New: Ultimaps is now in ChatGPT and Claude →

Compare map makers

Ten map makers side by side, from hand-coloring tools to newsroom software and team GIS. Every competitor value links to the page it came from, and each source shows the day we checked it.

Ultimaps is built for one job: maps of countries, states, counties and ZIP codes colored from your data, with pins and popups, that you export or embed. Every base map is checked by hand, kept current and cleared for commercial use. Studio starts simple: pick a map, paste your data, and the color scale and legend are suggested for you. Break methods, popup templates, label editing and annotations are there when you need them. If your job is different, the table and the list below say which tool fits better.

Compared on by the Ultimaps team. Sources below.

Map makers side by side

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Map makers compared
Tool and best useMapsData importColor scale from numbersEmbed on a websiteFree exportsPaid plans
Ultimaps. Best for: Maps colored from a spreadsheet, with pins, popups and embedsYes. 250+ base maps, checked by hand and kept current: world, continents, most countries by state or province, every US state by county and by ZIP codeYes. CSV, TSV, Excel, Google Sheets, Notion or paste. AI from a prompt or a picture of a mapYes. Suggested from the data. Gradient, steps or groups. Equal interval, quantile, Jenks, pretty or customYes. Iframe, and share links that turn into live maps in Notion, WordPress, Ghost and Substack. Free with a small "made with ultimaps.com" creditPartly. PNG at screen resolution, sharp for web pages and slides, with a small "made with ultimaps.com" credit. Print-size PNG (6×) with Pro or a one-map pass€12.50 ($14.90) for one map (24-hour pass), or Pro €49/month or €499/year
MapChart. Best for: Coloring maps by hand, with subdivision, NUTS and historical mapsYes. 100+ maps, incl. EU NUTS 2 and 3, US counties, congressional districts, UK postcode areas, historical maps[1]Partly. Not in the editor. An Excel macro workbook, a Google Sheets add-on and an Airtable extension[2]Partly. Not in the editor. The Excel workbook sets colors by hand. The Sheets add-on's method is not documented[3]No[4]Yes. PNG, JPEG, SVG and PDF (raster), 500 to 10,000 px, with a required credit[5]Plus: US$39.99 a year (no ads, saved maps)[6]
Datawrapper. Best for: Newsroom charts and maps, with thousands of basemapsYes. 4,749 basemaps[7]Yes. CSV or Excel upload, paste, Google Sheets, a live external link[8]Yes. Gradient or steps: linear, quantile, rounded, Jenks or custom[9]Yes. Responsive embed, iframe and a WordPress oEmbed plugin, all free, with the Datawrapper credit[10]Partly. PNG with the "Created with Datawrapper" credit[11]Pro: US$21 per user a month, billed annually[11]
Flourish, a Canva brand. Best for: Animated, filterable data stories with maps as one template among manyPartly. Region starting points for 65 countries and areas, plus a GeoJSON library[12]Yes. Excel or CSV upload, paste. Live Google Sheet on Publisher and up[13]Yes. Linear, or bins: fixed-width, quantile or custom (Jenks is not listed)[14]Yes. Script embed, iframe and oEmbed. Free embeds carry attribution[15]No. Image downloads are part of paid plans[16]No public prices. Presenter comes with Canva Business or Enterprise[17]
Google My Maps. Best for: Pins and routes on a Google street mapNo. Region boundaries are not described in its help. Draw shapes or import polygons (KML, WKT)[18]Yes. CSV, TSV, Excel, Google Sheets, KML, GPX. 2,000 rows per file, 10 layers[19]Partly. Style a layer by a column. Numbers grouped into ranges[18]Yes. For a public map[20]No. KML/KMZ, or print. No image export[20]No paid plan[21]
PaintMaps. Best for: Free country and US county map charts from typed valuesYes. World, continents, about 225 country maps, US states with counties[22]Partly. Type or paste values next to a fixed list of region names[23]Partly. Manual: up to 8 thresholds you set[23]Not statedYes. PNG, PDF, SVG[23]No pricing page on its site[24]
PaintMyMap. Best for: Hand-painted maps, including on your own uploaded boundariesYes. World, continent and country maps[25]No. You paint regions by hand[26]No. Legend groups you paint[26]Not statedYes. PNG, JPG and PDF (an image, with a vector PDF in beta)[26]Free. No paid plan mentioned on its site[25]
amCharts Map Maker. Best for: Chart-style maps (bubbles, flows, globes) next to other chartsYes. 16 map templates. Any country with its states, provinces or counties[27]Not statedNot statedPartly. Iframe and oEmbed, on Pro[28]Partly. Exports JSON and HTML. No image export listed[28]Pro: $9 a month or $90 a year[28]
Felt. Best for: Team web GIS: style and share your own geographic dataYes. Global Library: countries, states and provinces, US counties, ZIP codes, census geographies[29]Yes. CSV, Excel or a Google Sheets link, on Team and up[30]Yes. Continuous, equal interval, quantile, standard deviation, geometric, Jenks or manual[31]Partly. Iframe and oEmbed, on Team and up[32]No. Exports are on Team and up[33]Not stated
Scribble Maps. Best for: Drawing territories and plotting pins from a list on street mapsPartly. Preset region shapes (country, state, city, ZIP) on Pro. Otherwise draw your own[34]Partly. A CSV list becomes geocoded pins or a heatmap[35]Not statedYes. Iframe, on Free. Removing the branding is Pro[36]Partly. PNG, JPEG and more, at 450×450 px[37]Not stated

Not stated means the tool’s own pages do not say, or we could not confirm it. Numbers in brackets link to the source.

