MapsIndoors alternatives: start with what the map is built on
MapsIndoors, from MapsPeople, is an indoor map platform built on top of Google Maps or Mapbox, with SDKs for web, iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native. DigiMaps draws its own map and can run on one server on your network, which matters when an outside map account or an internet link is not an option.
Last updated
A MapsIndoors, as its developer docs describe it
- Your app, website or kiosk Built with a MapsIndoors SDK, or its ready-made web app.
- MapsIndoors Indoor data, search and routes. Needs a MapsIndoors API key.
- Map engine: Google Maps or Mapbox MapsIndoors runs on top of one of them, with that provider’s access token. Third party
B DigiMaps
- Kiosk, phone, signage player, website Each one opens the same published release.
- DigiMaps Wayfinder Draws the 3D indoor map itself. No outside map account.
- DigiMaps platform In our cloud, or on one server on your network. Can run air-gapped
MapsIndoors and DigiMaps, side by side
MapsIndoors cells come from MapsPeople’s own pages and the MapsIndoors developer docs. Not stated means we could not find it there, so ask them. DigiMaps cells come from our product audit, gaps included.
| Capability | MapsIndoors | DigiMaps |
|---|---|---|
| Map engine underneath | Google Maps or Mapbox, with one of their access tokens | Draws its own indoor map. No outside map account |
| Making and updating the map | Map Update Automation: upload your latest floor plan and its AI updates the map | Studio: DXF natively, DWG through a converter, AI tracing of PDFs and images for your review |
| 2D and 3D | Simple 2D and full 3D | 3D visitor map. Draw in 2D and check in 3D in Studio |
| Where visitors see it | Web, mobile and kiosk. Web app as a URL, iframe or embed | Kiosks, phone browsers, signage players and websites |
| Kiosk to phone | Directions sent to a shopper’s phone by QR code, per its malls page | QR hand-off keeps the destination, language and step-free choice |
| Kiosk fleet management Remote reload, screenshots, offline alerts | Not stated | Heartbeats, five remote commands, offline alerts, monthly uptime reports |
| Third-party signage players | Not stated | Signage page, directory board, and RSS, JSON Feed and iCal feeds |
| Right-to-left languages | Multilingual, with LTR and RTL layouts | Full right-to-left layout. Arabic search matches letter variants |
| Accessible routing | Route design for accessibility. Routes by user role and accessibility preference | Six routing profiles. Step-free routes never use stairs |
| Restricted areas | Areas blocked by user role | Staff-only rooms removed from every public screen. Staff mode behind a PIN |
| Live data | Sensors, calendar booking and ERP systems on the map | Live closures, notices and emergency takeover. Occupancy, flight and transit feeds when you connect yours |
| Outdoor to indoor | Outdoor-to-indoor navigation stated | Routes stay inside the mapped venue. Campuses can be georeferenced in WGS84 |
| IMDF | IMDF files formatted for Microsoft Places | IMDF, GeoJSON and KML export. Import into Microsoft Places not tested by us |
| SDKs | Web, iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native | Iframe embed and JavaScript API. Web SDK on request. No native SDKs yet |
| Hosting and on-premises | Not stated | Our cloud in the region named in your contract, or your own server, air-gapped if needed |
| Pricing | Not published. Book a demo | Per venue. Not published yet |
| Published uptime figure | Yes, on its homepage | None, and no SLA yet. Kiosk offline alerts and uptime reports instead |
| Published track record | 25,000 buildings and 3.7 billion+ sq ft, by its own count | None yet. We are looking for our first pilot sites |
Competitor information from their public websites, checked 24 October 2026. Sources: mapspeople.com, MapsIndoors product page, MapsPeople malls page, MapsPeople enterprise page, MapsPeople Microsoft Places page, MapsIndoors developer docs, Map engine provider. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Where MapsIndoors is strong
Several of these are ahead of what DigiMaps offers today. Each comes from MapsPeople’s pages or the MapsIndoors docs, read on 24 October 2026.
-
01
SDKs for five platforms
Web, iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native, with public developer docs.
-
02
Routing rules
Accessible routes, preferred routes, multi-stop routes, and areas blocked by user role.
-
03
Outdoor to indoor
Outdoor-to-indoor navigation is listed as a feature, on top of a Google Maps or Mapbox base map.
-
04
Live building data
Sensors, calendar booking and ERP systems connected to the map.
-
05
A mall kiosk with QR hand-off
Its malls page describes interactive kiosks that send directions to a shopper’s phone by QR code.
-
06
Right to left
Its mall page lists multilingual support with left-to-right and right-to-left layouts.
-
07
Microsoft Places
IMDF files formatted for Microsoft Places, with its AI picking up floor-plan changes.
