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ArcGIS Desktop Pricing


While ArcGIS Desktop is not currently being sold to new customers, we encourage our users to transition to ArcGIS Pro soon to take advantage of all the new capabilities it provides.

Learn more about ArcGIS Pro

Frequently asked questions

ArcGIS Desktop is Esri's flagship desktop GIS application for mapping, analysing and managing geospatial data. We are constantly enhancing ArcGIS Desktop to enable you to better visualise 2D, and 3D spatial data, edit and analyse data and connect across ArcGIS.

See what's new in the latest release of ArcGIS Pro.

ArcMap (with ArcCatalog) is the industry leading traditional GIS authoring and editing application. While we will continue to release and support ArcMap, our development and innovation focus is on ArcGIS Pro. New versions of ArcMap provide patches, updates, and new environment certifications.

See what's new in the latest release of ArcMap.

ArcGIS Pro is included with ArcGIS Desktop. When you are current on maintenance with ArcGIS Desktop, you have access to ArcGIS Pro. You can download ArcGIS Pro from My Esri.

ArcGIS Desktop is licensed by both license level and license type.

License level

The same license levels—Basic, Standard, and Advanced—apply to both ArcGIS Desktop applications: ArcGIS Pro and ArcMap.

License type

The three license types are Single Use, Concurrent Use, and Named User (ArcGIS Pro only):

  • A Single Use license allows one user to install and use ArcGIS Desktop on one computer.
  • A Concurrent Use license allows ArcGIS Desktop to be installed on any computer. Use of the applications by multiple users is managed through a license manager on a network computer.
  • A Named User license allows ArcGIS Pro to be used by a person with credentials who signs in to the application on any machine where it is installed. The Named User license type is currently only available for ArcGIS Pro and not for other ArcGIS Desktop applications.

As with the license level, you choose the license type for each ArcGIS Desktop license that you purchase. You can purchase license types and levels in any combination. For example, you can purchase five ArcGIS Desktop Advanced Single Use licenses, three ArcGIS Desktop Standard Single Use licenses, and one ArcGIS Desktop Basic Single Use license.

When you purchase an ArcGIS Desktop license for use with ArcMap, it must be either Concurrent Use or Single Use. With each of these, a Named User license is provided for ArcGIS Pro and used with ArcGIS Pro by default. However, ArcGIS Pro Named User licenses can be converted to Single or Concurrent Use based on the license type purchased for ArcGIS Desktop.

  • There are more than 200 resources related to ArcGIS Pro on the Esri Training site including seminars, web courses, instructor-led training, and tutorials.
  • The Learn ArcGIS site also has many lessons on using ArcGIS Pro, including a great Getting Started lesson.
  • There are videos available on YouTube created by both Esri and our users.
  • The ArcGIS Blog and GeoNet have a wide array of content and an active community around ArcGIS Pro.
  • For those of you who prefer to learn from books, Esri Press has multiple titles including Switching to ArcGIS Pro from ArcMap, Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro, and Understanding GIS: An ArcGIS Pro Project Workbook.
  • Finally, the comprehensive ArcGIS Pro Online Help system is available to everyone.
  • If you are looking into migrating your custom tools from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro, there is also a great set of developer resources.

There are many ways to configure, automate, and extend ArcGIS Pro depending on your needs:

  • Configure the tools and buttons that appear on the ribbon tabs and quick access toolbar in the application. In the 2.4 release, you can save and share user interface (UI) customisation files.
  • Create and share tasks. Tasks allow you to create a custom workflow complete with steps and instructions that you can share with others who perform the same type of work. Tasks ensure everyone using them will perform a consistent workflow and get work done faster.
  • Use ArcPy, a Python site package, to automate analysis and mapping. You can use Python, for example, to create a script tool that does complex analysis, or the ArcPy.mp package to create an automated map layout that updates based on map content. Automation through Python can greatly reduce the hours spent on redundant processing and activities required to author maps.
  • Develop add-ins with ArcGIS Pro SDK for the Microsoft .NET Framework to create a custom ArcGIS Pro UI and user experience for your organisation. With ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET, you can build your own custom tools and workflows within Microsoft Visual Studio using the powerful API and easy-to-use SDK templates in ArcGIS Pro. There are three main customisation patterns—add-ins, solution configurations, and plug-in data sources—and all are easy to share and deploy. Updates to ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET are included with each release of ArcGIS Pro, and there are many new API enhancements available in the 2.4 release. You can learn more in the concept document "Migrating to ArcGIS Pro."

We had a need for a secure, portable scripting language that allows you to perform expressions across ArcGIS in a consistent way. After researching other scripting languages, including JavaScript and Python, we found that to meet this need, we needed to write our own scripting language to ensure that it was secure and provided common mapping functions. This scripting language is called Arcade. Arcade allows you to write an expression and ensure that it will work the same in ArcGIS Pro, web maps and layers, and web and Runtime apps. For example, an Arcade expression could be used to perform a mathematical operation on an attribute whose result drives a property of a symbol. This expression will work the same and provide the same result in every app and device. Also, since we've written the language, we've been able to include simplified functions for performing tasks that are common in mapping. For example, the Proper function can be used to convert a string to proper case (an initial capital letter followed by lowercase), which is a very useful function for mapmakers.

Yes. ArcGIS Pro can be used in virtualised environments, both on-premises and in the cloud, with great success. Esri understands the importance of virtualisation technology to our users. ArcGIS Pro is heavily tested and supported on all the major virtualisation environments including Citrix XenDesktop, Microsoft Hyper-V VDI, and VMware Horizon View. We work closely with the major on-premises virtualisation vendors, including Microsoft, VMware, and Citrix, and major hardware vendors including Dell. We also partner closely with NVIDIA, whose virtual desktop workstation GPUs (graphics processing units) and GRID Manager hypervisor technology is important to virtualising ArcGIS Pro.

ArcGIS Pro can also be used with cloud-based application streaming and virtualisation solutions such as Amazon AppStream and Frame.

We test ArcGIS Pro in a variety of virtualisation environments and configurations to understand and provide the latest information on how to obtain the best VM/server density and deliver optimal user experience.

The most-recent information can be found on the ArcGIS Pro System Requirements page and ArcGIS Pro virtualisation blogs. We are working to make all the ArcGIS Pro virtualisation blogs accessible from a single landing page.

Esri has partnered with NVIDIA, VMware, and Dell to provide the ArcGIS Desktop virtualisation appliance. This is a server that has been thoroughly tested to determine the user workflows, number of virtual machines, and user experiences that are available with this server. The configuration is constantly updated to deliver the best density and user experience possible. In fact, the ArcGIS Desktop area at the 2019 Esri User Conference was partly virtualised and powered by an ArcGIS Desktop virtualisation appliance. The Virtualisation area (in the ArcGIS Pro area) at the 2019 User Conference was completely virtualised.

ArcGIS Pro is supported in the Citrix XenDesktop, VMware (Horizon View), and Microsoft (Hyper-V VDI) virtual environments. The ArcGIS Pro System Requirements page provides a list of all supported virtualisation environments. We are constantly reviewing and updating this page to provide our users with the most-current information. Because virtualisation technology is changing and evolving so rapidly, it's important to check the ArcGIS Pro System Requirements pages and blogs frequently.

There are many ways to get the latest ArcGIS Pro news:

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