CARTO Alternative for Data Teams
Open-source map analytics for BigQuery and Snowflake. Write SQL, get maps instantly. No data movement, no vendor lock-in.
Free plan available. Paid plans from $49/month.
Dekart vs CARTO
| Features | Dekart Start Free | CARTO |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & Access | ||
| Free plan | ||
| Paid plans | From $49/mo | Custom, not published |
| Setup time | Minutes | Sales cycle |
| Data Warehouse Support | ||
| BigQuery Native connector with multithreaded fetching | ||
| Snowflake Native connector with multithreaded fetching | ||
| Data stays in your warehouse No data copies, no ETL pipelines | Depends on plan | |
| Workflow | ||
| SQL-native workflow Write SQL, see maps instantly | Builder UI + SQL | |
| Visualization engine High-performance WebGL rendering | Kepler.gl / deck.gl | deck.gl |
| Shareable map links | ||
| Deployment & Ownership | ||
| Open source | Yes (AGPL) | Partially |
| Self-hosting Docker, GKE, App Engine | ||
Why Data Teams Switch from CARTO to Dekart
"We dropped CARTO because of the price"
CARTO does not publish pricing. Teams we talk to report contracts starting around $4,000+/month. Dekart starts free, with paid plans from $49/month. No sales calls, no negotiations.
👉 See Dekart Cloud pricing
"CARTO copies my data instead of querying my warehouse"
CARTO requires data ingestion into their platform. Dekart queries BigQuery and Snowflake directly. Your data never leaves your warehouse. No ETL pipelines, no sync jobs, no extra storage costs.
"I just want to write SQL, not learn a builder UI"
CARTO's Builder interface adds complexity on top of what data teams already know: SQL. Dekart is SQL-first. Write a query, see a map. No drag-and-drop layers, no widget configurations. If you know SQL, you already know Dekart.
"We need to self-host for compliance"
CARTO offers self-hosting only on enterprise plans. Dekart runs as a single Docker container on any infrastructure, including the free open-source version. Deploy on GKE, App Engine, or any Docker host. Your data, your network, your rules.
👉 Self-hosting options
"We got locked into CARTO and can't leave"
Dekart is fully open-source (AGPL). Your maps are SQL queries stored in your warehouse. There is nothing proprietary to migrate away from. Switch to self-hosted, switch to cloud, or fork the code. You always own your work.
👉 See live map examples
What Our Users Say
Daniel Lewis
Distinguished Data Scientist
Geotab
Over the last year we have been migrating our geospatial data visualization out of jupyter notebooks and various ad-hoc tools onto the Dekart.
Sharing investigations and results with other teams at the company is seamless and I have one-stop-shop for all of my saved maps.
The feedback from the rest of the data science team has been unanimously positive.
Laetitia Jumel
VP of Data
Electra
Visualizing data on maps can be super effective to understand local dynamics. For communication, maps never disappoint.
We are really glad to have found a tool that connects to our data warehouse and allows us to handle geospatial data at scale and very easily.
I made this map with one SQL query and took just a few minutes to ensure that it looks good!
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