Pick by requirement, not by brand
Find the lines that describe your project. If most of them lean one way, start your shortlist there.
| If your project needs | Lean towards | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Native iOS and Android apps this year | MapsIndoors | SDKs for both, plus Flutter and React Native. DigiMaps has no native SDK yet. |
| Routes that start in the street or car park outside | MapsIndoors | Built on an outdoor map engine. DigiMaps routes start and end inside the mapped venue. |
| Office floors tied to room booking and sensors | MapsIndoors | Booking and sensor data on the map, and IMDF files for Microsoft Places. |
| A site with no internet, or data that must stay on site | DigiMaps | One server on your network, no outbound calls by default, updates by offline bundle. |
| Fewer outside services in the data path | DigiMaps | No outside map engine is involved in drawing the indoor map. |
| Kiosks your facilities team looks after | DigiMaps | Remote reload and screenshots, offline alerts, monthly uptime reports. |
| The map on signage players you already run | DigiMaps | A signage page, a directory board, and RSS, JSON Feed and iCal feeds. |
| Arabic and English side by side | Either | Both state right-to-left layouts. Ask each to show Arabic search on a kiosk. |
Where DigiMaps runs
The MapsPeople pages we read don’t say where MapsIndoors is hosted, so put that question to them. DigiMaps runs in one of three ways, and the third keeps everything inside your building.
Cloud, hosted by us
We run the servers. Kiosks, signage players, phones and staff browsers connect over HTTPS.
- Tenancy
- Shared platform, each organisation in its own account
- Connection
- HTTPS from every screen and browser
- Data location
- The region agreed in your contract
- If the internet drops
- Kiosks keep searching and routing from their cached map, then catch up
- Good fit
- One venue or a portfolio, with no server of your own to run
Dedicated cloud
A separate instance for one organisation, running the same software as the shared cloud.
- Tenancy
- Single tenant: only your organisation on the instance
- Connection
- HTTPS from every screen and browser
- Data location
- The region agreed in your contract
- If the internet drops
- Kiosks keep searching and routing from their cached map, then catch up
- Good fit
- Groups whose IT policy rules out shared hosting
On-premises server
One machine on your LAN runs the API, database, Studio and Wayfinder. Your data stays on that server and its backups.
- Operating system
- Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04, or Windows 11 (22H2 or later) or Windows Server 2025 via WSL2
- Small site
- 16 GB RAM and 4 CPU cores. Medium and large profiles for bigger sites
- TLS
- Your own certificates, or a built-in internal certificate authority
- Network
- Firewalled to your kiosk and admin subnets
- Backups
- Nightly and encrypted, with a second copy and a verified restore
- Upgrades
- Health check after each upgrade, automatic rollback if it fails
- Air-gapped option
- No outbound calls by default, an offline update bundle, AI features off by default
- Good fit
- Hospitals, government buildings and sites with no internet connection
Same Studio, same Wayfinder, same API in every option.
Shortlist call7 questions
Questions to bring to the MapsIndoors call, and to ours
- Which map engine does the visitor map depend on, and whose terms apply to it?
- Do we need our own Google Maps or Mapbox account, or is it part of your contract?
- Where are the map data and the visitor data hosted?
- What does the kiosk show when the network drops?
- When a tenant moves, who updates the map, and how fast do the kiosks change?
- Can we see Arabic search, right to left, on a kiosk?
- If we leave, what do we take with us: IMDF, GeoJSON, or something else?
Other MapsIndoors alternatives
We compared three more vendors the same way, from their own pages.
MapsIndoors or DigiMaps: common questions
Does MapsIndoors need Google Maps?
Its developer documentation says MapsIndoors is built on top of an external map engine, either Mapbox or Google Maps, and that you need an access token for one of them. Ask MapsPeople how that licence is handled in your contract.
Does DigiMaps need Google Maps or Mapbox?
No. DigiMaps draws its indoor maps itself, which is why the whole platform can run on one server with no internet connection. An outdoor base map is optional and off by default, so kiosks, phones and signage players load the map from DigiMaps and nowhere else.
Does MapsIndoors support Arabic?
Its mall page lists multilingual support with left-to-right and right-to-left layouts. DigiMaps ships full right-to-left layout, Arabic search that matches letter variants, and a kiosk interface in English, Arabic, Russian and Chinese. Ask both vendors to show Arabic search on a kiosk before you decide.
Which one has more SDKs?
MapsIndoors. It documents SDKs for web, iOS, Android, Flutter and React Native. DigiMaps offers an iframe embed with a JavaScript API today, and native mobile SDKs are on our roadmap.
Can DigiMaps produce IMDF files like MapsIndoors does for Microsoft Places?
DigiMaps exports IMDF, GeoJSON and KML from Studio whenever you need them. We have not tested an import into Microsoft Places, so we do not claim it works.
See a map that needs no outside map account
In a 30-minute walkthrough we show DigiMaps on a kiosk, a phone and a signage page, and how it runs on one server. Bring your floor plans and your hosting rules.