Choose by the job

Coloring a map by hand
MapChart, PaintMaps or PaintMyMap. Ultimaps does it too with the Bucket Fill tool, but if hand coloring is all you need, MapChart is free with ads and exports up to 10,000 px with its credit. Ultimaps vs MapChart
A choropleth from a spreadsheet
Ultimaps or Datawrapper. Both match rows to regions and suggest a color scale. Ultimaps adds popups, click-through links and a one-map pass. Datawrapper adds 4,749 basemaps and charts. Ultimaps vs Datawrapper
An interactive map for a news story
Datawrapper for embeds next to charts, Flourish for animation, filters and time sliders, Ultimaps for popups, links and pins on a region map. Ultimaps vs Flourish
Pins placed from addresses
Ultimaps puts geocoded pins on a map of colored regions. For pins and routes on a Google street map, use Google My Maps. Map maker
A map from ChatGPT or Claude
Ultimaps is in ChatGPT's app directory and connects to Claude by URL through its MCP server. The assistant draws a map of real regions from the data in your chat, and you open it in Studio to edit. For your own code, Ultimaps also has a map image API with a keyless free tier. Scribble Maps also lists an MCP server, Felt offers MCP on its Business plan and up, and Flourish has a connector for MCP tools. Maps in ChatGPT and Claude
Rebuilding a map from a picture
Ultimaps. Upload a screenshot or a photo of a printed map and AI reads its legend, region colors and labeled pins into an editable map, which you review before anything is applied.
Sales territories
Color states, counties or ZIP codes by rep and export the map for the deck. Sales territory maps
GIS analysis on your own data
Not Ultimaps. A team GIS such as Felt handles uploads of your own geographic data, styling and collaboration.
Fantasy and game maps
Not Ultimaps. MapChart has fantasy maps.

Detailed comparisons

MapChart alternatives

Nine map makers for people who outgrew hand coloring, each with its free plan, price and best use.

Ultimaps vs MapChart

Hand coloring and free 10,000 px exports, or data import, pins and maps you embed.

Ultimaps vs Datawrapper

Thousands of basemaps and charts in one tool, or popups, hand coloring and one clean map without a subscription.

Ultimaps vs Flourish

Animated data stories and 3D globes, or map files, built-in county and ZIP maps and public prices.

Map maker comparison questions

MapChart exports SVG for free, along with PNG, JPEG and a rasterized PDF, at up to 10,000 px with a required credit. PaintMaps offers free SVG and PDF downloads, and a published SVG must keep its paintmaps.com line. PaintMyMap exports PNG, JPG and PDF for free, with a vector PDF in beta. Datawrapper keeps SVG and PDF for its Pro plan, at US$21 per user a month billed annually, and Flourish offers SVG on paid plans only, for SVG-based templates and without text or legends. Felt does not export SVG, and Google My Maps has no image export. Ultimaps exports SVG and PDF with Pro, at €49 a month or €499 a year, or with a €12.50 pass for one map, valid for 24 hours. Free Ultimaps exports are PNG at screen resolution with a small "made with ultimaps.com" credit.

Ultimaps, Datawrapper and Felt all match a table of US counties to their county maps. Ultimaps has all ~3,100 counties in one map and a county map for every state, and matches rows by county name or code, then suggests the color scale. Datawrapper has county basemaps in several census vintages and matches names or FIPS codes. Felt joins rows to counties by name or code, but data styling needs a paid plan. PaintMaps takes values typed next to its county lists, one state at a time. Flourish has no built-in county map, so you upload a GeoJSON file of counties. MapChart's Excel workbook covers US counties, with colors you fill in by hand.

Ultimaps embeds interactive maps on its free plan, with tooltips, popups, click-through links and zoom, and a small "made with ultimaps.com" credit that Pro removes. Its map links also turn into live maps when pasted into Notion, WordPress, Ghost or Substack. Datawrapper embeds maps with tooltips for free, with its credit, including through a WordPress plugin. Flourish embeds free projects with attribution, and those projects are public. Google My Maps embeds public maps. Scribble Maps embeds on its free plan with its branding. Felt and amCharts Map Maker embed on paid plans only. MapChart has no embed, because its output is an image, so a website can show a picture of a MapChart map but not a live one.

They serve three different jobs. MapChart is for coloring maps by hand: every map and tool is free with ads, exports go up to 10,000 px, and there is no data import in the editor, no pins and no embed. Datawrapper is newsroom software: it builds choropleth, symbol and locator maps from a table, has 4,749 basemaps, embeds for free with its credit and keeps SVG and PDF for Pro at US$21 per user a month. Flourish, a Canva brand, is for data stories: maps with popups, filters, animation and 3D, free to publish with attribution and a public page for each project, no image download on the free plan and no public prices. Ultimaps covers a different job: maps colored from a spreadsheet or by hand, with pins, popups and embeds, and a €12.50 pass for one clean map valid for 24 hours.

