Comparison · Laser scanning and survey suites
Neurones 3D vs NavVis IVION
Looking for a NavVis IVION 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.
NavVis IVION is NavVis’s browser-based platform for sharing, cleaning, aligning and exploring laser scan data with panoramic images. It is hosted on Amazon Web Services and works with NavVis mobile scanners, with IVION Processing for NavVis LX-Series raw data.
By Dr. Florent Poux, maker of Neurones 3D · NavVis IVION's facts from NavVis's own documentation, checked
The short answer
Choose Neurones 3D when the data has to stay on your own machine and you need analysis on it: AI classification, dimensioned floor plans, terrain, contours and measured change detection, bought once. Choose NavVis IVION when the priority is giving many people browser access to a scanned site with panoramas, annotations and model overlays, especially if you capture with NavVis mobile scanners and want their processing, anonymisation and Revit links in one hosted service.
At a glance
| Neurones 3D | NavVis IVION | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) | Web browser (Edge, Safari, Chrome, Firefox) |
| Where it runs | desktop | cloud |
| Licence | free viewer + one-time paid editions | Subscription plans (Core, Professional, Enterprise) as volume-based packages of panoramas, storage and users |
| Price | Free viewer; paid editions bought once, no subscription | price on request source |
| Free use | The free viewer opens, views and runs every process; writing results out needs a paid edition | Public sample site ("Try it live") |
Feature by feature
"Not stated" means we could not find it in NavVis's documentation, not that it is missing. Each of NavVis IVION's cells links to where we read it.
| Capability | Neurones 3D | NavVis IVION |
|---|---|---|
| Runs fully offline | YesNo account, no internet connection, no telemetry | In the cloudBrowser-based platform hosted on AWS; processing takes place in Frankfurt source |
| One-time licence available | YesBought once; no subscription | NoLicensed through subscription plans of volume-based packages source |
| Opens LAS/LAZ and E57 | YesLAS, LAZ, COPC, E57, PLY, PCD and more; a 127.8 M point E57 opens in about 22 s | In the cloudThird-party point clouds can be imported; crops download as .e57, .las, .rcs and .ply source |
| Scan registration | PartlyCloud-to-cloud alignment (ICP and graph matching, no initial placement needed), RMS shown with the inlier share | In the cloudCross-Dataset Alignment, control points and cloud-to-cloud alignment source |
| AI point cloud classification | YesFour trained models ship in every build: indoor, aerial LiDAR, powerline, streetscape; a confidence per point | Not statedNot stated on the product pages |
| Segmentation | YesUnsupervised segmentation, primitive decomposition, components, rooms | Not statedNot stated on the product pages |
| Automatic floor plans | YesAutomatic, dimensioned, with sections and elevations | In the cloudAn automatically generated, AI-based 2D map of the site; dimensioning is not stated source |
| DXF / CAD drawings | YesDXF R2000, SVG and PDF; no DWG | PartlyMeasurements export as .csv, .dxf or .pdf; drawing generation is not stated source |
| DTM / DSM | YesDTM, DSM, CHM, slope, aspect, hillshade on one grid | Not statedNot stated on the product pages |
| Contour lines | YesContours that cannot cross | Not statedNot stated on the product pages |
| Change detection | YesM3C2 with a 95 % level of detection; cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-BIM deviation | PartlyVisual comparison of IFC models with point clouds and panoramas; deviations marked by the user source |
| Meshing | YesPoisson and clean meshing; the clean mesh is closed, not edge-manifold | Not statedNot stated on the product pages |
| Gaussian splats | YesOpens PLY and SPZ splats, converts them to points, meshes them; does not train splats | Not statedNot stated on the product pages |
| Reports | YesSelf-contained HTML reports with provenance | In the cloudQuality report after IVION Processing of NavVis data source |
| Scripting / SDK | YesEngine & SDK edition: Python package and headless command line | YesFront-end, REST and streaming APIs on the Professional and Enterprise plans source |
Where Neurones 3D is stronger
- Runs on your own Windows machine with no account and no internet connection; IVION is a browser platform hosted on AWS.
- Bought once with no subscription; IVION is licensed as subscription packages limited by panoramas, storage and users.
- Four trained AI classification models and unsupervised segmentation ship in every build; neither is stated for IVION.
- Measured change detection (M3C2 with a 95 % level of detection, cloud-to-BIM deviation) where IVION compares models visually.
- Automatic dimensioned floor plans with sections and elevations, exported as DXF, SVG and PDF, plus DTM, DSM and contours.
Where NavVis IVION is stronger
- Shares scanned sites with 80 to 100+ users in a browser, with panoramas, points of interest and a mobile app.
- Processes NavVis LX-Series raw data with automatic blurring of faces, bodies and licence plates.
- Integrations for Autodesk Revit and Autodesk Construction Cloud, REST APIs and enterprise single sign-on.
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 NavVis IVION: Organisations that need many stakeholders to view, measure and annotate scanned sites in a browser, particularly with NavVis mobile mapping hardware.
Questions
How this comparison was made
Written by the maker of Neurones 3D, so read it as such. NavVis IVION's column comes only from NavVis'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: