Basemaps

CARTO is basemap-agnostic and is compatible with MapLibre, Google Maps, Amazon Location and Mapbox GL.

deck.gl allows you to visualize the data in your warehouse, but it doesn't provide a map with contextual information (like streets, roads, restaurants, cities, rivers, etc.) — This is usually called a basemap.

As you can imagine, most of the use cases require to have a base map to give more context to your visualizations.

CARTO layer with a basemap:

CARTO layer without a basemap:

CARTO is basemap-agnostic and lets you decide which client technology they want to use. The following options are available:

• CARTO basemap.

• Google Maps.

• Amazon Location.

• Mapbox.

If you don't have any specific requirements in your app, we recommend you use the CARTO basemap as it doesn't require extra configuration and it doesn't include an extra cost.

Client libraries and cost

When using a base map you need two things: the library to render the basemap and a backend API to provide the data of the basemaps.

The cost will vary on the provider. The CARTO basemap is included by default in all CARTO accounts. However, if another base map is used, the user should bring their own credentials and cover the cost of the other provider.

Technology	Client Library	Cost
CARTO basemap	MapLibre GL JS
Google Maps	Google Maps Javascript API	User needs to pay to Google. Google Maps API Key must be provided
Amazon Location	MapLibre GL JS	User needs to pay to Amazon. Amazon credentials must by provided.
Mapbox	Mapbox GL JS	User needs to pay to Mapbox. Mapbox Access Token must by provided.