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Free vs Pro — What Each map.army Tier Includes
map.army is available in two flavours: a free hosted demo at https://www.map.army/ — what this documentation site describes — and a professional offering (map.army pro) delivered on a project basis. The free version is sufficient for most planning, training, and hobby use. The professional version adds capabilities aimed at organisations that need multi-user operation, live tracking, or on-premise deployment.
At a glance
| Capability | Free hosted | map.army pro |
|---|---|---|
| MIL-STD-2525 symbology via MSS | ✓ | ✓ |
| 2D and 3D map view | ✓ | ✓ |
| MilX layer create / edit / import / export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coordinate grids (MGRS, UTM, WGS84, GARS, BNG, LV95/LV03, Hexagonal) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coordinate search and measurement tool | ✓ | ✓ |
| PDF / image export with copyright label | ✓ | ✓ |
| Share via read-only / edit-copy / edit-overwrite link | ✓ | ✓ |
| Iframe embed | ✓ | ✓ |
| Own browser geolocation (your position only) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Timeline & unit animation — units follow planned routes between waypoints with playback controls | — | ✓ |
| Blue Force Tracking (BFT) — real-time position sharing between participating units | — | ✓ |
| External GPS / SIM-tracker integration — hardware beacons pushing positions into the map | — | ✓ |
| User administration & logins — multi-user collaboration with role-based permissions | — | ✓ |
| Custom WMTS / WMS base maps — configurable map providers including private and on-premise tile servers | — | ✓ |
| Password-protected shares — non-public links requiring authentication | — | ✓ |
| Closed-network / on-premise deployment — runs without internet, with the MSS / MilX backend on-site (Linux + Apache or Windows) | — | ✓ |
What the free hosted version is for
The free hosted version exists to demonstrate the MIL-STD-2525 symbology services (MSS and MilX) developed by gs-soft AG, and to give planners, students, and hobbyists a working tool for drawing tactical situations. It is suitable for:
- Solo planning of exercises, missions, or wargames.
- Training and teaching military symbology.
- Producing PDFs and printed maps for hand-out or post-exercise review.
- Sharing a situation read-only with stakeholders via a public link.
There is no account, no login, and no cost. Save your work regularly by exporting .milxlyz files (see Layers → Export Overlays) — the hosted backend has no per-user persistence.
What map.army pro adds
The four capability blocks above (timeline, BFT, user admin, custom base maps) are the headline differences, but in practice the more important difference is the deployment model:
- Project-based delivery. map.army pro is not a self-service signup. Each deployment is scoped to the customer’s environment — Active Directory integration, existing GIS infrastructure, preferred WMTS / WMS providers, isolation level — and delivered as a project by gs-soft AG together with an industry partner where appropriate.
- On-premise or closed-network operation. The full backend (MSS, MilX, web app) runs without internet access. This is how map.army is used inside several command-and-control, C4I, and military simulation environments today.
- Long-lived state. Pro deployments have actual user accounts and server-side project storage. The free hosted version intentionally stores nothing per-user.
Adjacent gs-soft products for offline / desktop work
If the gap you have is offline operation rather than the pro features above, two desktop tools from gs-soft cover that scenario:
- MssDraw — Windows desktop application for drawing and composing military situations offline. Also converts
.milxlyzto.kmzfor Google Earth / ESRI Earth use. - MssComposer — Windows desktop application for composing higher-level situations and reports.
These are not part of map.army pro but solve the same offline-use problem for individuals without requiring a project deployment.
How to get map.army pro
Pro is not publicly priced or sold. To discuss a deployment, contact gs-soft AG:
Typical first steps are a requirements call covering deployment topology, intended user count, base-map sources, and any custom symbology needs. See also the FAQ entry on closed-network deployment under FAQ — Can the web application map.army run on a closed network?.