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TL;DR: Birdi (birdi.io) starts from the map and brings 360 photos, point clouds, design files and documents onto it. OpenSpace and Cupix start from 360 walkthroughs and bring drone and scan data in. DroneDeploy covers drone and 360 capture in one platform. Swyvl delivers every file type in a browser, and Matterport leads on interior scans.
Key takeaways
- "One place" should mean viewed together, not stored together. A platform that accepts a point cloud as a download is not the same as one that shows it beside the drone map and the 360 photos.
- Most platforms start from one data type. Birdi and DroneDeploy's aerial product start from the drone map; OpenSpace and Cupix start from 360 capture inside buildings.
- Pricing models differ as much as features. OpenSpace prices on annual construction volume rather than per user, Matterport on the number of active spaces, and Swyvl on editor seats, with clients who open a link never counted.
- Site progress is the main reason teams fly. According to Associated Builders and Contractors, 80.8% of its member firms that use drones use them for site progress monitoring.
- Check 3D model support closely. Several platforms accept formats they do not yet display, and Birdi lists OBJ and glTF display as "coming soon".
Why does construction site data end up in five different tools?
Construction site data ends up in five tools because each kind of capture came with its own software. Drone maps live in a photogrammetry platform, 360 walkthroughs in a capture app, laser scans in a scanning suite, design models in BIM software, and reports on a shared drive. Each works; together they leave people hunting.
The cost shows up in meetings. A project manager can show last week's drone map, but the owner wants to see inside level three, which lives in a different tool. Then an engineer asks about a clash with the design model, which lives in a third. So people jump between logins, or someone screenshots everything into a slide deck that is out of date by Friday.
According to a 2021 study by Autodesk and FMI, "bad data", which it defined to include data that is inaccessible or untimely, cost the global construction industry $1.85 trillion in 2020. Data spread across five tools is often both.
What does "one place" actually need to mean?
"One place" should mean you see each data type in context, on the same map or model, without downloading files. A platform that stores a point cloud next to a drone map is a file store. One that shows the point cloud, the 360 photo and the design overlay on the same site, at the same date, is a workspace.
In practice, check three things for each data type: whether the platform accepts it, whether it displays it in the browser, and whether it displays it alongside everything else. Many platforms pass the first test and fail the third. For example, a 3D model might upload successfully but only open in its own viewer, or not display at all yet.
It also matters which data the platform is built around. Tools that start from the drone map tie everything to coordinates, which suits sites, earthworks and exteriors. Tools that start from 360 walkthroughs tie images to floor plans, which suits interiors. Site progress is the main reason construction firms fly drones. According to Associated Builders and Contractors, 80.8% of its member firms that use drones use them for site progress monitoring.
The best platforms for drone, 360 and point cloud data in 2026
Seven platforms handle more than one of these data types well: Birdi, OpenSpace, Cupix, DroneDeploy, Reconstruct, Swyvl and Matterport. The matrix below shows which data types each one documents displaying, checked on each vendor's own site on September 21, 2026. The entries that follow explain what each is built around and where it falls short.
Which data types does each platform show?
"Per file" means Swyvl opens each file in its own browser viewer, grouped by site visit, rather than layering them on one map.
1. Birdi
Best for: construction and mining teams that want the drone map at the center, with 360 photos, point clouds, design files and documents placed on it.
Typical customer size / segment: firms of roughly 30 to 500 staff.
Key strengths:
- Photos with orientation metadata appear "as pins on the map, linked to the correct view angle and location", and Media View opens drone stills, 360s and panoramas full screen for markup.
- An advanced 3D viewer for LAS and classified LAS point clouds, with distance, height, area and profile tools.
- GIS and design files alongside the imagery: georeferenced DXF, shapefiles, KML, GeoJSON and WMS layers, plus PDFs.
Access for people outside the paid team: guests view and download without using a seat, and public map links need no login.
Data types in one view: drone maps, point clouds, 360 photos, 3D Tiles, video, design files and PDFs.
Processing: cloud processing of drone imagery.
Watch-outs: it is built around the map, not interior floor plans, so it isn't a 360 walkthrough tool for building interiors.
Pricing: Growth $287 a month billed annually; Ultimate by quote. Checked September 21, 2026.
2. OpenSpace
Best for: general contractors that want 360 walkthroughs, drone maps and laser scans in one visual record of a building project.
Typical customer size / segment: builders and owners of every size, priced on annual construction volume.
Key strengths:
- OpenSpace Air processes drone imagery from any drone into orthomosaics, meshes and point clouds, and uses the orthomosaic "as a base sheet for 360° captures".
- Up to four orthomosaics side by side to compare progress.
- BIM+ shows the model and 360 images side by side, and it integrates with Procore.
