CoreSpatial: lower GIS licensing costs without proprietary lock-in
CoreSpatial by NGS is a secure, OGC-compliant geospatial platform built on open-source software and priced per deployment, not per user or per CPU. Agencies add analysts, cores, and capabilities without adding license fees, and keep their data in open standards they control.
Why government GIS licensing costs keep climbing
Most commercial GIS is licensed per named user, per CPU core, or per extension. Each of those meters moves in the wrong direction as a program succeeds: more analysts, more servers, and more capabilities all mean a larger renewal. Data stored in proprietary formats makes the next renewal harder to walk away from.
CoreSpatial pricing compared to common cost drivers
CoreSpatial is an annual subscription priced per deployment. The software underneath it (GeoServer, PostGIS, GDAL, and MapStore2) carries no license fees, so you pay for the engineering, security, and support NGS adds on top.
| When your program grows by adding... | With CoreSpatial |
|---|---|
| More users or analysts | No additional license cost |
| More CPU cores on a deployment | No per-core fee |
| Server capabilities such as WPS, vector tiles, and GDAL format drivers | Pre-installed and included |
| Portal, dashboards, and 3D | Included CoreSpatial modules |
| A new deployment in another environment | Priced as an additional deployment |
Open-source economics with vendor-grade support
Quarterly Releases
Every component is kept on its latest stable upstream release, delivered as a tested CoreSpatial release each quarter.
Immediate Critical Patching
High and Critical CVEs are patched immediately rather than waiting for the next scheduled release.
Compliance Artifacts
Each release ships with an SBOM (SPDX, CycloneDX, and HTML), a Vulnerability Advisory Report, and system administrator documentation for your ATO package.
Unlimited Basic Support
SLA-backed response windows from the engineers who build CoreSpatial, with optional NGS-managed hosting backed by a 99.9% uptime SLA.
OGC standards keep your options open
CoreSpatial publishes data over open OGC standards, including WMS, WFS, WMTS, WCS, and WPS, plus vector tiles, GeoPackage, and 3D Tiles. Any standards-based client can consume it, and your data stays in open formats such as PostGIS that you can take anywhere.
- Transition gradually. CoreSpatial Portal can display ArcGIS sources alongside OGC services, so you can move workloads one at a time instead of all at once.
- Plan the migration with engineers who have done it. The SDI Modernization package covers inventory, migration, parallel run, and training. See where each ArcGIS Enterprise component lands and how CoreSpatial 3D compares to Esri.
- Proven in DoD production. CoreSpatial has run in DoD environments since 2016, including the DHA MedCOP and USSOCOM AIDE programs.
Government GIS licensing questions
How does CoreSpatial reduce GIS licensing costs for government agencies?
CoreSpatial is priced per deployment rather than per user or per CPU, and it is built on open-source components that carry no license fees. Adding analysts, cores, or capabilities to a deployment does not add license cost.
Is CoreSpatial cheaper than Esri?
It depends on your current agreement, user count, and number of deployments. Contact NGS for a side by side comparison against your current licensing.
Is open-source GIS secure enough for government use?
CoreSpatial is hardened for DoD environments, ships an SBOM and Vulnerability Advisory Report with every release, patches High and Critical CVEs immediately, and has run in DoD production since 2016.
Do we have to replace ArcGIS all at once?
No. CoreSpatial Portal can show ArcGIS sources next to OGC services, so agencies can migrate workloads in phases and run both side by side during the transition.
How can a government agency buy CoreSpatial?
Through the NGS GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract, or, for DoD customers, through the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, where CoreSpatial is rated awardable.
See what CoreSpatial would cost your agency
Tell us about your users, servers, and current agreement, and we will put together a side by side comparison.