Mantle Place vs TopoExport
TopoExport sells terrain exports by the month; Mantle Place delivers a complete, imaged site for a one-time price and keeps it in your vault forever.
TopoExport and Mantle Place both turn open elevation and map data into files for design tools. TopoExport is built around terrain for architects: draw a site and export contours, a terrain model, and Overture buildings and roads as DXF, OBJ, STL, IFC, or a Revit file, on a free plan of two exports a day up to 1 km² at 10 m terrain, or monthly plans from $39 that reach 50 km² and 0.5 m terrain where available. Mantle Place charges once per site instead of by the month: aerial imagery at 1 m or finer across the US, the finest native elevation for your area as a GeoTIFF DEM, vectors, and more, free at 2 km² and under with the same data as paid. Choose TopoExport for frequent exports and native Revit files; choose Mantle Place to keep a complete, imaged site without a subscription.
Competitor details checked against topoexport.com, its plans and its datasets.
Why Mantle Place
Paid once, not by the month
A bundle is priced once by area and stays in a permanent vault you can re-download forever. TopoExport’s higher precision and larger areas sit on monthly plans with an export allowance.
Full quality at 2 km² and under
Free bundles carry exactly the data and quality of paid ones, including elevation at 1 m wherever USGS lidar covers the site. TopoExport’s free plan stops at 1 km² with 10 m terrain.
Imagery at every size
Every bundle includes aerial imagery for the whole area: NAIP at 1 m or finer across the US and 10 m Sentinel-2 elsewhere, draped over the terrain mesh.
An Unreal importer
The open-source Mantle Place Importer lands a bundle in Unreal as an editable Landscape with the imagery draped and the georeference applied, from files you keep on disk.
How they compare
| Dimension | Mantle Place | TopoExport | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | One-time by area: $5 plus $2 per km², free at 2 km² and under | Free plan, then $39 or $99 a month with an export allowance | For a team exporting sites every week a subscription can work out cheaper; for a handful of projects a one-time price is easier to budget. |
| Free tier | Up to 2 km², same data as paid | Two exports a day up to 1 km², 10 m terrain | Both let you try the whole flow for nothing; the Mantle Place free tier is larger and carries paid-tier elevation. |
| US elevation | 1 m wherever USGS lidar covers the site | One meter from USGS 3DEP on its paid plans | In the US both draw on the same 3DEP lidar, so the ground truth is comparable; the difference is the plan you need to reach it. |
| Elevation outside the US | Coverage-aware: 1 m across much of Europe, 30 m baseline elsewhere | National models in about 30 countries, 30 m baseline elsewhere | TopoExport lists finer national terrain in more countries, and LoD2 roofs in Germany and Switzerland, so check both for sites outside the US. |
| Aerial imagery | Included: NAIP at 1 m or finer in the US, Sentinel-2 elsewhere | USGS imagery at 2 m in the US, per its dataset list | Imagery is what makes a site read as the real place; at 1 m or finer the bundle’s US imagery resolves more of it. |
| Formats | GeoTIFF, DXF, OBJ, glTF, IFC, LandXML, a heightmap, and more | DXF, PDF, SVG, OBJ, STL, IFC, and Revit files | TopoExport writes native Revit files on its top plan; Mantle Place imports into Revit with its own plugin and covers Civil 3D, GIS, and real-time engines with LandXML, GeoTIFF, glTF, and a heightmap. |
| Area per order | Up to 64 km² per order | Up to 1, 10, or 50 km² by plan | Its top plan reaches 50 km² per export; any Mantle Place order can reach 64 km², priced by its size. |
Frequently asked
Is Mantle Place a TopoExport alternative?
Yes, when you want to keep a complete site without a subscription. Mantle Place delivers a georeferenced bundle with aerial imagery, the finest native elevation for the area, and vectors, priced once by area and re-downloadable forever.
Is there a free alternative to TopoExport?
Mantle Place is free for any area of 2 km² or less, with the same data and quality as a paid order: elevation at 1 m wherever USGS lidar covers the site, aerial imagery, and vectors. Free bundles stay in your vault for 30 days, or you can keep one for good at its normal price.
How does pricing compare with TopoExport?
TopoExport has a free plan of two exports a day up to 1 km², then PRO at $39 a month and PRO+ at $99 a month with monthly export allowances. Mantle Place is free at 2 km² and under, then $5 plus $2 per km², paid once per order.
Does Mantle Place export Revit files like TopoExport?
Not native Revit files. Mantle Place for Revit imports a bundle into your open project as a toposolid with imagery draped, plus buildings, roads, and water. Without the plugin, a bundle generates DXF contours that Revit turns into a toposolid, and an IFC site model Revit can link. TopoExport writes Revit files directly on its PRO+ plan, which saves that step.
When is TopoExport the better choice?
When you export sites every week and a subscription comes out cheaper, when you need terrain sections or native Revit files, or when the site sits in a country where its national terrain is finer than the global baseline.
Keep every site you draw.
Draw an area and see it in a free Site Brief before you pay. Download a bundle for Unreal, Revit, Civil 3D, QGIS, and more. Every format is built with your order, at no extra cost. $5 plus $2 per km², and 2 km² and under is free. Paid bundles are yours for good. Free bundles keep 30 days, or keep one permanently at its normal price.
Native plugins: Mantle Place for Unreal and Mantle Place for Revit.