Best Free Alternatives to ArcGIS Online (What to Use Right Now)
Plenty of mapping jobs don’t need a full enterprise stack. If your goal is a clean PDF at a known scale—or a quick browser sketch—these free, no-install approaches get you there fast.
When a lightweight tool is enough
- Annotating a small area with a few points/lines/polygons
- Producing a simple, to-scale print for a report
- Quick “field sketch” with geolocation
TrueGIS for quick, to-scale prints
TrueGIS runs entirely in your browser. Draw points/lines/polygons (plus circle/square), style them (fill, opacity, stroke, width), toggle a print-area preview, choose scale and orientation, then export via Quick Print or Scaled Print. No login and no uploads.
Other routes (briefly)
- OSM-based sketchers – simple web editors to draw on top of OpenStreetMap and share a link.
- “Build-it-yourself” – code a viewer with Leaflet/MapLibre for custom styling and data control.
- Desktop, then export – for analysis-heavy work, do it in desktop GIS and export a PDF; share separately.
Choose the right path
- Need a clean print fast? Use TrueGIS and Scaled Print.
- Need collaborative layers, sharing, or analysis? Step up to a platform or code your own stack.