Comparison · AI and cloud point cloud services
Neurones 3D vs Pointly
Looking for a Pointly 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.
Pointly is a German AI platform for classifying and vectorising airborne, mobile and terrestrial LiDAR, offered as an EU-hosted cloud platform, an API, an on-premise Pointly Box and a managed service.
By Dr. Florent Poux, maker of Neurones 3D · Pointly's facts from Pointly's own documentation, checked
The short answer
Choose Neurones 3D when data must stay on your own machine, when you want classification together with terrain, contours, change detection and floor plans in one program, and when a licence bought once suits you better than paying per point. Choose Pointly when you need a classifier trained on your own classes, when volumes run to countrywide datasets, or when an API or managed service fits your pipeline better than a desktop tool.
At a glance
| Neurones 3D | Pointly | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) | Web browser; API; Pointly Box on your own hardware |
| Where it runs | desktop | cloud |
| Licence | free viewer + one-time paid editions | monthly subscription, per-point API pricing, or annual on-premise licence |
| Price | Free viewer; paid editions bought once, no subscription | Professional S EUR 99 a month (500 MPoints); Professional M EUR 490 a month (5,000 MPoints); Professional M+ EUR 790 a month; API from EUR 0.15 per million points; Pointly Box from EUR 19,000 a year source |
| Free use | The free viewer opens, views and runs every process; writing results out needs a paid edition | Free tier: three files up to 15 MPoints in total, standard classifiers only |
Feature by feature
"Not stated" means we could not find it in Pointly's documentation, not that it is missing. Each of Pointly's cells links to where we read it.
| Capability | Neurones 3D | Pointly |
|---|---|---|
| Runs fully offline | YesNo account, no internet connection, no telemetry | PartlyThe cloud platform needs an upload; Pointly Box runs on-premise or air-gapped, from EUR 19,000 a year source |
| One-time licence available | YesBought once; no subscription | NoMonthly plans, per-point API pricing or an annual Box licence are listed 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 | PartlyLAS and LAZ; E57 is not listed source |
| Scan registration | PartlyCloud-to-cloud alignment (ICP and graph matching, no initial placement needed), RMS shown with the inlier share | Not stated |
| AI point cloud classification | YesFour trained models ship in every build: indoor, aerial LiDAR, powerline, streetscape; a confidence per point | In the cloudStandard classifiers, and custom classifiers trained on your classes (M+); on-premise with Pointly Box source |
| Segmentation | YesUnsupervised segmentation, primitive decomposition, components, rooms | In the cloudVectorisation of classified points into objects source |
| Automatic floor plans | YesAutomatic, dimensioned, with sections and elevations | Not stated |
| DXF / CAD drawings | YesDXF R2000, SVG and PDF; no DWG | In the cloudVector objects as DXF, Shapefile, CSV or GeoJSON source |
| DTM / DSM | YesDTM, DSM, CHM, slope, aspect, hillshade on one grid | Not stated |
| Contour lines | YesContours that cannot cross | Not stated |
| Change detection | YesM3C2 with a 95 % level of detection; cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-BIM deviation | Not stated |
| Meshing | YesPoisson and clean meshing; the clean mesh is closed, not edge-manifold | Not stated |
| Gaussian splats | YesOpens PLY and SPZ splats, converts them to points, meshes them; does not train splats | Not stated |
| Reports | YesSelf-contained HTML reports with provenance | Not stated |
| Scripting / SDK | YesEngine & SDK edition: Python package and headless command line | In the cloudAPI priced per million points source |
Where Neurones 3D is stronger
- Neurones 3D classifies on your own Windows PC with no upload and no account, without the EUR 19,000 a year Pointly Box.
- Bought once, with no monthly fee or per-point charge.
- Opens E57 as well as LAS, LAZ and COPC.
- Beyond classification: DTM, DSM and contours, M3C2 change detection, automatic floor plans and meshing in the same program, none of which Pointly lists.
Where Pointly is stronger
- Custom classifiers trained on your own class catalogue, which Neurones 3D does not offer.
- Throughput at national scale: the vendor states 500 billion points a day and over 100,000 km2 a year.
- A managed service and an API for teams that would rather send data than run software.
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 Pointly: Mapping teams, utilities and rail or road operators classifying very large LiDAR volumes, often with a custom class catalogue.
Questions
Is Pointly free?
Pointly: Professional S EUR 99 a month (500 MPoints); Professional M EUR 490 a month (5,000 MPoints); Professional M+ EUR 790 a month; API from EUR 0.15 per million points; Pointly Box from EUR 19,000 a year. Free use: Free tier: three files up to 15 MPoints in total, standard classifiers only. Neurones 3D’s free viewer opens, views and runs every process; writing results out needs a paid edition bought once.
Does Pointly work offline?
Pointly: partly. The cloud platform needs an upload; Pointly Box runs on-premise or air-gapped, from EUR 19,000 a year. Neurones 3D: yes. No account, no internet connection, no telemetry.
Can Pointly classify point clouds with AI?
Pointly: in the cloud. Standard classifiers, and custom classifiers trained on your classes (M+); on-premise with Pointly Box. Neurones 3D: yes. Four trained models ship in every build: indoor, aerial LiDAR, powerline, streetscape; a confidence per point.
What is the best alternative to Pointly?
Choose Neurones 3D when data must stay on your own machine, when you want classification together with terrain, contours, change detection and floor plans in one program, and when a licence bought once suits you better than paying per point. Choose Pointly when you need a classifier trained on your own classes, when volumes run to countrywide datasets, or when an API or managed service fits your pipeline better than a desktop tool.
How this comparison was made
Written by the maker of Neurones 3D, so read it as such. Pointly's column comes only from Pointly'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: