Plan4Better

What Plan4Better does

Plan4Better GmbH, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Munich, operates the cloud-based WebGIS platform GOAT (Geographic Online Accessibility Tool) for walk, bike and public-transport accessibility analysis and scenario modelling. The platform runs entirely in the browser, requires no GIS expertise, and consolidates eight established accessibility methods — isochrones, average travel-time heatmap, gravity, connectivity, 2SFCA supply-demand, Huff market-share, public-transport departure counts, and ÖV-Güteklassen A–F — alongside a dynamic workflow builder, KMeans/Nearest Neighbors clustering, regression analyses, and print-ready Layouts reporting. Underlying integrations pull GTFS timetable feeds, OpenStreetMap, Copernicus/Sentinel raster data, AFZS traffic counts, mobile-phone OD matrices and socio-demographic datasets into a single dashboard environment. The technology core is open-source and positioned as a European digital-sovereignty alternative to ArcGIS Online, with consumer-facing extensions (Park-Stark, Navi4all) built on Flutter + OpenTripPlanner.

The commercial offering blends a self-serve GOAT SaaS subscription with project-based professional services and contract research. The primary customer base is German municipal and regional public-sector buyers (Hamburg LSBG, City of Mannheim, Bonn, Sinsheim, Kaiserslautern, Munich, Schleswig-Holstein/NAH.SH, BBSR, KVBW), with additional deployments in Austria (Vienna) and Switzerland (Agglo Basel), and a research engagement with Greenpeace. Revenue streams include GOAT SaaS subscriptions (quote-based, annual), multi-year custom engagements (e.g. KVBW 2025–2029), contract research (e.g. BBSR Stadtklimadashboard, Greenpeace ÖPNV study), and bespoke accessible mobile-app development. Distribution combines free public gallery sign-up for product-led adoption, Outlook 365 demo booking for enterprise conversion, and white-label/embedded integration into municipal data platforms (CIVITAS/Core in Bonn, KL.Navi in Kaiserslautern, MobiData BW for Baden-Württemberg).

Name

Plan4Better

Legal name

Plan4Better GmbH

Website

https://plan4better.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Plan4Better operates GOAT, a cloud-based WebGIS platform that analyzes walk, bike and public-transport accessibility and scenarios for urban and transport planning. It serves municipalities, transport operators, healthcare associations and research institutions across the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

GIS & Urban Planning Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Multimodal Trip Planning, Routing & Journey Orchestration Platforms (THADALAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Ecological/Habitat & Land-Use Change Modeling (Biodiversity, Conservation Planning) (EUAHAKAI)

Keywords

• WebGIS platform
• Accessibility analysis
• Urban planning software
• Mobility analytics
• Open-source GIS

Headquarters

HQ city

München

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. GOAT SaaS Subscriptions: Cloud-based SaaS subscription to the GOAT WebGIS platform (browsed via goat.plan4better.de), used by municipalities, regions, planning offices, consultancies and research institutions. Subscription tiers are listed on a dedicated Pricing page (pricing details not publicly disclosed in source).
2. Project-Based Consulting & WebGIS Development: Contract project work for public-sector clients (e.g., Hamburg LSBG 2025–, KVBW 2025–2029, Bonn retail, Sinsheim mobility, Agglo Basel, FLEKS Munich). Scopes include custom workflow/dashboard development, multi-criteria analysis and integration with client data platforms such as Bonn's Urban Data Platform.
3. Contract Research: Contract research in GIS and database-driven urban, transport and environmental planning, including projects for BBSR/IÖR (Stadtklimadashboard) and Greenpeace (ÖPNV quality study).
4. Custom Mobile App Development: Bespoke accessible mobile app development (e.g., Park-Stark, Navi4all) on Flutter + OpenTripPlanner, with apps distributed via App Store and Play Store.
5. Strategic Mobility Consulting & Industry Engagement: Strategic mobility consulting and industry engagement bundled with project delivery (e.g., Sinsheim integrated mobility analysis), as listed in the company's service categories.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Plan4Better develops and operates GOAT, a cloud-based, open-source WebGIS SaaS platform that analyzes walk, bike, and transit accessibility and planning scenarios for urban, mobility, healthcare, retail, energy and climate adaptation use cases. The platform consolidates eight proven accessibility methods in a single no-install browser interface, ingests GTFS, OpenStreetMap, Copernicus/Sentinel, and socio-demographic data, and is delivered alongside bespoke accessibility-focused mobile navigation apps (Park-Stark, Navi4all) and contract research/consulting services for municipalities, regions, and research institutions in the DACH region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GOAT: Cloud-based WebGIS platform developed and marketed by Plan4Better for spatial analysis, accessibility modelling, dashboards, and planning workflows; positioned as a SaaS solution and open-source alternative to proprietary WebGIS ecosystems.
• Park-Stark
• Navi4all