Access for people outside the paid team: pricing is "not per user or per project", so the whole project team can be included.
Data types in one view: 360 captures, drone maps, laser scans, photos, video and BIM.
Processing: cloud.
Watch-outs: it is organized around floor plans and building projects, which suits interiors more than mines or earthworks. Prices are not published.
Pricing: based on annual construction volume, Core or Enterprise, by quote. Checked September 21, 2026.
3. Cupix
Best for: teams that capture with 360 video and want a measurable 3D digital twin that includes scans, drone imagery and BIM.
Typical customer size / segment: construction, oil and gas, manufacturing and government organizations.
Key strengths:
- Turns 360 video into 3D spaces you can measure, tracked over time.
- "Laser Scans, Drone Orthos, BIM in One Place", in Cupix's own words.
- Integrates with Autodesk BIM 360, Forma, Procore, Revizto, Oracle and ArcGIS.
Access for people outside the paid team: not stated on its site; ask about viewer access.
Data types in one view: 360 video, 3D models, laser scans, drone orthomosaics and BIM.
Processing: cloud, with an AI add-on for progress reports.
Watch-outs: the 360 video walkthrough is the center of the workflow, so a team that mostly flies drones may use only part of it.
Pricing: by quote. Checked September 21, 2026.
4. DroneDeploy
Best for: construction teams that want aerial and ground capture from one vendor.
Typical customer size / segment: from single pilots to large general contractors.
Key strengths:
- Aerial maps and 3D models alongside 360 walks, with BIM and floor plan overlays.
- Phone LiDAR and laser scan uploads in its Ground Pro beta.
- Integrations with Procore, Autodesk and Esri.
Access for people outside the paid team: view-only links to one map date on paid plans; whole-project links on Enterprise project packages.
Data types in one view: maps, 3D models, panoramas, 360 walks, video and BIM overlays, with point clouds and laser scans in the Ground Pro beta.
Processing: cloud.
Watch-outs: aerial and ground are sold as separate plans, all by quote, and some media shares need a login.
Pricing: team plans by quote. Checked September 21, 2026.
5. Reconstruct
Best for: teams that want reality capture tied to the construction schedule and design in 4D.
Typical customer size / segment: builders and owner's representatives, according to Reconstruct.
Key strengths:
- Generates measurable 2D floor plans and 3D models from footage captured on "smartphones, 360 cameras, and drones".
- Links reality capture to the schedule and BIM for 4D visualization.
- Capture that "virtually anyone on site" can do.
Access for people outside the paid team: built to bring "remote and on-site stakeholders" in; the access model isn't published.
Data types in one view: 360 and drone footage, generated 3D models, plans, BIM and the schedule.
Processing: cloud.
Watch-outs: its site doesn't document point cloud or laser scan display, and pricing is personalized.
Pricing: by quote. Checked September 21, 2026.
6. Swyvl
Best for: surveyors, drone operators and scanning teams delivering many file types to clients who shouldn't need special software.
Typical customer size / segment: from a solo plan to teams with five editor seats and more.
Key strengths:
- A browser viewer for "40+" file types, including E57 point clouds, orthomosaics, Gaussian splats, BIM, CAD, drone video and 360 panoramas.
- Uploads of up to 100 GB, with large scans streamed.
- Clients who open a share link "don't need a seat and are never counted."
Access for people outside the paid team: no-seat share links.
Data types in one view: each file opens in its own viewer, grouped by site visit, rather than layered on one map.
Processing: none; it displays files processed elsewhere.
Watch-outs: it is a delivery platform and site record rather than a single composite view, so comparing data types in context is harder.
Pricing: Solo $42 a month and Team $169 a month, billed annually; storage above the plan at $0.05 per GB a month. Checked September 21, 2026.
7. Matterport
Best for: detailed interior scans and digital twins of existing buildings.
Typical customer size / segment: from a free single space to enterprise programs, priced by the number of active spaces.
Key strengths:
- Immersive 3D spaces with 360 views of existing interiors.
- E57 point cloud export for design tools, $89 per space on Professional plans and up.
- Unlisted share links that viewers open without an account.
Access for people outside the paid team: unlisted links need no account; private and password-protected options exist.
Data types in one view: interior 3D spaces and 360 views.
Processing: cloud.
Watch-outs: Matterport doesn't document drone maps. Its scans usually reach a site platform as an E57 export or a link, rather than living on the site map.
Pricing: free for one active space; paid plans billed annually by active spaces. Checked September 21, 2026.
Do you need 360 walkthroughs, drone maps, or both?
You need 360 walkthroughs if most of the questions are about the inside of a building, and drone maps if they are about the site, earthworks, stockpiles or exteriors. Most construction projects need both at different stages. So the choice is which one sits at the center of the platform, since that decides how everything else is organized.
If the site and its surroundings dominate, choose a platform that starts from the map and pins 360 photos, point clouds and documents to real coordinates. Birdi takes that approach, along with DroneDeploy's aerial product. If interiors dominate, choose one that starts from 360 capture and floor plans, such as OpenSpace or Cupix, and bring drone maps in.
Whichever you pick, test it on one real project with every data type you hold. Upload a drone map, a point cloud, a batch of 360 photos and a design file, then check whether a colleague can see them together without downloading anything. For construction teams, there is more on Birdi for construction.
Frequently asked questions
Can I view point clouds in a web browser?
Yes. Several platforms stream point clouds in the browser, including Birdi, Swyvl, OpenSpace and Cupix. Birdi's advanced viewer handles LAS and classified LAS files, Swyvl streams large scans and supports E57, and Matterport exports E57 for design tools. Check upload limits and plan tiers, since point cloud uploads are often on higher plans.
How do I combine 360 photos with a drone map?
Use a platform that places 360 photos by their coordinates on the map. In Birdi, photos with orientation data appear as pins at the right place and angle. OpenSpace uses a drone orthomosaic as the base sheet for 360 captures. Either way, the 360 photo opens where it was taken.
Can Matterport scans sit on a drone map?
Not directly in Matterport, which doesn't document drone maps. Teams usually export a Matterport scan as an E57 point cloud, $89 per space on Professional plans and up, or share it by link. Then they bring it into a platform that handles both, such as Cupix or OpenSpace, which document laser scans alongside drone imagery.
What file formats should a site data platform support?
At minimum: GeoTIFF for drone maps and elevation models, LAS or LAZ for point clouds, E57 for laser scans, 3D Tiles for 3D models, standard 360 photos, MP4 video, and DXF or IFC for design. Check which formats are displayed, not only accepted, since some platforms store files they cannot yet show.
Do stakeholders need special software to view point clouds?
Not with a web platform. Browser viewers let stakeholders open point clouds without installing software. Birdi's public map links need no login, Swyvl's share links need no seat, and Matterport's unlisted links need no account. Desktop tools are only needed for editing or analysis, not for viewing.
About the author
This guide was written by the Birdi team. Birdi (birdi.io) is a geospatial AI workspace that construction and mining teams use to bring drone maps, point clouds, 360 photos and design files into one shared map. We checked every data type in the matrix against the vendor's own website or documentation on September 21, 2026, and each source is listed below.
Related reading
- 360 photos on the map: how 360 photos placed on a map improve geospatial understanding.
- A single source of truth: building one trusted record of construction site data.
- Drone, GIS and survey data: how to manage all three in one place.
- Point cloud or textured mesh: when to use each for a 3D site model.
Sources
Industry
- Associated Builders and Contractors. "ABC Report: 36% of Contractor Members Utilize Drones on Jobsites." August 17, 2026. https://www.abc.org/News-Media/News-Releases/abc-report-36-of-contractor-members-utilize-drones-on-jobsites
- Autodesk and FMI. "Study from Autodesk and FMI Finds Better Data Strategies Could Save the Global Construction Industry $1.85 Trillion." September 14, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/study-from-autodesk-and-fmi-finds-better-data-strategies-could-save-the-global-construction-industry-1-85-trillion-301376278.html
Platforms
- OpenSpace. Home page, "OpenSpace Air," "OpenSpace Capture," "BIM+" and "Pricing." Checked September 21, 2026. https://www.openspace.ai/products/air/ · https://www.openspace.ai/pricing/
- Cupix. Home page. Checked September 21, 2026. https://www.cupix.com/
- DroneDeploy. "Pricing"; Help Center, "Data Sharing." Checked September 21, 2026. https://www.dronedeploy.com/pricing · https://help.dronedeploy.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500004862021
- Reconstruct. Home page and "Pricing." Checked September 21, 2026. https://reconstructinc.com/
- Swyvl. Home page and "Pricing." Checked September 21, 2026. https://swyvl.io/ · https://swyvl.io/pricing/
- Matterport. "Plans"; "E57 File Exports"; Help Center, "How To Publicly Share a Space." Checked September 21, 2026. https://matterport.com/plans · https://matterport.com/add-ons/e57 · https://support.matterport.com/s/article/How-To-Publicly-Share-a-Space
Birdi
- Birdi. "Pricing." Checked September 21, 2026. https://www.birdi.io/pricing
- Birdi Help Center. "What file types are supported in Birdi 2.0?"; "How to use Birdi's advanced 3D viewer for pointclouds"; "How to upload 3D models to Birdi"; "How to use Media View in Birdi 2.0"; "How to update a user role and permissions." https://help.birdi.io/en/articles/10416278 · /11051347 · /11051343 · /10509719 · /11091551
