There are several options avaialble for creating GIS web applications and maps. Web mapping platforms such as ArcGIS Online and Carto are easy to use and offers a graphical user interface for quickly creating web maps and apps. Other platforms such as Leaflet, OpenLayers and partially Mapbox GL JS will require knowledge of JavaScript to create a GIS web application.
- ArcGIS Online
Available to Michigan Tech students, faculty, and staff. A platform for easily building interactive web maps, performing analysis, and interacting with data. Please see the guide on accessing ArcGIS Online at Michigan Tech.
- Mapbox
Mapbox is a mapping platform for data visualization and interactive map building. A free tier is offered on most of their products.
- Google Maps
Google Maps offers a free platform to create interactive maps and a JavaScript API for more robust web mapping applications.
- Carto
Carto is a very powerful platform which provides web mapping and spatial analysis. It has a GUI for building maps and dashboards and is build on top of PostgreSQL giving users full control of their data. Carto is available to students through GitHub.
- Leaflet
A JavaScript library for creating interactive maps. It is one of the most popular open source web mapping platforms. Leaflet can be extended with plugins and was designed with simplicity and performance in mind.
- OpenLayers
A JavaScript library for building interactive maps and applications. OpenLayers can be extended through 3rd party libraries.