CARTO Pros and Cons

I like the ability to connect to multiple data sources, from cloud databases, to local csv files. Getting data from different domains into a single map, such as demographic and internal datasets, to reveal geospatial insights that were not previously obvious to the team before. Carto can be used outside of the UI as well, such as in jupyter notebooks. I like how Carto allows non technical users to build, create and share their maps for viewing. I like how the data connections and maps can be configured to allow for auto-updating, this is a very helpful feature that reduces a lot of manual map updating, and is now automated. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Data can't be auto-detected, e.g. geo columns need to be titled explicitly. Load times can get a little slow and laggy at times, connecting to bigquery can be buggy too. It might be better if there was an option to load a sample of the data when working with big datasets, showing a preview for the sample when building the map out.

The map color spectrum can be smarter, it does not detect non numerical ordinal data (e.g. alphabetical), causing manual color selection from the palette. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CARTO is an easy to use powerful tool, that helps us create maps in a matter of minutes without any custom code, it's all declarative. It has advanced analytical capabilities to help you facilitate different analysis within maps. You can also use SQL for more complex calculations. You can also easily share your maps with other internal/external users in a matter of seconds. Their account executive and technical support teams are incredibly agile and extremely resourceful and accommodating. We will be using it's advanced API geocoding features in the future beyond our current use cases. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is a bit of learning curve involved; however, this is typically the case with many different applications. If I could change one thing, it would be it's maximum layer limit per dataset. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Within Builder, I like how Carto makes it easy to query data with its PostgreSQL backend, and it's very easy to visualize and style the results, making it very easy to create nice looking maps. I also use the SQL and Maps APIs and JavaScript libraries, which I find to work well and intuitively, with good documentation. The feature to create a unique API key that grants access to different datasets is very useful to me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find that the query limits are somewhat prohibitive. Particularly for larger datasets, I've run into issues not being able to vacuum a table that is too large. For some larger polygon datasets, I am not able to use jenks classification without a timeout. While I can get around some query limits by batch processing, but still can take more time than needed. Additionally, I find the pricing jump from a non-commercial to commercial license to be very steep, and it has been hard to get a real estimate for this in pricing discussions that I've had. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

How easy it is to incorporate new layers of information from different file sources (csv, shp, xml, and others). Also, you can create maps that support the story telling of a project or a report really fast. The ability to create specialized analysis when needed helps with the usability and flexibility of the platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The integration of data and scheduled refresh needs to be more user friendly. At work we use different databases and files that need to be updated on daily or weekly basis. We have solved the automatic import making developmentes on our side and sending the informations via the APIs available. It is not a big issue since the type of developer/user that interacts with Carto know how to solve this but some developers have poor experience with geo databases and the fields required. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amazing reliability and performance with super friendly support.

It is continually evolving and expanding its capabilities and I've learnt so much since working with Carto in 2014.

I particularly like the ability to link to data, explore it and share it so easily via URL and really appreciate the browser/cloud based approach. I can't remember the last time I needed to boot-up a desktop GIS and hunt for various files on my PC. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is very little to dislike to be honest. Carto hits the sweet spot for vast majority of my spatial analysis requirements. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that CARTO Builder is a comprehensive and easy to use interface to do quick high-level exploration of the data.

And that CARTO API and CartoJS then further supports complex use of the data for analytics. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CARTO on-premise at the moment is still not on containers. So setting up high-availability and recovery is not as straight-forward. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The main advantages that CARTO gave us, IMO are:

1. The tool is powerful, but at the same time is very easy to use even for people with no data analytics background or expertise.

2. The visualization of your data makes easier taking some business decisions, especially those related to physical localization.

3. CARTO team are available for consulting them, especially at the beginning of our relationship. That point is very important, because without their help it would be quite complicated for us to use CARTO tool at 100%.

4. Due to COVID, we have to change a little our project scope, and talked with CARTO team and they gave us all the comprehension and facilities to change with no problem. We really appreciate that. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The least hepful about CARTO, maybe are these:

1. The learning curve at the beginning is a little bit complicated, especially for people with no data analytics expertise. If you want to use your company insights you have to make an upload of your data. At the beginning is a little bit complicated, but once you get in touch with CARTO team, you are able to do it in an easy way.

2. As we are talking about physical and geo items, the results are not as immediate as digital environment is. But this is not a CARTO topic but sector topic. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The API and the out-of-the-box data solution. It's very easy to upload information and stream it into a custom solution. The solutions support team is also fantastic. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The rendering library. It is still subpar to Mapbox GL. And the workaround with DeckGL is quite cumbersome.

Also, it's been years since a redesign to the Dashboard... Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The perfect combination between how easy it is to create maps (Drag and drop its the way to go) and the flexibility of manipulating the code to customize the visualizations. Also the flexibility SQL tools give to the maps help a lot. The built in geographical functions provide helpful tools to create new ways to show insights. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The flexibility of the calculation of the widgets should allow percentages or custom calculations since we have seen that those contribute significantly to the story telling. Besides that the simplicity in the process of map building has most of the functions needed for map building. And, if something else in needed the sql flexibility allows to build it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.