MappSmith vs Maker Studio vs Maperivo

Every tool on this page can draw a map. The one that earns its keep is the one that gets a sellable piece off your laser with the least fiddling. We built MappSmith around four questions a map shop asks every day.

1. Will the file open ready to cut? MappSmith writes a native LightBurn project and a native xTool project, with one file per sheet of stock and cut, score and engrave already on their own layers. No re-sorting layers at 10 p.m.
2. Can I sell it? Commercial use is included on every MappSmith plan, the free trial and the 10-map pack. There is no "personal projects" tier to outgrow.
3. What can I make from one place? A 3D layered map, an ornament, a clock, coasters, a key holder, a love story board, wall tiles, a golf course or a state-shaped piece. Same search, different product.
4. Will it hold together? MappSmith checks for loose pieces, filters out bits too small to cut, adds glue guides and shows the stack in 3D in the woods and acrylics you picked.

MappSmith: built for map shops

You pick the product first, then the place. A clock arrives with the hour ring and shaft hole. An ornament arrives with the hanging loop and a name bar. A golf course arrives with fairways, greens, bunkers, water and trees on their own layers. Any layer can go to a UV printer instead, with a CutContour PDF and registration marks. It is one focused tool, and it is also part of the FoundryPass alongside six more Maker Foundry tools.

Maker Studio: a general maker membership

Maker Studio's map tool, Layered Maps, sits in a membership with a 3D terrain app, a box maker and a nesting app (see how that membership compares to the FoundryPass), and it opens inside xTool Creative Space. It exports SVG, DXF, EPS and PDF. A LightBurn hand-off is listed as coming soon. Ornaments, clocks, golf courses and love story boards were not listed on its public pages when we checked.

Maperivo: a store designer first

Maperivo leans toward letting your customers design on your web store. For your own production it exports one layered SVG with named layers, and DXF on request.

For the price of Maker Studio's Creator plan you could run MappSmith for two years. Maker Studio's $99 Hobby plan is credit-based (about 500 credits per layered map, so roughly 50 maps a year by our math from their credits page) and is listed for personal projects. MappSmith's $99 is unlimited and you can sell everything you make.

Against Maperivo, the yearly price is the same. What you get for it is not: native LightBurn and xTool projects, DXF in every download, UV print and cut files, golf and coaster products, state frames and the loose-piece check.

Maker Studio sells its map tool as part of a maker membership. So does Maker Foundry. The difference is what else is in the box. The FoundryPass puts MappSmith next to six more tools that cover the products laser and print shops actually sell: tumblers, patch hats, DTF transfers, vector cleanup, nesting and a settings library for every material on the shelf.

Both memberships have a map designer and a nesting tool. Only one of them also builds your tumbler wraps, your patch hats, your halftones and your vectors. If you sell more than maps, the FoundryPass replaces several subscriptions, not one. If you only sell maps, MappSmith on its own is $99 a year.

Already paying for one Maker Foundry app? The pass closes that subscription and refunds the unused time, so you never pay twice.

This is where a map tool saves or costs you the most time. Layered SVG is the floor, and all three give you that. MappSmith goes further.

• One file per sheet. Each sheet of stock gets its own file at finished size, so you load walnut, cut walnut, load birch, cut birch.
• Native projects. A .lbrn2 for LightBurn and a .xs for xTool Creative Space, plus DXF. See LightBurn maps and xTool maps.
• Print and cut. Any layer can go to a UV printer with a CutContour PDF and registration marks.
• Glowforge. The per-sheet SVGs drop straight into the Glowforge app. See Glowforge maps.

• Etsy and craft-fair sellers who need ornaments, love stories and hometown maps out the door fast. See selling laser maps.
• LightBurn shops tired of re-sorting layers in every imported file.
• xTool owners who want a full product range and native .xs files.
• UV printer shops who want color maps with a clean cut line.
• Gift and B2B sellers doing golf course maps for clubs or closing gifts for realtors.

Head-to-head detail: MappSmith vs Maker Studio and MappSmith vs Maperivo.

Your old files are standard SVG or DXF, so they keep working. To see the difference, take one real order through MappSmith's 7-day trial: search the place, pick the product, check it in 3D, download, and cut it on scrap. Most makers know within that one piece. Whichever tool you use, credit the data with "Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors" on the piece or listing. See map attribution.