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VERDICT

Should I use Qgis?

[Open Day + Good News](https://feed.qgis.org/167) - qgis.org

Worth it. Buy if you need serious desktop GIS and can handle a learning curve — it is free, professional-grade, and loved by practitioners. Skip it if you want polished one-click maps, vendor support, or browser-based collaboration.

Confidence

High. Based on 12 public sources: G2/Capterra reviews, Reddit threads, official docs, and security databases.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityOnly community forums documented; no quality evidence
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

QGIS Desktop

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
QGIS Cloud Free$0

Best for

  • GIS professionals and analysts
  • Budget-constrained government or NGO mapping teams
  • Researchers and academics
  • ArcGIS users wanting license-free option

Not for

  • Non-technical users wanting one-click maps
  • Teams needing vendor SLAs and support contracts
  • Browser-first collaborative mapping projects
  • Anyone unwilling to invest weeks in training

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Free means no helpdesk; complex problems need community help or paid consultants

medium

Some corporate IT departments flag QGIS as a security risk; clear it with yours first

medium

Expect plugin breakage on major upgrades; test production projects before migrating to QGIS 4

low

Web publishing requires QGIS Cloud; the free tier is public maps only

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open source — full professional GIS at zero license cost
  • Rated 4.5/5 by 154 verified G2 reviewers
  • Converts ArcGIS veterans — one used Arc for 15 years and prefers QGIS
  • Praised for cartography, print composer, and analysis depth
  • Large community: roughly 200,000 active users and extensive plugin ecosystem

Cons

  • Interface widely called ugly, technical, and dated
  • Some users call it 'the worst software i ever used'
  • Steep learning curve; training manual and tutorials required
  • No vendor support — community forums and mailing lists only
  • QGIS 4.0 upgrades break some plugins, like DEMto3D

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/29/2026 - 12 sources - One 2026 CVE in QGIS's GitHub Actions CI pipeline, not the desktop app; plugin security scanning is in place.

official x3review x5security x2news x2
  • CVE-2026-24480: QGIS GitHub Actions RCE, Validated remote code execution flaw in QGIS's GitHub Actions workflow disclosed January 2026; affects CI infrastructure, not the desktop application.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free; users cite big savings vs ArcGIS
  • Ease of use: 2/5. UI widely panned as ugly and technical
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Full pro toolkit: analysis, cartography, plugins, 3D
  • Support quality. Only community forums documented; no quality evidence
  • Security posture: 3/5. One 2026 CVE in CI tooling, not desktop
  • 4.5/5 G2 rating 154 verified reviews
  • $0 Starting price Free and open source license
  • Yes Free tier Full desktop app, no paid tiers
  • 32,720 Companies using per Enlyft tech tracker

Pricing

QGIS Desktop

$0

  • Full professional desktop GIS
  • Free and open source license
  • No paid tiers or seat limits

QGIS Cloud Free

$0

  • Web publishing for QGIS projects
  • Unlimited public maps

Security

One 2026 CVE in QGIS's GitHub Actions CI pipeline, not the desktop app; plugin security scanning is in place.

  • CVE-2026-24480: QGIS GitHub Actions RCEValidated remote code execution flaw in QGIS's GitHub Actions workflow disclosed January 2026; affects CI infrastructure, not the desktop application.⁷

What users say

G2 reviewers (4.5/5, 154 reviews) and Reddit users praise QGIS's power and free price while criticizing its dated UI and steep learning curve.

“QGIS is the way to go.”
Reddit, r/gis
“QGIS is by far the worst software i ever used”
Reddit, r/gis
“Why QGIS is so ugly?”
Reddit, r/gis

Companies that use it

  • Bellingcat
  • University of California, Irvine
  • Florida State University
Full analysis

Based on 12 public sources: G2/Capterra reviews, Reddit threads, official docs, and security databases.

Free, pro-grade open-source GIS. Powerful but ugly, complex, and community-supported only.

Methodology

Based on 12 public sources: G2/Capterra reviews, Reddit threads, official docs, and security databases.

Sources

  1. QGIS official siteqgis.org
    official
  2. QGIS on G2g2.com
    review
  3. QGIS on Capterracapterra.com
    review
  4. QGIS on Software Advicesoftwareadvice.com
    review
  5. Reddit r/gis opinion threadreddit.com
    review
  6. Reddit r/gis negative review threadreddit.com
    review
  7. SentinelOne CVE-2026-24480sentinelone.com
    security
  8. NVD CVE-2026-24480nvd.nist.gov
    security
  9. QGIS plugin security scanningplugins.qgis.org
    official
  10. QGIS community size (Gispo)gispo.fi
    news
  11. Enlyft: companies using QGISenlyft.com
    news
  12. QGIS Cloud plansqgiscloud.com
    official

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