Site analysis tools and websites for architects, compared

Google · Desktop app (Windows, Mac, Linux) · Free

A first look at the site and its surroundings: aerial imagery, past imagery, measurements and terrain profiles.

• Shows historical imagery, so you can see how the site and its neighbours have changed, and imports and exports GIS data.
• Its ruler measures distances and areas on the ground, and the height, width and area of 3D buildings.
• Draws an elevation profile along any path, showing slope, elevation and distance.

Good to know

• Google states that Google Earth Pro on desktop will no longer be available for download from 25 June 2027.
• Google lists GIS import and export as Earth Pro features; Google Earth on web and mobile has also offered historical imagery since September 2024.

Visit Google Earth Pro

QGIS.org (open-source community project) · Desktop GIS (Windows, Mac, Linux) · Free (open source, GNU GPLv2+)

Mapping and analysing geographic data about the site, such as terrain, land use, planning or flood layers from public sources.

• Free and open-source GIS licensed under GNU GPLv2+, available on Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Reads a wide range of data sources and formats, with digitising tools and a layout designer for large-format print maps.
• Includes terrain analysis tools for elevation data, such as slope, aspect, hillshade and ruggedness index.
• Extensible with third-party plugins.

Good to know

• A general-purpose GIS: you find and load the data layers for your site yourself.

Visit QGIS

Protomaps LLC (Cadmapper) · Web app (CAD file generator) · Free for areas up to 1 km² (sign-up required) and for whole-city road network files; areas up to 100 km² for a fee, with an academic discount

A layered CAD base drawing of the site and its context, ready to open in AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhino or Illustrator.

• Builds CAD files for any location from public sources such as OpenStreetMap, NASA and USGS.
• Exports for AutoCAD (DXF), SketchUp, Rhino and Adobe Illustrator; its help recommends the Rhino 3DM format for its solids support.
• Includes building heights and topography where they are available, which the site says is the case in many locations.
• Files are distributed under the Open Database License, which permits commercial use, with attribution requirements for derivative works.

Good to know

• What a file contains depends on the public data available for that place, so building heights and topography are not available everywhere.
• Model units are metres and the model is placed at the origin, so it has to be positioned in your project coordinates.

Visit CADMAPPER

MindSight Studios Inc. · Plugin for SketchUp and Revit, plus a web version · Free pay-as-you-go licence with import credits from US$20 per 100 credits; subscription US$109 per year

Importing a geolocated 3D context model (terrain, aerial imagery, buildings, roads, trees) straight into SketchUp or Revit.

• Imports terrain, aerial imagery at up to 7 cm resolution, 3D buildings, roads, paths, water and trees, and drapes them on the terrain.
• Works in SketchUp and Revit, and its web version delivers data to other 3D applications that import GLB or GeoJSON, such as Rhino and Blender.
• Subscribers import OpenStreetMap 3D data free and get discounts on imagery, terrain and other data.

Good to know

• Imports cost credits, which vary by location and data type; data can be previewed free before buying.
• The SketchUp extension needs SketchUp 2021.1 or newer, and the Revit add-in needs Revit 2022 or newer.

Visit PlaceMaker

Autodesk · Cloud software in the browser · Subscription (monthly, annual or 3-year), also included with the AEC Collection and Revit subscriptions; 30-day free trial

Testing massing options on a site with real context, with sun, wind, noise and microclimate analyses on the model.

• Sets up a geolocated site with contextual information such as terrain and surrounding buildings.
• Analyses on the massing model include sun hours, daylight potential, wind, microclimate (outdoor thermal comfort), noise, solar energy and carbon (total carbon, embodied and operational, since August 2026 for US-hosted projects).
• Connects to Revit, Rhino and Dynamo, and supports IFC and OBJ.

Visit Forma Site Design (formerly Autodesk Forma)

Torsten Hoffmann · Web app · Free (donations welcome)

Checking the sun's path and position over an aerial map of the site for any date and time.

