5 best MyGeodata Cloud alternatives (free, no monthly limit)

MyGeodata Cloud is one of the most widely known online GIS conversion tools — it handles Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, and dozens of other formats, and it runs in the browser with no software to install. But its free tier caps you at 3 conversions per month. Hit that limit and you are looking at a $19/month subscription.

For anyone converting files regularly — or just occasionally on a deadline — that cap is a real friction point. Here are the five best free alternatives, starting with the closest drop-in replacement.

Quick comparison

1. Maparz — closest free substitute

Maparz is the most direct alternative to MyGeodata Cloud. It runs the same underlying engine — GDAL / ogr2ogr — which means the conversion output is byte-for-byte equivalent. The key differences: Maparz is completely free, has no monthly conversion limit, and requires no account.

Supported input and output formats include Shapefile (.zip), GeoJSON, KML, KMZ, GeoPackage (.gpkg), GPX, DXF, GML, FlatGeobuf, and CSV with coordinates. Drop a file, pick your output format, download.

• No file count limit per month
• No signup or account required
• Files are processed server-side and not stored
• Powered by GDAL — the same engine used by QGIS, ArcGIS, and MyGeodata

The one area where MyGeodata currently has an edge: CRS reprojection (converting between coordinate systems) and raster conversion. These are on the Maparz roadmap but not yet available. For pure vector format conversion in WGS 84, Maparz covers everything MyGeodata does at the free tier.

2. MapShaper — best for geometry simplification

MapShaper (mapshaper.org) is a browser-based tool that specialises in simplifying complex polygons without breaking topology. It also converts between Shapefile, GeoJSON, TopoJSON, CSV, and SVG.

If your file is very large and you need to reduce feature complexity before using it in a web map, MapShaper is exceptional — it handles files that would time out in a browser-only tool. The command-line version (npm install -g mapshaper) is scriptable and handles batch operations.

• No file size or count limit
• Topology-preserving simplification (Douglas-Peucker, Visvalingam)
• Supports Shapefile → GeoJSON and most common web-mapping formats
• Does not support KML, KMZ, GeoPackage, or DXF

3. geojson.io — best for quick edits

geojson.io is a lightweight in-browser GeoJSON editor. You can drop in a Shapefile, KML, CSV, or GeoJSON and it converts and displays it on an interactive map. You can edit individual features, add attributes, and export back to GeoJSON or KML.

It is not designed for large datasets (files over a few thousand features will be slow in the browser) but for quick checks, small edits, or sharing a map with a collaborator, it is the fastest tool in this list to reach for.

• No limit, no signup
• Instant visual preview — see the data on the map as soon as it loads
• GitHub integration — save directly to a Gist and share a URL
• Not suitable for files over ~5,000 features

4. QGIS — best for complex workflows

QGIS is the leading open-source desktop GIS application and the most feature-complete alternative on this list. It handles every format that GDAL supports (which is essentially all of them), supports CRS reprojection, spatial analysis, map styling, and has a full Processing toolbox for batch operations.

The trade-off is that QGIS requires installation (~500 MB) and has a learning curve. For a one-off conversion, opening a full desktop application is slow. But if you are regularly working with spatial data and need reprojection, clipping, or attribute editing alongside conversion, QGIS is the most capable free option by a wide margin.

• No limit of any kind — process millions of features
• Full CRS transformation support (the key gap in Maparz at present)
• Raster conversion and analysis
• Requires download and installation

5. ogr2ogr (command line) — best for scripted/batch work

ogr2ogr is the GDAL command-line conversion utility that powers every tool on this list, including MyGeodata and Maparz. Running it directly gives you the most control: you can chain operations, reproject on the fly, filter by attribute, and process entire folders of files in a single command.

# Convert Shapefile to GeoJSON
ogr2ogr -f GeoJSON output.geojson input.shp

# Reproject from EPSG:27700 (British National Grid) to WGS 84
ogr2ogr -f GeoJSON output.geojson input.shp -t_srs EPSG:4326

# Batch convert all Shapefiles in a folder
for f in *.shp; do ogr2ogr -f GeoJSON "${f%.shp}.geojson" "$f"; done

Installation: on macOS, brew install gdal. On Ubuntu, sudo apt install gdal-bin. See our ogr2ogr beginner's guide for a full command reference.

What MyGeodata Cloud does that these tools do not

To be honest about the comparison: MyGeodata Cloud has a few features none of the free alternatives match in a single browser-based tool:

• CRS reprojection in-browser — converting between coordinate systems (e.g. EPSG:27700 to WGS 84) without installing GDAL. QGIS and ogr2ogr do this, but require installation.
• Raster conversion — converting GeoTIFF, ECW, and other raster formats. None of the browser tools in this list support raster.
• Merge and clip operations — MyGeodata's paid tier supports spatial operations, not just format conversion.

If you need CRS reprojection in a browser without installing anything, MyGeodata is genuinely useful for that specific task. For everything else — straight format conversion between common vector formats — the free alternatives cover the full workflow with no monthly limit.

Which should you use?

• Converting Shapefile, KML, KMZ, GeoPackage, GPX, or DXF in a browser → Maparz
• Simplifying or thinning polygon geometry → MapShaper
• Quick GeoJSON edit or visual check → geojson.io
• CRS reprojection or complex spatial workflow → QGIS
• Batch or scripted conversions → ogr2ogr directly