In these four tools, yes, if you keep the credit. Free Ultimaps PNG exports can go into personal, educational, editorial and commercial work, such as reports, slides, articles and client projects, as long as the "made with ultimaps.com" credit stays visible with the map. You may not sell the map itself as a stand-alone file or upload it to stock libraries. Files exported with Pro or a €12.50 one-map pass carry no credit and are yours to use commercially. The full terms are at ultimaps.com/license/. MapChart requires a credit or reference on every map. Datawrapper says free charts and maps can be published in commercial work if the "Created with Datawrapper" credit stays. Flourish free embeds carry attribution that you may not remove.

How we compare

The Ultimaps team checks every value against the tool’s own website: its pricing page, help center, documentation, changelog or terms. Review sites, aggregators and other vendors’ comparison pages are not used as sources.

A value we could not confirm on the tool’s own pages shows as Not stated rather than a guess. Prices are the ones shown on the tool’s site on the check date, before tax. The Ultimaps one-map pass price includes tax.

Every tool is re-checked at least every 90 days, and our tests fail on any fact older than 120 days, so a stale page cannot ship unnoticed. If something here is wrong or out of date, write to [email protected] and we will correct it.

Ultimaps is not affiliated with any other tool named here. Their names are trademarks of their owners.

Sources

  1. [1]www.mapchart.net/, checked November 6, 2026
  2. [2]blog.mapchart.net/tutorials/using-excel-to-speed-up-map-creation-on-mapchart/, checked November 6, 2026
  3. [3]www.mapchart.net/tutorial.html, checked November 6, 2026
  4. [4]www.mapchart.net/tutorial-plus.html, checked November 6, 2026
  5. [5]www.mapchart.net/usa-counties.html, checked November 6, 2026
  6. [6]www.mapchart.net/plus.html, checked November 6, 2026
  7. [7]api.datawrapper.de/v3/basemaps, checked November 6, 2026
  8. [8]www.datawrapper.de/academy/how-to-create-a-choropleth-map, checked November 6, 2026
  9. [9]www.datawrapper.de/academy/how-to-customize-stepped-color-scales, checked November 6, 2026
  10. [10]www.datawrapper.de/academy/how-to-embed-charts, checked November 6, 2026
  11. [11]www.datawrapper.de/pricing, checked November 6, 2026
  12. [12]flourish.studio/visualisations/maps/, checked November 6, 2026
  13. [13]helpcenter.flourish.studio/hc/en-us/articles/8761562464911-Projection-map-an-overview, checked November 6, 2026
  14. [14]helpcenter.flourish.studio/hc/en-us/articles/8827922007055-How-to-add-custom-colors-and-thresholds-to-your-map-and-legend, checked November 6, 2026
  15. [15]helpcenter.flourish.studio/hc/en-us/articles/8761559763343-Understanding-the-difference-between-Flourish-s-embed-options, checked November 6, 2026
  16. [16]helpcenter.flourish.studio/hc/en-us/articles/8761545595791-Understanding-image-download-options, checked November 6, 2026
  17. [17]flourish.studio/pricing/, checked November 6, 2026
  18. [18]support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024933, checked November 6, 2026
  19. [19]support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024836, checked November 6, 2026
  20. [20]support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3109452, checked November 6, 2026
  21. [21]support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024454, checked November 6, 2026
  22. [22]paintmaps.com/map-charts/countries-map-chart, checked November 6, 2026
  23. [23]paintmaps.com/map-charts/293/World-map-chart, checked November 6, 2026
  24. [24]paintmaps.com/, checked November 6, 2026
  25. [25]paintmymap.com/about.html, checked November 6, 2026
  26. [26]paintmymap.com/tutorial.html, checked November 6, 2026
  27. [27]live.amcharts.com/maps, checked November 6, 2026
  28. [28]live.amcharts.com/pricing, checked November 6, 2026
  29. [29]help.felt.com/upload-anything/global-library.md, checked November 7, 2026
  30. [30]help.felt.com/upload-anything/spreadsheets, checked November 7, 2026
  31. [31]help.felt.com/styling/style-vector-layers.md, checked November 7, 2026
  32. [32]help.felt.com/share/embed-a-map.md, checked November 7, 2026
  33. [33]felt.com/pricing, checked November 7, 2026
  34. [34]help.scribblemaps.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052836531-Produce-a-preset-polygon-of-a-region-country-state-city-etc, checked November 7, 2026
  35. [35]help.scribblemaps.com/hc/en-us/articles/360057105331-Import-Files-Data, checked November 7, 2026
  36. [36]help.scribblemaps.com/hc/en-us/articles/26577018298381-Sharing-Selling-and-Embedding-Your-Maps, checked November 7, 2026
  37. [37]help.scribblemaps.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048923631-Image-Generator-Print-Your-Map, checked November 7, 2026

Ultimaps figures are from our own product as of November 8, 2026.