmap, you add accounts without changing the software price; what may increase is server capacity, if usage grows sharply.

ArcGIS Online user types

In ArcGIS Online, each member of an organization is assigned a user type when invited. That type determines what they can do, and therefore which license they use. According to Esri's documentation, the types are as follows:

For a local government, the practical question is simple: how many staff only need to view, how many need to edit data, how many need to create maps? The answer sets the number and type of licenses. With Lizmap, these distinctions exist too, but as permissions set in the Lizmap administration: they do not change the cost of the software, however many people you grant them to.

List recorded on 11/09/2026 from the ArcGIS Online documentation (doc.arcgis.com). There is also a type reserved for ArcGIS Hub Premium communities. Esri changes these types over time: check the current list before costing a project.

ArcGIS Online credits in practice

On top of licenses, ArcGIS Online counts credits for certain transactions and types of storage. According to Esri's documentation, credits are consumed in particular by:

• storage of hosted feature and imagery layers, and of other content (maps, attachments, offline packages);
• geocoding addresses when publishing spreadsheets, at 40 credits per 1,000 addresses;
• analysis of features or imagery, with a cost that varies by tool;
• routing;
• printing from custom layout templates in Map Viewer;
• demographic data and infographics;
• tile generation and 3D layer generation;
• ArcGIS Notebooks sessions.

Other uses consume none, such as Living Atlas basemaps and imagery, data exports, or a single address search. For budgeting, the challenge is to anticipate storage and recurring analysis, which grow with the data and with usage. With an open source solution such as Lizmap, there are no credits: the cost depends on server capacity or the hosting subscription, not on the number of operations performed by your users.

Recorded on 11/09/2026 from the ArcGIS Online documentation. The exact rate per operation is listed there and may change.

Sovereignty and control of your data

For a public body, price is not the only question, nor even the list of features. Where is the data stored? Who can access it? Can you leave with it? What happens if the terms change?

• Formats. With Lizmap, your projects are QGIS projects, your data PostgreSQL databases and GeoPackage files, your services standard OGC services. Nothing is tied to one provider.
• Hosting location. ArcGIS Online is an online service operated by Esri. Lizmap can run with a host or in your own infrastructure: the LizPack Entreprise edition installs the same open source geospatial infrastructure on your servers, with sign-in through your directory and scheduled backups.
• Portability. Leaving an open source solution means moving files and a database. Leaving a proprietary platform means exporting content and apps, some of which have no equivalent elsewhere.
• Public procurement. Open source software can be hosted by several providers, which makes competitive tendering easier.

The question becomes even more pressing with personal data: parcel owners, residents' reports, planning applications. The hosting location, the provider and its subcontractors must then be documented in your records of processing activities, as data protection rules usually require. A solution you can host yourself or with a provider of your choice makes this work simpler and easier to explain to auditors.

Lizmap vs ArcGIS Online: features

The guide Build a Lizmap dashboard details the indicator options on the Lizmap side.

The two worlds are not sealed off from each other. QGIS reads many formats and services, and ArcGIS can consume WMS and WFS services: a layer published by Lizmap and QGIS Server can therefore be displayed in ArcGIS, and conversely data exported from ArcGIS loads into QGIS. This interoperability allows a gradual transition rather than an abrupt switch, which is often easier for staff to accept.

When ArcGIS Online is the better fit

To be fair: ArcGIS Online is a mature product, and it is the best choice in several situations.

• Your teams already work in ArcGIS Pro and have neither the time nor the wish to switch to QGIS.
• You need story maps, Living Atlas or ready-made apps with no configuration.
• Your partners (state agencies, utilities, contractors) already exchange with you in the Esri ecosystem.
• You want a single provider for software, hosting and support, under a vendor contract.

Nothing forces you to decide everything at once. A local government can keep ArcGIS Online for a use where it excels, for example public-facing story maps, and publish its operational maps with Lizmap. What matters is knowing why each tool is there and not paying twice for the same need. Review the split once a year, when licenses come up for renewal.

When Lizmap is the better fit

• Your GIS staff use QGIS: Lizmap publishes their projects as they are.
• You want a cost that does not depend on the number of users or on credits.
• Data sovereignty and portability are requirements, or even contract clauses.
• Your data is already in PostgreSQL and PostGIS, or you want it there.
• You prefer open standards to exchange with other software.

For a broader overview of open source options, see the guide Alternatives to ArcGIS Online.

The main prerequisite is human rather than technical: you need at least one person comfortable with QGIS to prepare projects. QGIS is free, extensively documented and taught in many training programs, which makes this skill easier to find or to build in-house than it used to be. Plan a few days of hands-on training for the people who will prepare maps, and a short session for those who will only use them.

Moving from ArcGIS Online to Lizmap

If you decide to move from ArcGIS Online to Lizmap, or to run both side by side for a while, plan the migration as a project in its own right. Data moves easily; what takes work is the maps, the styles and the apps built on top of them.

1. Take inventory of content: hosted layers, web maps, apps, dashboards, data collection forms, and who uses each of them.
2. Export hosted layers to open formats. Esri's documentation states that data exports do not consume credits.
3. Load the data into PostGIS and check geometries, attributes and coordinate systems in QGIS.
4. Rebuild the styles in QGIS: symbology does not always transfer as is from one ecosystem to the other.
5. Configure each map with the Lizmap plugin, then publish it.
6. Replace data collection forms with QField projects, for example with LizPack Field, which writes field surveys to PostGIS.
7. Recreate accounts and permissions, train users, then retire the old content.

Start with the simplest and most viewed maps: they give quick results and let you refine the method before tackling complex apps. Keep a written record of each choice you make along the way, so the rest of the migration follows the same rules.

Running a trial before deciding

The best way to choose between Lizmap and ArcGIS Online is often a trial of a few weeks on a real case, rather than a comparison on paper. To make it useful:

• Pick a real need, for example a department's map or the tracking of works, with its real users.
• Set the criteria in advance: preparation time, ease of use for staff, editing, printing, access control, full annual cost.
• Involve the users, not just the GIS team: they are the ones who will decide whether the tool is adopted.
• Count the full cost: licenses or hosting, but also training, preparation time and upkeep.
• Note what is missing on each side, to know whether it is a dealbreaker or can be worked around.

On the Lizmap side, LizPack Map offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card, which is enough to publish a real project. On the Esri side, ask the vendor or its distributor about trial options. Compare the two on the same project and with the same users, so that the result reflects your situation rather than a demo.

At the end of the trial, write a short decision note: the need tested, the criteria, what worked, what was missing, the estimated annual cost of each option and the recommendation. This document then serves to justify the choice to elected officials or management, and to draft the specifications if a tender is required. It also avoids having the same debate again two years later, when the people involved have changed and nobody remembers why the decision was made.

Frequently asked questions