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Mappedin and MapsPeople are both indoor mapping providers offering digital wayfinding solutions, but they differ in approach and capabilities. Mappedin provides full-service enterprise mapping solutions, pre-built solutions for industries such as malls, airports, and stadiums, and easy-to-use mapping tools for map edits and deployment. MapsPeople, a Denmark-based platform, has a solutions-only approach and primarily serves campuses, malls, and stadiums.

Unfamiliar with the indoor mapping industry? Trying to choose between indoor mapping providers based on your needs and use case? In this blog, we discuss some of the unique considerations when choosing between two indoor mapping providers: Mappedin and MapsPeople.

Mappedin alternative: Mappedin vs MapsPeople

The stakes couldn't be higher for mall operators: more than two-thirds of mall visitors struggle with navigation, and nearly a third abandon their shopping trips entirely when they can't find what they're looking for. In an industry where labor costs consume up to fifty percent of operational budgets and every lost customer represents missed revenue, choosing the right indoor mapping platform isn't just a technology decision—it's a critical business strategy.

Mappedin and MapsPeople have a similar goal of making the indoors easier to navigate, but they differ in many ways. Let's dive into these key differences, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each platform, and how to choose the right indoor mapping provider for your use case.


Service and solution model comparison

Indoor mapping has emerged as a critical technology for navigating complex venues, yet industry leaders have taken markedly different approaches to market coverage. A significant differentiator between Mappedin and MapsPeople is service model flexibility: Mappedin operates full-service enterprise implementation with white-glove support AND offers customers easy-to-use tools to maintain and deploy maps, while MapsPeople is limited to only a professional-services, partner-first model requiring long timeframes and dedicated implementation. This comprehensive dual-approach strategy gives Mappedin a decisive competitive advantage, allowing every segment of the market to easily access indoor mapping tools and features, while MapsPeople remains constrained to enterprise-only implementations.


Why choose Mappedin?

Mappedin provides venue owners with a single platform to manage their property maps to create indoor experiences. With over a decade of experience providing mapping solutions to customers, the platform manages over 4+ billion square feet of indoor space in more than 57 countries. Along with vast experience, Mappedin offers intuitive, digital wayfinding applications and a powerful map editor that simplifies map management for property owners.

Understanding challenges first

Mappedin's discovery and consulting approach exemplifies best-in-class customer-first practices, prioritizing prospect needs assessment over product promotion. Rather than leading with predetermined solutions, Mappedin's solution experts conduct thorough discovery sessions to understand each organization's technical capabilities, timeline requirements, budget constraints, and long-term mapping objectives. The team ensures prospective customers receive recommendations for solutions truly tailored to their requirements.

Robust solution offerings

For customers that have a more clearcut use case, Mappedin offers Mappedin offers pre-built solutions for malls, airports, and stadiums that can have customer maps up and running quickly, as well as comprehensive SDKs and developer tools for customers that want to create custom maps, applications, or integrate additional location-based experiences into their own platforms. Compatible with any device and cross-platform, customers can display modern, professionally designed maps on their website, in a mobile app, or on digital directories.

Powerful map editor

Mappedin's indoor mapping platform provides user-friendly, enterprise-grade tools that don't require extensive knowledge or training to use. Mappedin's proprietary platform supports both AI automation and professional services, featuring machine learning algorithms while maintaining professional-grade capabilities for white-glove implementations. The map editor, capable of enterprise mapping, can be used by individuals and dedicated teams. Easy-to-use and designed to enable property owners and managers to maintain add rich POI data, they have the flexibility to maintain maps as their properties change and grow.

Credibility and experience

When Simon Property Group, the global leader in retail real estate, needed to standardize digital wayfinding across its massive portfolio of premier shopping destinations, it required a platform that could scale while maintaining each property's unique brand identity. Mappedin delivered exactly that—a solution where "the platform's flexibility and customizability make the maps feel like an extension of our brand". This isn't an isolated success story. This sentiment echoes across Mappedin's customer base, including Cadillac Fairview’s portfolio of malls and offices across Canada, Value Retail's luxury outlets across Europe, Cenomi malls in Saudi Arabia, and QIC properties throughout Australia. In addition, Mappedin has delivered solutions to other industries including airports, notably LAX, YYC Calgary International Airport, Brisbane Airport, and many more. These aren't just implementations—they're transformative partnerships that have redefined how major retail operators think about customer experience and operational efficiency.

Top features of MappedIn

Mappedin’s indoor mapping platform includes 2D and 3D map views, interactive indoor and outdoor mapping and navigation, powerful search, real-time edit and sync capabilities, analytics, blue dot wayfinding, multi-language support, automated and optimized pathing, accessiblity compliancy, is approved for Apple IMDF and Mircosoft Places, and includes additional features such as directory ads to drive foot traffic at your venue.

