How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Who this guide is for
Developers building location features need an isochrone API: TravelTime, HERE, or CARTO. You send coordinates and a time limit, you get back a polygon. Pricing is the main decision, because the geometry is broadly comparable.
Analysts doing mapping studies need desktop GIS: Esri Business Analyst, Alteryx Designer, Maptitude, or MapInfo Pro. You get drive-time rings plus the demographic and business data to analyze what sits inside them, without writing code.
Retail, restaurant, and healthcare expansion teams need site selection platforms: SiteZeus, Buxton, or PiinPoint. Drive-time trade areas are one input into sales forecasts, territory plans, and cannibalization models, and the vendor does much of the analysis for you.
How we chose
We looked for tools that are actively sold and developed in 2026 and that handle drive-time or isochrone analysis as a real feature, not a side note. We opened every vendor homepage to verify the current URL and checked each vendor's own pricing page or published pricing materials; where vendors publish no prices, we say so instead of guessing. We excluded general routing APIs with no isochrone endpoint and pure consumer map apps. No vendor paid for placement, and we did not run our own benchmark of polygon accuracy. The write-ups reflect documented features, published prices, and the patterns in public reviews.
The best drive time mapping software
#1
TravelTime
Best for: Developers who need unlimited isochrone API calls at a fixed annual cost
Visit traveltime.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes (free Basic API key for testing and development)
What we like- Fixed annual pricing with unlimited requests, so costs never spike with usage
- Four transport modes including public transport, which most isochrone APIs lack
- Polygons up to 4 hours of travel time with peak and off-peak modeling
- GeoJSON, KML, and WKT output with no display restrictions
- 120 hits per minute on the free key.
Watch out for- No public dollar pricing, so you still talk to sales for the annual number
- Modeled on typical conditions rather than live traffic
- A developer tool, so there is no point-and-click interface for non-technical users.
#2
Esri Business Analyst
Best for: Site selection teams already working in the ArcGIS world
Visit esri.com
Starting priceFrom $700 per user/year (Web App Standard)
Free planNo (trial available)
What we like- Drive-time and walk-time trade areas included in every edition, from the $700 Web App Standard up
- Access to more than 15,000 demographic, business, and spending variables in 170-plus countries
- Suitability analysis and territory design in the higher tiers
- The Advanced Bundle at $5,200 per user per year adds drive-time-based territory tools and 6,000 credits.
Watch out for- Drive-time analysis consumes ArcGIS credits on top of the license in some configurations
- The edition lineup is confusing, with Standard, Advanced, Pro, and Enterprise overlapping
- Pricing climbs fast once you need the Advanced Bundle.
#3
Alteryx Designer
Best for: Analysts who want drive-time calculations inside automated data workflows
Visit alteryx.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo (free trial available)
What we like- Dedicated Drive Time and Trade Area tools that build drivetime polygons around addresses, including non-overlapping trade areas
- Drive-time options in the Distance and Find Nearest tools
- TomTom-based road data for realistic speeds with peak, off-peak, and night-time options
- Fits into larger no-code analytics workflows with 300-plus tools.
Watch out for- No public pricing on the vendor site
- Third-party estimates put Designer around $5,000 to $6,000 per year
- The full drivetime configuration needs an Advanced Spatial add-on
- Windows desktop focus limits cloud-native teams.
#4
Maptitude
Best for: Affordable desktop drive-time mapping with the data included
Visit caliper.com
Starting price$795 (one-time desktop license)
Free planNo (free trial available)
What we like- $795 one-time purchase includes a free country package with streets, addresses, and demographics, with no subscription fees
- Unlimited drive-time rings and territories
- The $795-per-year Online edition also includes unlimited drive-time rings and geocoding
- Rated 4.7 out of 5 on G2
- From Caliper, a GIS company with more than 40 years in business.
Watch out for- Desktop-first, so collaboration and sharing are weaker than cloud tools
- The interface shows its age next to modern web apps
- Country packages beyond the included one cost extra.
#5
MapInfo Pro
Best for: GIS teams that want drivetime analysis inside a full desktop GIS
Visit precisely.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo (30-day free trial)
What we like- Built-in Drive Time tool that generates drive and walk time regions from any selection
- Now subscription-based with an AI assistant for natural-language spatial analysis
- Free monthly DriveTime credits with a free Precisely account
- Free MapInfo Pro Viewer lets business users open workspaces without a license
- Decades of GIS depth for complex projects.
Watch out for- No public pricing
- Precisely has repositioned it as a subscription, ending the old perpetual license model
- The Windows desktop roots make it less natural for cloud-first teams.
#6
CARTO
Best for: Cloud-native teams running spatial analysis inside their data warehouse
Visit carto.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo (14-day trial)
What we like- H3 isochrone components in CARTO Workflows, powered by TravelTime, generate drive-time catchments without code
- Runs natively inside BigQuery, Snowflake, Databricks, and Redshift, so data never moves
- Low-code workflow builder plus APIs for developers
- Strong at retail catchment and trade area analysis at scale.
Watch out for- Quote-only pricing with no public numbers
- Industry chatter puts typical contracts in the tens of thousands per year
- 14-day trial that cannot be extended
- Enterprise sales process, not self-serve.
#7
HERE
Best for: Developers who need global isochrone coverage with a real free tier
Visit here.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes (free tier with a monthly transaction allowance)
What we like- Isoline Routing API generates time- and distance-based polygons for car, truck, pedestrian, and bicycle
- Global map data with traffic-aware options
- Genuine free tier reported at 250,000 transactions per month with no payment details required
- Usage-based pricing with volume discounts as you grow.
Watch out for- Response comes as encoded polylines that need decoding, unlike GeoJSON-first APIs
- Pricing details sit behind the platform signup
- Batch analysis across many locations is more limited than TravelTime's bulk endpoints.
#8
SiteZeus
Best for: Franchise and multi-unit brands doing AI-powered site selection
Visit sitezeus.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
What we like- Purpose-built for franchise site selection, with sales forecasting that explains which variables drive performance
- Drive-time heat mapping, territory planning, and cannibalization analysis in one platform
- Pay-per-new-site pricing model instead of per-seat licenses
- Trusted by brands like Raising Cane's, Dave's Hot Chicken, and Lou Malnati's.
Watch out for- No public pricing
- Built for multi-unit retail and restaurant brands, so it is a poor fit for one-off studies or non-retail use cases
- The AI sales forecasts need your own performance data to calibrate well.
#9
Buxton
Best for: Retailers and healthcare brands that want done-for-you site analytics
Visit buxtonco.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
What we like- SCOUT platform for market planning, site scoring, and trade area analysis with no code required
- 44 billion foot traffic data points and more than 50 data sources feeding the models
- Drive-time trade area overlap analysis for cannibalization checks
- Deep healthcare practice with 36 industry models
- Operating since 1994 and now part of Audiense.
Watch out for- No public pricing and a consultative sales process
- Much of the value comes from analyst-delivered studies rather than self-serve software
- Enterprise positioning means it is priced beyond small chains.
#10
PiinPoint
Best for: Retail and restaurant teams that want fast drivetime trade areas with real-world mobility data
Visit piinpoint.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo (free trial available)
What we like- Drivetime and walktime heatmaps built right into the site search workflow
- Site scoring, sales forecasting, and cannibalization modeling
- Mobile location data shows where customers actually come from
- Circle K used it to evaluate 50 urban sites, saving a reported $60,000 and three months versus manual traffic studies
- Clients include Popeyes, Burger King, Wendy's, Tim Hortons, and Sobeys.
Watch out for- No public pricing
- Strongest in North American retail and restaurant, thinner elsewhere
- The full value depends on the quality of your own sales data for model calibration.
