Overview of ArcGIS Location Platform services

Build map-centric apps, run spatial analysis, and host your own data using ArcGIS Location PlatformArcGIS Location Platform, formerly known as ArcGIS Platform, is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) product that gives developers access to location services, APIs, and tools to build mapping and spatial analysis applications. It is subscription-based and requires an ArcGIS Location Platform account.Learn more services.

As a developer, you can use these services to add location capabilities to your applications without needing to manage infrastructure or data. This overview will help you understand:

• The different types of services available
• How to access these services in your applications
• How to monitor usage and manage costs

Service categories

ArcGIS Location Platform services are organized into three categories:

Service category	Description
Location services	Ready-to-use services for basemapsA basemap is the foundational layer and data that provides the overall visual and geographic context for a map or scene. It typically includes geographic features and labels for land, water, roads, buildings, cities, places, and administrative boundaries, but can also include raster data such as satellite and areal images.Learn more, geocodingA geocoding service is a service that can search for addresses, place addresses, businesses, reverse geocode coordinates to addresses, provide suggestions for places, and perform bulk geocoding. It is hosted by Esri as the ArcGIS Geocoding service and can also be hosted in ArcGIS Enterprise.Learn more, placesThe places service, also known as ArcGIS Places service, is a location service hosted by Esri that can search for businesses and geographic locations around the world and return detailed information about each place.Learn more, routingA routing service is a service that uses network analysis and streets data to calculate the most effective path and turn-by-turn directions on a street network, optimize fleet routing and deliveries, find the closest facilities, calculate service areas, and more. It is hosted by Esri as the ArcGIS Routing service and can also be hosted in ArcGIS Enterprise.Learn more, elevationThe elevation service, also known as ArcGIS Elevation service, is a location service hosted by Esri that returns TopoBathy elevation values for a single location or multiple locations.Learn more, and other app capabilities.
Data services	Hosted services, such as feature servicesA feature service is a data service that provides access to spatial and non-spatial data in feature layers, feature layer views, and tables.Learn more, for storing, querying, editing, and publishing your own spatial data.
Spatial analysis services	Services, such as geometry serviceThe geometry service is a service that performs operations on geometries such as creating, comparing, modifying, and projecting geographic shapes.Learn more and raster analysis serviceThe raster analysis service is a service that can be used to perform operations on raster data such as pattern analysis, summarization, proximity analysis, data conversion and performing deep learning analysis.Learn more, for solving geographic problems, modeling patterns, and generating insights.

Use these services together to build location-based applications. For example, you might use location services to display a map and search for places, data services to manage user-generated content, and spatial analysis services to analyze spatial patterns and generate insights.

Location services

Use location services to add ready-to-use location capabilities to your applications. These services provide access to high-quality basemaps, geocoding, routing, and other location-based functionalities without needing to manage your own data or infrastructure.

Use location services to:

• Display basemaps and map tiles
• Search for addresses or places
• Calculate routes and travel times
• Retrieve elevation values
• Find nearby points of interest

Data services

You can use data servicesData services, also known as hosted data services, are services created dynamically to store and provide access to your data in ArcGIS. Examples are feature services, vector tile services, map tile services, image services, and scene services.Learn more to host and manage your own geospatial content in ArcGIS. These services enable you to publish and manage your spatial data, making it accessible for querying, editing, and visualization in your applications.

Use data services to:

• Publish hosted feature layers
• Query and edit spatial records
• Publish vector tile and map tile services
• Manage data items in your portal

Spatial analysis services

Location Platform provides spatial analysis services that enable you to perform client-side geographic analysis and modeling. These services provide tools for solving spatial problems, generating insights, and building decision-support workflows.

Use spatial analysis services to:

• Analyze spatial relationships between features
• Summarize patterns across geography
• Generate raster outputs for advanced spatial modeling
• Perform geometry operations on spatial data

Access and authentication

To access ArcGIS Location Platform services, you need to authenticate your application using a developer credential. This ensures that only authorized applications can access the services and helps track usage for billing purposes. To access services, you can use one of the following authentication methods:

• API key authentication
• User authentication
• App authentication

You can create and manage these types of credentials in Developer credentials of your ArcGIS Location Platform account.

Monitor usage and cost

You can monitor your service consumption and billing status using ArcGIS Location Platform tools. These tools provide insights into your usage patterns, help you manage costs, and ensure that your applications are running efficiently.

Monitor your usage and cost using the following tools:

• Dashboard for current activity and quick status
• Usage for service-level usage details and trends
• Billing for billing-cycle and pay-as-you-go details

Next steps