opendronemap
OpenDroneMap is a non-profit open-source project (founded 2014) that provides an AGPLv3 photogrammetry pipeline converting aerial imagery from drones, balloons, or kites into maps, point clouds, 3D models, and DEMs, serving surveyors, agricultural researchers, humanitarian organizations, construction firms, and hobbyists worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- Headquarters—
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What opendronemap does
OpenDroneMap (ODM) is a non-profit open-source software project founded in 2014 that provides a photogrammetric pipeline for converting aerial imagery captured by drones, balloons, or kites into maps, point clouds, 3D models, and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). The core technology is a Python and C++ pipeline released under AGPLv3 that leverages Structure from Motion (via OpenSfM, developed by Mapillary) and Multi-View Stereo techniques, with supporting libraries including OpenMVS, PDAL, GRASS GIS, GDAL, Entwine, and PoissonRecon. Around the ODM CLI toolkit, the project publishes an ecosystem of complementary tools: NodeODM (REST API), CloudODM (cloud CLI client), PyODM (Python SDK), ClusterODM (horizontal scaling reverse proxy), NodeMICMAC (alternative MicMac engine), FIELDimageR (agricultural analysis R package), and Find-GCP (ArUco-based GCP detection).
The product serves five distinct customer segments — professional surveyors and mappers (primary), agricultural researchers, construction and engineering professionals, humanitarian organizations (including the American Red Cross and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team), and hobbyists. Distribution is dual-mode: free downloads via the website, GitHub, and Docker Hub, alongside a commercial paid installer (Windows; Standard $64 one-time with 1-year installation support; Business $149 one-time with priority 24-hour support, 30-day money-back guarantee, volume discounts at 10+ seats, and educational pricing). Marketing is community-led through the community.opendronemap.org forum, GitHub, Sphinx-based documentation, Mastodon, YouTube tutorials, and peer-reviewed academic citations.
The business model is hybrid but small-scale: the core software is free open-source under AGPLv3 (no download revenue), with paid installers and GiveLively donations as the only disclosed monetization. The project operates without venture funding, parent company, or disclosed headcount, and is sustained by volunteer contributors and community moderators rather than a traditional commercial organization.
opendronemap firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- opendronemap
- Legal name
- OpenDroneMap
- Website
- https://opendronemap.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- OpenDroneMap is a non-profit open-source project (founded 2014) that provides an AGPLv3 photogrammetry pipeline converting aerial imagery from drones, balloons, or kites into maps, point clouds, 3D models, and DEMs, serving surveyors, agricultural researchers, humanitarian organizations, construction firms, and hobbyists worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
opendronemap industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Photogrammetry Software
- NAICS
- Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Drone/UAV Data Capture & Processing Software (AFAAAFAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts) (AFACAIAJ)
Keywords
opendronemap business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Paid Software Installers: One-time purchase paid installers for Windows (native, no Docker) and macOS (Docker-based) that bundle OpenDroneMap and its dependencies with installation support. Standard ($64) includes 1-year installation support; Business ($149) includes 1-year priority installation support (24-hour response). Includes updates and 30-day money-back guarantee. Volume discounts available for 10+ seats.
- Open Source Software (Free): Core ODM toolkit and all associated projects (NodeODM, PyODM, CloudODM, ClusterODM, FIELDimageR, etc.) are freely available as open-source software under the AGPLv3 license. No revenue is generated from the open-source downloads.
- Community Donations: The project accepts donations via GiveLively platform to support ongoing development and community maintenance.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Standard installer with 1-year installation support |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Business installer with priority 1-year installation support |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
opendronemap product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OpenDroneMap is an open-source ecosystem for processing drone-captured aerial imagery into 2D orthophotos, 3D point clouds, textured meshes, digital surface models, and georeferenced maps. The core software is released free under AGPLv3, complemented by paid convenience installers and a managed cloud processing service, with a global contributor community maintaining the codebase.
Product overview
OpenDroneMap is an open-source drone mapping software ecosystem organized as a platform with multiple interconnected products. The core engine is ODM (OpenDroneMap), a command line toolkit for generating maps, point clouds, 3D models, and DEMs from aerial imagery — the de-facto standard for open-source drone image processing since 2014. Around this core, the ecosystem provides NodeODM (a REST API wrapper with a minimal web interface), CloudODM (a cloud command line client), PyODM (a Python SDK), and ClusterODM (a reverse proxy and load balancer for horizontal scaling). Additional specialized tools include NodeMICMAC (an alternative MicMac-based API), FIELDimageR (an R package for agricultural field trial analysis including vegetation indices, stand count, and plant height), and Find-GCP (a tool for ArUco marker/Ground Control Point detection). The project also offers a commercial Windows installer with two paid tiers providing installation support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ODM: Command Line Toolkit - The core open-source software to generate maps, point clouds, 3D models and DEMs from drone, balloon or kite images.
- NodeODM
- CloudODM
- PyODM
- ClusterODM
- NodeMICMAC
- FIELDimageR
- Find-GCP
Quantifiable outcome
- Can process 40-5,000 images with RAM scaling from 4GB to 256GB respectively, demonstrating scalable processing architecture
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use opendronemap
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
opendronemap technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature11 records
opendronemap partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- OpenSfM (Mapillary)coreOpenSfM, developed by Mapillary, is a core component of the OpenDroneMap processing pipeline. It provides the Structure from Motion (SfM) engine that reconstructs camera positions and sparse 3D point clouds from aerial image sequences, forming the foundation of ODM's photogrammetric processing.
- Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)coreThe Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team collaborates with OpenDroneMap on flying guidelines and best practices for UAV mapping. HOT provides input on data collection workflows and mission planning, and OpenDroneMap is used by HOT members for humanitarian mapping projects including American Red Cross initiatives.
- Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation)minorEmbrapa Beef-Cattle and Embrapa Maize & Sorghum have developed dedicated FIELDimageR course materials, extending OpenDroneMap's agricultural analysis capabilities through the FIELDimageR R package with specialized training resources.
- University of Wisconsin – MadisonminorUW-Madison's Potato Breeding and Genetics Laboratory collaborated on the development of FIELDimageR, providing agricultural research datasets and expertise for orthomosaic image analysis in plant phenotyping.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
opendronemap competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pix4D: Pix4D is the leading commercial photogrammetry suite for drone imagery, offering mapper, mapper pro, and cloud products. It directly competes with OpenDroneMap across the same surveying, mapping, and 3D-modeling workflows, with the primary differentiator being commercial polish and support versus ODM's open-source cost advantage.
- Agisoft Metashape: Agisoft Metashape is a professional photogrammetry software that processes aerial and close-range imagery into 3D models, point clouds, and orthomosaics. It is a direct functional peer to ODM, frequently cited in peer-reviewed comparisons against WebODM/ODM outputs, and serves surveyors, archaeologists, and VFX professionals.
- DroneDeploy: DroneDeploy is an end-to-end commercial drone mapping platform offering flight planning, cloud photogrammetry, and analytics apps for construction, agriculture, and inspection. It competes with ODM in the same drone-to-map value chain with a SaaS model that ODM's open-source free tier challenges.
- WebODM: WebODM is a commercial web UI built on top of the OpenDroneMap engine, offering managed hosting and a polished interface for users who want ODM's processing without self-installation. It is a direct peer that monetizes the same underlying ODM pipeline through a different distribution and UX layer.
Broad incumbents
- DJI Terra: DJI Terra is DJI's bundled photogrammetry software designed for its dominant drone hardware, offering mapping, 3D modeling, and LiDAR processing. As the leading drone OEM, DJI competes broadly with ODM by offering an integrated hardware-plus-software stack that ODM must integrate with rather than replace.
- Esri ArcGIS Drone2Map: Esri's Drone2Map extends the ArcGIS Pro platform with drone imagery processing for orthomosaics, 3D meshes, and GIS-ready outputs. It is a broad-incumbent peer serving enterprise GIS users that ODM often feeds into via its outputs but does not directly displace.
- Bentley ContextCapture: Bentley ContextCapture is an enterprise reality-modeling product that generates 3D models from photographs and point clouds for infrastructure and AEC workflows. It is a broad-incumbent peer competing in surveying and engineering markets that overlap with ODM's construction and infrastructure customer segment.
- Trimble Aerial Photogrammetry Solutions: Trimble offers integrated surveying and mapping software (including UASMaster and Trimble Business Center) that processes drone imagery for cadastral, topographic, and construction applications. It competes broadly in the surveyor's toolchain where ODM is also adopted.
Emerging players
- Maps Made Easy: Maps Made Easy is an emerging cloud-based drone mapping service offering simple orthomosaic and elevation processing with credit-based pricing. It overlaps with ODM's hosted/cloud use cases but with less depth in 3D reconstruction and customization.
- Skycatch: Skycatch is a drone-data platform focused on construction and mining site mapping with automated flight, processing, and analytics. It competes in overlapping commercial mapping use cases with ODM but with proprietary, vertically-integrated workflows.
Market position
Weaknesses1 record
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
opendronemap social profiles
Digital presenceopendronemap financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
opendronemap leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
opendronemap funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
opendronemap M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about opendronemap
What does opendronemap do?
OpenDroneMap is an open-source ecosystem for processing drone-captured aerial imagery into 2D orthophotos, 3D point clouds, textured meshes, digital surface models, and georeferenced maps. The core software is released free under AGPLv3, complemented by paid convenience installers and a managed cloud processing service, with a global contributor community maintaining the codebase.
Is opendronemap a public or private company?
opendronemap is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was opendronemap founded?
opendronemap was founded in 2014.
How does opendronemap make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Paid Software Installers are the primary driver. The others are open Source Software (Free) and community Donations.
Who are opendronemap's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pix4D, Agisoft Metashape, DroneDeploy and WebODM. Broad incumbents are DJI Terra, Esri ArcGIS Drone2Map, Bentley ContextCapture and Trimble Aerial Photogrammetry Solutions. Emerging players are Maps Made Easy and Skycatch.
Does opendronemap have an API?
Yes. NodeODM is a lightweight REST API that wraps the ODM processing engine, providing programmatic access to OpenDroneMap's photogrammetry pipeline (maps, point clouds, 3D models, DEMs from aerial imagery). It also includes a minimal web interface. The NodeODM API specification is documented on GitHub. Developer documentation is at github.com/OpenDroneMap/NodeODM/blob/master/docs/index.adoc.
What industry is opendronemap in?
opendronemap's product category is Photogrammetry Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAAAFAH, Drone/UAV Data Capture & Processing Software, with a secondary code of AFACAIAJ, Aerial Surveying & Crop Scouting (Imaging, Mapping, Stand Counts). Its NAICS code is 54137 and its SIC code is 7372.