What to check before you buy
Match the tool to the job, not the feature list. If you need isochrones inside a product, only the APIs qualify: TravelTime, HERE, and CARTO. If you need to analyze what is inside a drive-time polygon, you need a desktop GIS or site selection platform with demographic data bundled in. Buying a site selection platform to draw a few polygons is overpaying; buying an API when you need sales forecasts is underbuying.
Data freshness matters more than polygon smoothness. Road networks change, speed profiles shift with traffic patterns, and demographic data goes stale. Ask each vendor how often their road and demographic datasets update. TravelTime updates public transport timetables weekly. Esri refreshes its demographics annually. Desktop tools with old data packages can quietly mislead you.
Pricing models differ wildly in this category. Maptitude charges $795 once and includes the data. TravelTime charges a fixed annual fee for unlimited API calls. HERE and most APIs charge per transaction, which rewards low-volume use and punishes scale. CARTO, Buxton, SiteZeus, and PiinPoint are quote-based, which means budget for a sales cycle. Match the pricing model to your usage pattern before you fall in love with a feature set.
Check the transport modes you actually need. Every tool here does driving. Public transport polygons are rare: TravelTime offers them, most others do not. Truck-specific routing matters for logistics use cases and is a HERE strength. Walking catchments matter for urban retail and are covered by Esri, PiinPoint, and TravelTime.
Frequently asked questions
What is a drive-time polygon (isochrone)?
An isochrone is a shape on a map connecting every point reachable within a set travel time from a starting location, following the real road network. A 15-minute drive-time isochrone around a store shows the area customers can actually reach in 15 minutes, which is far more useful than a 15-mile circle.
Is drive-time mapping the same as radius mapping?
No. Radius mapping draws a circle based on straight-line distance and ignores roads, rivers, and traffic. Drive-time mapping follows the road network with realistic speeds, so the resulting shape is irregular and reflects how people actually travel.
Which drive time mapping software is free?
HERE offers a free tier with a monthly transaction allowance for its location APIs, and TravelTime offers a free API key for testing and development. Maptitude, MapInfo Pro, and PiinPoint offer free trials but no permanent free plans.
What is the cheapest drive time mapping software?
Maptitude at $795 one-time is the cheapest paid option with data included and no subscription. Esri Business Analyst Web App Standard at $700 per user per year is the cheapest entry into the Esri ecosystem. API pricing varies with volume, so the cheapest API depends on how many isochrones you generate.
Do I need GIS experience to use drive time mapping software?
Not for the site selection platforms: SiteZeus, Buxton, and PiinPoint are built for real estate teams, not GIS analysts. Maptitude and Esri Business Analyst are designed for business users with some mapping comfort. The APIs (TravelTime, HERE, CARTO) need a developer.
Sources we checked (14)
- https://traveltime.com/isochrones
- https://docs.traveltime.com/api/overview/introduction
- https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/product/web-apps/esri.arcgis-business-analyst-web?exp=kyyw&tab=PlansAndPrice
- https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/designer/tools/spatial/non-overlapping-drivetime-tool.html
- https://www.caliper.com/Maptitude/solutions/premium-mapping-software-695.htm
- https://www.caliper.com/maptitude/online/what-is-maptitude-online.htm
- https://customer.precisely.com/s/article/Using-the-Drivetime-Tool-in-MapInfo-Pro-17-2019-2021?language=en_US
- https://carto.com/blog/unlock-trade-area-analysis-at-scale-with-h3-isochrones/
- https://docs.traveltime.com/api/migration-guide/here-isoline
- https://sanborn.com/blog/google-maps-and-here-which-apis-should-you-choose/
- https://sitezeus.com/solutions/industry/grocery
- https://www.buxtonco.com/solutions/developer-and-broker/products/commercial-real-estate-retail-recruitment
- https://help.piinpoint.com/en/articles/422809-build-a-trade-area
- https://www.piinpoint.com/case-studies/circle-k-mobile-location-data
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.