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Comparison · Laser scanning and survey suites

Neurones 3D vs Leica Cyclone

Looking for a Leica Cyclone alternative? Neurones 3D is free, offline point cloud and Gaussian splatting software for Windows: the free viewer runs every process, from AI classification to dimensioned floor plans, and a one-time paid edition saves the results.

Leica Cyclone is Leica Geosystems’ laser scanning software family. Cyclone REGISTER 360 PLUS registers scans; Cyclone 3DR processes, classifies, meshes and inspects point clouds, with Survey, AEC and Plant options and a Pro edition that combines them.

By Dr. Florent Poux, maker of Neurones 3D · Leica Cyclone's facts from Leica Geosystems (Hexagon)'s own documentation, checked

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The short answer

Choose Neurones 3D if you want classification, automatic floor plans, terrain products, contours, meshing and change detection in one offline application bought once, without adding survey or AEC options, and if you want to try every process in the free viewer before buying. Choose Leica Cyclone if you register many terrestrial scans, especially from Leica scanners, and need target-based and automatic registration with reports, a wider set of AI classification models, or specialised tools such as BIM inspection, floor flatness, pipe and steel fitting and DWG output, within the Hexagon ecosystem.

At a glance

Neurones 3DLeica Cyclone
Runs onWindows 10 and 11 (64-bit)Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit)
Where it runsdesktopdesktop
Licencefree viewer + one-time paid editionsperpetual licences with a Customer Care Package (CCP) for updates; Standard, option and Pro editions
PriceFree viewer; paid editions bought once, no subscriptionprice on request source
Free useThe free viewer opens, views and runs every process; writing results out needs a paid editionCyclone 3DR free viewer (visualisation, measurements, basic analysis)

Feature by feature

"Not stated" means we could not find it in Leica Geosystems (Hexagon)'s documentation, not that it is missing. Each of Leica Cyclone's cells links to where we read it.

CapabilityNeurones 3DLeica Cyclone
Runs fully offlineYesNo account, no internet connection, no telemetryNot statedLicensing runs through Leica CLM, locally or from a licence server; an internet requirement is not stated
One-time licence availableYesBought once; no subscriptionYesPerpetual licences; version access depends on a valid CCP source
Opens LAS/LAZ and E57YesLAS, LAZ, COPC, E57, PLY, PCD and more; a 127.8 M point E57 opens in about 22 sYesCyclone 3DR imports and exports LAS, LAZ and E57; REGISTER 360 PLUS imports E57 and LAS source
Scan registrationPartlyCloud-to-cloud alignment (ICP and graph matching, no initial placement needed), RMS shown with the inlier shareYesAutomatic and guided registration with reports, in Cyclone REGISTER 360 PLUS (a separate product) source
AI point cloud classificationYesFour trained models ship in every build: indoor, aerial LiDAR, powerline, streetscape; a confidence per pointYesEnvironment-specific models (indoor, outdoor, construction site, road, plant, people filtering), run on NVIDIA RTX GPUs source
SegmentationYesUnsupervised segmentation, primitive decomposition, components, roomsYesAI segmentation tools source
Automatic floor plansYesAutomatic, dimensioned, with sections and elevationsAdd-onScan-to-Plan is in the AEC option; the degree of automation is not stated source
DXF / CAD drawingsYesDXF R2000, SVG and PDF; no DWGYesDXF in the standard version; DWG needs the AEC or Pro edition source
DTM / DSMYesDTM, DSM, CHM, slope, aspect, hillshade on one gridAdd-onDSM and DTM creation are in the Survey option source
Contour linesYesContours that cannot crossYesContours and sections in the standard version; advanced contour lines in the Survey option source
Change detectionYesM3C2 with a 95 % level of detection; cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-BIM deviationYesInspection of reality capture data; BIM inspection and clash analysis in the AEC option source
MeshingYesPoisson and clean meshing; the clean mesh is closed, not edge-manifoldYesMeshing and texturing engine source
Gaussian splatsYesOpens PLY and SPZ splats, converts them to points, meshes them; does not train splatsNot stated
ReportsYesSelf-contained HTML reports with provenanceYesScan2Verify prefilled QA/QC reports in Cyclone 3DR; registration reports in REGISTER 360 PLUS source
Scripting / SDKYesEngine & SDK edition: Python package and headless command lineYesScripting, with a public scripts repository source

Where Neurones 3D is stronger

  • Automatic, dimensioned floor plans with sections and elevations come in the product; in Cyclone 3DR, Scan-to-Plan is part of the AEC option.
  • DTM, DSM, CHM, slope and hillshade are in the product; in Cyclone 3DR, DSM and DTM creation sit in the Survey option.
  • The free Neurones 3D viewer runs every process, including classification and plans; the Cyclone 3DR free viewer covers visualisation, measurements and basic analysis.
  • Opens LAS, LAZ, COPC, E57, PLY, PCD and Gaussian splat files (PLY, SPZ) and converts splats to points.

