This calculator vs. DroneDeploy

Two different shapes: DroneDeploy is an account-based cloud platform for flying, processing and sharing aerial maps and 3D models. This page is a free, private worksheet for one question — what should this mapping job cost, given its overlap, altitude, site size and processing time — before you ever open a flight-planning app.

What each tool is for

DroneDeploy is a cloud reality-capture platform used by mapping and survey pilots, agronomists, construction and mining teams to plan and fly an automated mission from a mobile app, upload the captured images, process them into orthomosaics, point clouds, 3D models and other survey outputs, and share and measure the results with a team or client, tied to one account used on an ongoing paid basis across every flight a company runs. DroneDeploy's own site is not reachable from this session to confirm today's specific feature list, plan names, or pricing, so only its well-documented identity and category are stated here: nothing about it is invented, and no dollar figure for it appears on this page. Public descriptions of that flight-planning and cloud-processing platform describe capturing and turning images into maps and models once a mission is flown; none describe working out what a mapping job should cost, in dollars, from its ground sample distance, overlap settings, flight-line count, battery swaps and processing time — which is the one thing this calculator does.

This calculator does none of what DroneDeploy does. It does not fly a mission, capture an image, stitch an orthomosaic, or store a project in an account. It takes one job's sensor width and true focal length, site area, altitude, front and side overlap, ground speed, usable battery window and batteries carried, and turns that into ground sample distance, flight-line spacing, exposure spacing, image count, path length, airtime, sorties and battery swaps — then adds setup, ground-control-point time, battery swap time and travel, prices field and processing hours separately, and turns the total into the price that clears a target margin taken on price rather than as a markup on cost, plus a side-by-side of the same site at four overlap settings. It runs free in any browser, keeps no account, and uploads nothing you type.

Question	Where to answer it
I need to fly an automated mission, capture images, and turn them into an orthomosaic, point cloud or 3D model.	DroneDeploy, or a comparable reality-capture platform — capturing and processing imagery is not something this calculator does.
What should I charge for this mapping job, given its site size, altitude, overlap and processing time?	This calculator — free, instant, private, no account.
How much more does 80/80 overlap cost in images and processing than 70/70, for this exact site?	This calculator's four-overlap side-by-side table, not a flat per-acre rate.
Would my target GSD need more altitude than the 400 ft Part 107 ceiling allows?	This calculator's Part 107 ceiling check.
I already fly through DroneDeploy and need cloud processing, storage and client-facing maps across many projects.	DroneDeploy — built as an ongoing, account-based platform for exactly that job.
How does the math behind a drone mapping bid actually work?	This calculator's own worked example.
Do I need to create an account or sign up to use the tool?	This calculator: no. DroneDeploy's tools are used through a paid account.

Most mapping pilots get different value from each: DroneDeploy (or a comparable reality-capture platform) for flying, processing and sharing maps as an ongoing account, and a private calculator like this one for an instant, no-login answer to what one mapping job should cost from its overlap, altitude and site size before a flight-planning app is ever opened. This page's own figures are a pricing model, not a captured image, a processed map, or a stored project.

This tool needs no account and no sign-in: it is a static page, the arithmetic runs in your browser, and once it has loaded it keeps working with the connection off.

Common questions

Should I use this calculator or DroneDeploy?

They do different jobs, and a mapping pilot of any size will likely end up touching both. DroneDeploy is a cloud reality-capture platform used to plan and fly an automated mapping mission from a mobile app, upload the resulting images, process them into orthomosaics, 3D models and other survey outputs, and share and measure the results with a team or client, tied to one account used on an ongoing paid basis across a company's flights. DroneDeploy's own site is not reachable from this session to confirm today's specific feature list, plan names, or pricing, so only its well-documented identity and category are stated here, and no dollar figure for it appears anywhere on this page. This calculator does one narrower thing: starting from your camera's physical sensor width and true focal length, the site area, altitude, front and side overlap and ground speed, it computes ground sample distance, flight-line spacing, exposure spacing, image count, path length and airtime; adds sorties, battery swaps, setup, ground-control and travel time; adds the processing hours that follow the image count; and turns that into total cost and the price that clears a target margin taken on price, before any image is ever captured or a flight-planning app is opened. It runs free in any browser, keeps no account, and uploads nothing you type. A pilot who already flies through DroneDeploy and wants a cloud pipeline for capture, processing and client-facing maps is better served there; a pilot who wants an instant, private answer to what a mapping job should cost from its overlap, altitude and site size before ever opening a flight app is in the right place here.

Is this page affiliated with DroneDeploy?

No. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by DroneDeploy. DroneDeploy is a trademark of its owner, named here only to describe what this calculator is and is not.

Open the Drone Mapping Job Calculator to price your own job.