Mappedin's map interface showcases contemporary design that sets new standards for indoor mapping aesthetics and usability. Maps features clean, intuitive visual hierarchies with thoughtfully crafted iconography, smooth animations, and responsive layouts that adapt seamlessly across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. This design-forward approach creates a premium visitor experience that encourages engagement, reduces confusion, and integrates indoor mapping into everyday use.

Airport map displaying step-by-step directions to gate

Why choose MapsPeople?

MapsPeople is an indoor mapping platform based in Denmark. Its main solution, MapsIndoors, is a single professional-services approach, building on Mapbox's enterprise-grade infrastructure. This includes the Mapbox platform foundation, 3D floor plans, indoor route networks, custom POIs, 3D objects with optimized batch rendering, and dynamic integrations for live data. While meant for ease of development, their architecture only supports professional digitization with dedicated teams—organizations wanting immediate map updates or deployments have to go through a support team which may cause delays.

Top features of MapsPeople

The MapsIndoors solution includes 2D map visualizations, wayfinding capabilities, interactive maps, search, and map editor tools. The product offering also includes manual pathing, outdoor to indoor navigation, and data syncs.

Airport map by MapsPeople

Mappedin advantages and disadvantages

Mappedin is an experienced leading provider of indoor mapping technology, and has taken the time to understand the unique challenges and opportunities of each use case and industry. Mappedin offers easy-to-implement solutions, such as digital directories, for scalable deployment, and also offers mapping SDKs for maximum flexibility and customizability. For instance, custom indoor mapping solutions for workplaces, commercial venues, or venues requiring multi-building navigation, can be built using the flexible SDK. Customers wanting to use SDKs also have access to developer documentation and an interactive playground to explore SDK capabilities in real-time.

Mappedin does not sell indoor positioning hardware or solutions as part of its offering, which can be a disadvantage if you prefer to work with only one provider to create your location-based experience. However, all Mappedin maps are fully compatible with indoor positioning technologies and can provide guidance on how to achieve an indoor positioning solution with several partnered providers.


MapsPeople advantages and disadvantages

MapsPeople provides digital wayfinding experiences for corporate offices, convention centers, airports, and several other industries. Being in Denmark, they understand first-hand the languages, culture, and unique differences as it pertains to European businesses. This can be an advantage, particularly for venues located in and operating in the EU.

MapsPeople remains limited to enterprise-only market access through their partner-first ecosystem model. Additionally, as MapsIndoors is delivered to customers as SDKs and APIs, it can be a disadvantage as it requires more developer effort to get started. Since majority of their mapping is limited to only location updates (structural map updates require contacting their team), the company can only serve organizations willing to invest in lengthy professional implementations.

MapsPeople company growth comes primarily through their 50+ integration partners, rather than direct market expansion. This B2B2B approach means MapsPeople often focuses on powering product features that partners need to utilize rather than building direct relationships, constraining their growth potential compared to Mappedin's more comprehensive customer-first approach.


Mappedin vs MapsPeople

While Mappedin and MapsPeople have similar mapping goals, their ease of use, industry expertise, customer experience, and pricing differ in many ways. Let's explore this next.

Ease of use

The Mappedin platform is incredibly flexible, user-friendly, and easy to integrate with other apps and frameworks. Mappedin offers white glove service and handles the initial setup of transforming 2D building floor plans into digital interactive maps, and provides customers access to a map editor to maintain their indoor venue maps. Map and POI updates can be published and deployed immediately or scheduled for a later time. In comparison, the MapsPeople platform doesn’t emphasize quick updates. While customers can update location-based data on their map quite easily, MapsPeople can only provide a small number of structural map updates per year, and additional changes must be made by submitting a ticket to their support team.

Industries served

MapsPeople mainly serves corporate offices, convention centers, stadiums, airports, hospitals, universities, and retail. In comparison, Mappedin's comprehensive innovation strategy advances both AI-powered automation and professional service capabilities simultaneously. Mappedin focuses on indoor experiences and can be found powering mapping experiences across a wide range of industries, including malls, airports, offices, stadiums, public safety, multifamily properties, campuses, retail, healthcare facilities, theme parks, outdoor venues, and much more.

Customer experience

Focusing on the customer is one of Mappedin's company values. The Mappedin team is dedicated to providing the best customer experience by putting customers and partners first. This emphasis on responsive technical support and customer success ensures that Mappedin delivers continuous value and exceeds expectations. MapsPeople also provides customer support by enabling you to report bugs and problems, request map updates, and more, from their website.


Why Mappedin is the better alternative

Mappedin and MapsPeople each offer unique approaches to solving the challenges of indoor mapping. While they are both popular indoor mapping providers, Mappedin is an innovation leader and believes in enabling customers with complete enterprise mapping solutions, powerful AI-powered and easy-to-use tools, and robust SDK and developer tools for complete customization. In addition, Mappedin has significant experience with long-term partnerships and many industry-leading customers, while being positioned to capture growth across the many markets, regardless of use case or industry. See more customer case studies to find great examples of how Mappedin built indoor experience solutions.

Contact us to learn more about how you can bring your vision to life with Mappedin's dynamic mapping platform.

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