Where Leica Cyclone is stronger

  • Full scan registration (automatic and guided, with registration reports) in Cyclone REGISTER 360 PLUS; Neurones 3D offers cloud-to-cloud alignment only.
  • More AI classification models, including road, plant, construction site and people filtering, and GPU processing on NVIDIA RTX cards.
  • Specialised AEC and plant tools: BIM inspection, ASTM E1155 floor flatness, clash analysis, Scan-to-Pipe and Scan-to-Steel, DWG export, and a link to Hexagon GeoCloud.

Who should choose which

Choose Neurones 3D to take a point cloud or a splat capture to a finished deliverable on your own machine: classified LAS, a dimensioned floor plan with sections and elevations in DXF, a DTM with contours, a change map or a report, without an account, an upload or a subscription. Every figure it publishes is measured; see the benchmarks.

Choose Leica Cyclone: Teams scanning with Leica hardware who want registration, AI classification, BIM inspection and plant modelling from one vendor, linked to Hexagon GeoCloud.

Questions

Is Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR) free?

Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR): price on request. Free use: Cyclone 3DR free viewer (visualisation, measurements, basic analysis). Neurones 3D’s free viewer opens, views and runs every process; writing results out needs a paid edition bought once.

Can Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR) classify point clouds with AI?

Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR): yes. Environment-specific models (indoor, outdoor, construction site, road, plant, people filtering), run on NVIDIA RTX GPUs. Neurones 3D: yes. Four trained models ship in every build: indoor, aerial LiDAR, powerline, streetscape; a confidence per point.

Can Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR) make a floor plan from a point cloud?

Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR): add-on. Scan-to-Plan is in the AEC option; the degree of automation is not stated. Neurones 3D: yes. Automatic, dimensioned, with sections and elevations.

What is the best alternative to Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR)?

Choose Neurones 3D if you want classification, automatic floor plans, terrain products, contours, meshing and change detection in one offline application bought once, without adding survey or AEC options, and if you want to try every process in the free viewer before buying. Choose Leica Cyclone if you register many terrestrial scans, especially from Leica scanners, and need target-based and automatic registration with reports, a wider set of AI classification models, or specialised tools such as BIM inspection, floor flatness, pipe and steel fitting and DWG output, within the Hexagon ecosystem.

How this comparison was made

Written by the maker of Neurones 3D, so read it as such. Leica Cyclone (REGISTER 360 PLUS, Cyclone 3DR)'s column comes only from Leica Geosystems (Hexagon)'s published documentation and listings, read on 2026-09-24; where we found nothing, the cell says "not stated". Neurones 3D's column comes from its own guides, which give the limits too. If something here is wrong or out of date, write to howto@learngeodata.eu and it will be corrected.

Sources:

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About

Why Neurones 3D exists.

Standing inside a 43.5 million point indoor laser scan rendered by Neurones 3D

I have spent years working with point clouds, and for most of them the software got in the way. I wanted one tool I would actually reach for every day: fast enough to enjoy, honest about what it does, and calm to use.

Neurones 3D started in Python, the way most of my research does. It worked, but it was heavy, and heavy tools quietly discourage you from opening them. So I rebuilt everything in Rust, from the file readers to the renderer, with one rule: stay frugal. A single small file, no cloud, no telemetry, billions of points on a laptop that is ten years old. In an age where every tool reaches for a data center, I wanted the opposite.

The goal is simple to say and hard to earn. One package that carries you from capture to understanding to deliverable, without exporting to five other programs along the way. Load a scan, a splat, a building, a phone video. See it, classify it, measure it, and send out something real. Together, in one place.

This is the tool I always wanted. I hope it becomes yours too.

Dr. Florent Poux 3D Geodata Academy

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