Esri has launched a new Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) product to make it easier for developers to integrate location capabilities into their apps and other business offerings. The newly-released ArcGIS Platform will give developers direct access to Esri’s powerful location services through myriad APIs and web frameworks. As such, developers will be able to quickly add location functions to their existing apps also without learning new tools.

“Developers now have access to professional-grade content and capabilities they can readily plug into their apps, allowing them to stay on budget while delivering enormous value by reducing time to market,” explains David Cardella, Esri product manager for developer technologies.

What is ArcGIS Platform?

Essentially, there are three key elements to the ArcGIS Platform PaaS environment:

1. Developer Experience: Mapping APIs (Esri, Leaflet, Open Layers, Mapbox GL JS), open-source mapping libraries, developer resources
2. Location Services: Content and capabilities (Hosting, visualization, maps and data, routing and directions, spatial analysis)
3. Business Model: Consumption-based, hence, cost-effective

How is ArcGIS Platform priced?

You start with a free developer subscription and receive 2 million basemap layers (such as street, satellite imagery, etc.) for free. After that, you pay $0.15 per 1,000 Map Tiles you request.

If you’re looking to use the platform for real-time routing services, there also, the first 20,000 simple routes are free. After that, you pay $0.50 for every 1,000 routes.

You can use this pricing calculator to figure out monthly estimated costs.

Esri says the ArcGIS Platform is already being adopted and leveraged by industry leaders such as Salesforce, SAP, BP, Autodesk, HERE, and Schneider Electric. It should also be noted that Amazon also builds on Esri’s platform to provide maps and geocoding to AWS customers.

Read more: Amazon teams with Esri, HERE to offer location-based data, mapping services

“Esri has been known for a long time for being a leader in GIS and geospatial technologies. We have rich client technology, rich server technology, and also a rich Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering which is now being used by more than 10 million individuals across the world,” says Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. “But today, we’re opening up the technology so that the developer community can have access from open-source libraries of all types to the core REST services that ArcGIS is known for.”