Carta vs Google Maps - What's the difference?

I get this question quite often, what is the difference between Carta Maps and Google My Map? I will try my best to answer this question as objectively as possible.

Both mapping tools let you create interactive maps without coding, but which one is the right fit for your mapping project?

Google My Map

Google My Map is a free map creator tool offered by Google. You can add locations, customize your pins and create routes. For each pin, you add media and text.

The tool is very tightly integration with their own proprietary map API and other Google services, like photos as an example. You can quickly create a map from images in your Google Photos – something you can do natively on your phone today.

Since it leverages all internal Google services, it cannot let you integrate with services outside the Google ecosystem.

The primary use cases for Google My Map are travel planning, route planning and simple visualizations. The customization aspect is not intended to achieve high levels of branding and design.

To wrap up, its a great tool for creating personal maps with limited design and branding needs.

Carta Maps

Carta Maps is a platform that enables the creation of highly branded and content rich interactive maps.

Our mapping tool allows you to leverage the best available services on your map, Google related or not. The platform offers a rich set of features to help you build highly interactive maps.

With Carta Maps, you can go beyond just pins on a map. You can search through a huge database of boundaries ranging from postal codes to state outlines. You can also merge multiple boundaries to create unique coverage maps.

The use cases for Carta Maps vary widely. From a personal use, planning a trip, to large companies building branded maps with thousands of data points.

To close, Carta Maps is a powerful mapping platform with both, data and design in mind.