Products and services

• GOAT WebGIS Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Hamburg LSBG to systematically prioritise retrofit of ~2,400 bus stops using GOAT multi-criteria analysis
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability6 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MobiData BWcoreTechnology or IntegrationPark-Stark app consumes real-time parking-sensor data from the MobiData BW platform and is explicitly designed for roll-out across Baden-Württemberg via MobiData BW. Functions, content and additional cities are planned to be extended through this platform.
• OpenTripPlannercoreTechnology or IntegrationOpen-source routing engine integrated into Plan4Better's mobile accessibility apps (Park-Stark and Navi4all) to deliver pedestrian and barrier-free routing functionality.
• Flutter (Google)coreTechnology or IntegrationCross-platform tech stack used by Plan4Better to build accessible mobile applications (Park-Stark, Navi4all) for iOS and Android.
• CIVITAS / Core (Bonn Urban Data Platform)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerGOAT is embedded inside the City of Bonn's CIVITAS/Core Urban Data Platform (UDP) for retail planning, ensuring seamless integration into existing workflows and direct use of UDP geodata and thematic datasets.
• KL.Navi (City of Kaiserslautern)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerNavi4all is being developed for seamless integration into the KL.Navi platform with dedicated user interfaces for blind, visually impaired and sighted users.
• IÖR (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developer (alongside Plan4Better, LUP and bauchplan) of the Stadtklimadashboard commissioned by BBSR — an interactive WebGIS dashboard for monitoring climate-adaptation indicators in German cities.
• LUP (Landschaftsökologie und Umweltplanung)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developer of the BBSR-commissioned Stadtklimadashboard, contributing to climate-adaptation indicator design and implementation in GOAT.
• bauchplancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developer of the BBSR-commissioned Stadtklimadashboard alongside Plan4Better, IÖR and LUP.
• Mother Hood e.V.minorOthersPatient advocacy association whose maternity-ward closure data was used in GOAT to analyse healthcare accessibility in Saarland. Data partnership supports evidence-based planning for statutory medical care.
• Copernicus Programme (EU Sentinel Satellites)minorOthersEU Earth-observation programme supplying Sentinel satellite data used by Plan4Better in GOAT to analyse climate change, vegetation (NDVI), land-surface temperature and aerosols.
• GreenpeaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch client — Plan4Better supported Greenpeace's nationwide study on the quality of public transport in Germany, using GOAT to deliver a systematic, data-based municipal-level overview.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• QGIS: Open-source desktop GIS used by municipalities, planning consultancies and research institutions worldwide. Functionally comparable to GOAT's open-source WebGIS core for spatial analysis, though lacking the cloud SaaS layer and accessibility toolbox consolidation.
• StreetLight Data (Cuemco): Big-data mobility analytics platform serving public agencies and consultants with origin-destination, accessibility and traffic insights. Comparable to GOAT in using multimodal/telecom-derived datasets for municipal planning, but primarily US-focused and data-vendor-led.
• Remix (Via Transportation): Browser-based multimodal transit planning platform acquired by Via; used by North American and European cities for network design and scenario planning. Comparable to GOAT's mobility-planning positioning and SaaS-for-cities go-to-market.

Broad incumbents

• PTV Group (Umovity): German-headquartered transport planning software suite (Visum, Optima, PTV Modeler) widely used by German cities, Verkehrsverbünde and federal agencies. Overlaps with GOAT's mobility-planning segment but as a much broader, desktop-centric transport-modelling incumbent.
• Mapbox: Cloud-based mapping and location platform providing APIs, dashboards and spatial analytics. Comparable to GOAT as a developer-friendly, browser-based geospatial SaaS used by public-sector and enterprise customers for accessibility, mobility and routing analytics.
• ESRI (ArcGIS Online): Global incumbent for municipal WebGIS and spatial analytics, explicitly named by Plan4Better as the proprietary competitor GOAT is positioned against. ArcGIS Online is the dominant browser GIS used by German municipalities and offers overlapping accessibility and routing capabilities.

Direct peers

• Conveyal: Specialist provider of accessibility and transit analytics tools (Analysis, R5 routing engine) used by transport planners and public agencies. Direct overlap with GOAT's multimodal accessibility toolbox (isochrones, 2SFCA, PT quality) and DACH-adjacent public-sector customer base.
• Carto: Spatial analytics SaaS offering cloud-based GIS, location intelligence and dashboards for enterprises and cities. Closely comparable to GOAT in business model (browser-native SaaS), target buyer (municipal/enterprise planners) and analytical use cases (accessibility, supply-demand, catchment).

Others

• Safe Software (FME): Data integration platform for spatial and non-spatial ETL, widely used alongside ArcGIS and QGIS in municipal data workflows. Adjacent peer to GOAT because GOAT ingests GTFS, OpenStreetMap and Copernicus data — workflows FME also enables.
• Geofabrik: German OpenStreetMap data services provider based in Karlsruhe, supplying extracts, geocoding and consulting. Adjacent peer to Plan4Better as a German open-data geospatial specialist serving overlapping public-sector and mobility customers.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Plan4Better/playlists
• Xx.com/plan4better
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plan4better

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plan4Better