• Draws the sun's path for the chosen day over the map, with a band showing how the path varies through the year.
• Gives sunrise and sunset times, sun altitude and azimuth, and the length of the shadow cast by an object of a given height.
• Also shows a solar irradiance estimate for photovoltaics.

Good to know

• Its irradiance figure excludes clouds and air pollution, so it is a clear-sky value rather than a climate statistic.

Visit SunCalc

meteoblue AG · Website · Free to view (ad-supported) under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence; commercial use needs a paid meteoblue service; hourly historical data is a paid product (history+)

A quick, free overview of typical monthly temperature, rain, sunshine and wind for any place, to set the scene on a site analysis sheet.

• Climate diagrams based on 30 years of hourly weather model simulations, available for every place on Earth.
• Diagrams for temperature and precipitation, sunny, cloudy and precipitation days, wind speed, and a wind rose of the hours per year the wind blows from each direction.
• Hourly historical data since 1940 can be bought as CSV through history+.

Good to know

• meteoblue states that its simulated data has a resolution of about 30 km and may not reproduce local effects, such as differences in urban, mountainous or coastal areas.
• The free diagrams are licensed for non-commercial use (CC BY-NC); meteoblue treats use for profit, such as paid project work, as commercial use.

Visit meteoblue climate diagrams

Center for the Built Environment (CBE), UC Berkeley · Web app, open source · Free

Free, in-depth analysis of an EPW weather file: temperature, humidity, sun, wind, psychrometrics and outdoor comfort.

• Covers more than 27,500 locations from EnergyPlus and Climate.OneBuilding.Org weather files, or any EPW file you upload.
• Tabs for climate summary, temperature and humidity, sun and clouds, wind, psychrometric chart, natural ventilation potential, outdoor comfort and a data explorer.
• Charts download as SVG and data as CSV.

Good to know

• Analyses are based on the chosen weather file, which usually describes a listed weather station rather than the site itself.

Visit CBE Clima Tool

Ladybug Tools LLC · Grasshopper plugins for Rhino · Free and open source (AGPL-3.0; Butterfly is GPL-3.0); requires Rhino, US$995 for a commercial Rhino 8 licence in North America

Parametric sun, shadow, radiation and comfort studies on your own 3D model of the site and the proposal.

• Ladybug imports EPW weather files into Grasshopper and draws climate graphics, sun paths, psychrometric and adaptive comfort charts, and outdoor comfort studies.
• Runs shadow, solar access, solar envelope and radiation studies on site geometry.
• Companion tools add daylight, radiation and energy simulation (Honeybee), district-scale energy models (Dragonfly) and CFD through OpenFOAM (Butterfly).

Good to know

• Runs inside Grasshopper, a visual programming environment, so it needs Rhino and the ability to build Grasshopper definitions.

Visit Ladybug Tools

Embrace Ideas · Web app, in the browser · Free plan; paid plans from €59/month (cancellation takes effect after 12 billing cycles) or €599/year, with a 7-day free trial

The climate layer of a site analysis from an address: climate zone, sun, wind, temperature, rain and comfort, with written readings in projects on paid plans.

• Starts from an address or a map click. Every search analyses the nearest OneBuilding.org weather station file (usually TMYx), including on the Free plan.
• Charts Köppen-Geiger and ASHRAE 169 climate zones, temperature and humidity against an adaptive comfort band, precipitation, annual and daily wind roses, 2D and 3D sun paths, cloud cover and UTCI outdoor comfort.
• Paid projects add a typical year compiled from reanalysis at the site's coordinates (ERA5 / ERA5-Land, CERRA or NORA3), corrected to its elevation, plus passive design strategies, future climate under five SSP scenarios and a PDF report.

Good to know

• Covers only the climate layer: no topography, context buildings, access, zoning or massing, so it works alongside mapping, CAD and GIS tools.
• Site-specific data describes a reanalysis grid cell of kilometres, not the microclimate of the plot.
• Individual charts cannot be exported as images or CSV; the PDF report is on paid plans.