Today there are several ways to analyse an area before opening or growing. We compare them by cost, ease of use and who each one suits, so you can make an informed choice.
When you want to know if an area is right for your business, you basically have four options. None of them is "bad": each one fits a different budget and stage. This guide helps you see which one suits you.
How an area is analysed today and which type of business tends to use each one.
What really matters when you're deciding where to open or grow.
| Consultancy | GIS software | Spreadsheet | POINOVA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry cost | Very high | From free to very high | Free | From free |
| Easy to use | Done for you | Difficult | Manual | Very easy |
| Official data included | Yes | Usually you source it yourself | You source it yourself | Yes, built in |
| Speed of result | Weeks | Days | Hours | Minutes |
| You repeat it yourself | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (10 a day on Pro, unlimited from Advanced) |
| Compare several areas | At extra cost | Yes | Slow | From the Pro plan |
| Competition analysis | Yes | If you load it | No | From the Pro plan |
| Designed for non-technical users | Yes | No | Partly | Yes |
Indicative comparison between types of solution, not between specific products. Every business has different needs; the goal is to help you choose the approach that fits you.
A quick guide to get your bearings.
If you are a large chain and want ONE closed study, signed and defended before a committee, a bespoke consultancy makes sense for that project. If what you want is to repeat it every time you doubt a location, that is our Enterprise plan.
If you need an API or a bespoke contract, we do not do that: professional GIS software will give you total flexibility, in exchange for time and know-how. If what you have is a data team, with us you can build your own indicators and produce the reports under your own brand.
If you just want a quick first look and don't mind the manual work, a spreadsheet will do to get started.
If you want official data, maps and a clear analysis without being an expert, and to repeat it every time you have doubts about a location, that's where POINOVA makes the difference: the power of professional tools, with the simplicity of something you use in minutes.
If you're looking at a specific tool, here's the direct comparison.
If you're already looking at a specific tool, here's what it costs and what it's good at. The prices are the ones each one publishes.
| Tool | Who it is for | From | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smappen | Travel-time areas and territory maps | €89 /mo billed yearly | See |
| Maptive | Maps, delivery routes and sales territories | $110 /mo paying month to month | See |
| Geoblink | Large brands with a data team and a bespoke contract | On request | See |
| POINOVA | Businesses and franchises that want to decide where to open, split sales territories and optimise visit routes, without being experts | Free, and paid from €49 /mo billed yearly | — |
Checked on 16 September 2026 against each company’s public website.
Try it on an area you know Free, no card needed.
We say it ourselves so you know before you try anything.
Outside the areas where we hold official data we show you an estimated population, but not income, businesses or the score. Better you know now than later.
We plan the route, the order of the stops and the appointments, but we do not track the vehicle live or guide the driver along the way. There are fleet tools for that and they do it better.
We do not do either: there is no API and no tailor-made agreements. If what you have is a data team, we do fit: you can build your own indicators and produce the reports under your own brand.
A spreadsheet costs nothing, but you fill it in yourself and the data goes stale. Among the tools, the way to find out without paying is a free plan: ours asks for no card.
No. You type an address, the area is drawn for you and the figures appear beside it. If you have used a spreadsheet, you know enough.
From official statistics and public sources. When a figure is an estimate, we say so. You can see it source by source on our data sources page.
Yes. You can draw an area and see who lives there without signing up, and the free plan asks for no card.
The data is already there and the map draws it. In a spreadsheet, finding it, reconciling it and keeping it current is your job, and that is the part that eats the hours.
No, and that is deliberate. Every figure comes from an official source and the sentences around it come from written rules, so the same area always gives the same result. There is no chatbot either: the in-product help is questions and answers written by us.
No, and we would rather say so. We score from 0 to 100 the conditions an area has today, who lives there, how much they spend and what competition there is, and we show where every point comes from. What we do not do is forecast sales or guess whether a business will close.
Yes, from the Advanced plan. We order up to 100 stops to make the shortest trip, we take fixed appointments into account and we split the day between up to 8 drivers, on foot, by bike, by car or by lorry with its weight and its measurements. What we do not do is track the vehicle live or give turn by turn directions: for driving, the route opens on the phone.
Draw an area, see who lives there and measure the competition. Free, no card needed.
