QField for GIS teams in the field, Restoration Scope for the whole restoration record

QField takes a QGIS project into the field with geometry editing, and it is open source. Restoration Scope gives field teams a configured app and keeps every visit linked to its site, season after season.

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⁠QField

Restoration Scope

Should you use QField or Restoration Scope?

It depends on your team. If you already work in QGIS, have someone to own the project and need GIS editing in the field, QField is open source with no licence cost. If nobody has time to maintain a QGIS project and its sync, and field, office and funders need the same records, Restoration Scope gives field teams a configured app and keeps every visit linked to its site. Existing QGIS layers come in rather than being rebuilt.

QField and Restoration Scope at a glance

QField and Restoration Scope compared
	QField	Restoration Scope
What it is	An open-source field app (GPL v2+) from OPENGIS.ch for Android, iOS and desktop that takes QGIS projects into the field.	A restoration data platform with a configured field app.
Cost	As of October 2026: the app is free. QFieldCloud Community is free with 100 MB of sync space; Flat is €18–23 per user a month, Flex €28, Enterprise by quote. Nonprofits can ask for free or discounted plans, and it can be self-hosted.	Priced per project after a scoping call. No public price list.
Who sets it up	Usually someone who owns the QGIS project, layers and forms on desktop. Simple projects can start in the app.	Configured with our team around your project. Someone on your side owns the workflow.
Offline capture	Online or offline, syncing by cable or through QFieldCloud.	The Field App works offline: points, lines, polygons and photos.
GPS accuracy	Phone GPS, or an external high-precision GNSS receiver with NTRIP corrections.	Phone GPS, or an external GNSS receiver.
Editing geometry	Field geometry editing: snapping, vertex editing and freehand drawing, with GeoPackage, KML, GPX and georeferenced PDFs.	Points, lines, polygons and photos on the project map.
Seasons and survival	Possible if your QGIS data model links visits to sites. You build and maintain it.	Sites, nurseries and visits are linked records, configured for your project.
Donor reporting	Maps and reports made in QGIS, and PDF exports from QField itself.	Donor portals built from the same records the team keeps.

Use both

QFieldGIS work happens in QGIS and QField.
QGISLayers come in as files: Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML and KMZ, GeoTIFF.
Restoration ScopeThey join the sites and records on the project map.

QGIS layers come into Restoration Scope as files (Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML and KMZ, GeoTIFF), so GIS work done in QGIS and QField is not rebuilt.

Checked against QField's own pages on October 17, 2026: QField, Documentation, External GNSS, QFieldCloud pricing, Land restoration and conservation.

Where Restoration Scope differs, on screen

These are Restoration Scope screens from our demo project and a public donor portal. To see QField, visit ⁠its own site.

A demo farm in Restoration Scope: its boundary runs along a dirt road on the satellite map, with its monitoring plots and plantings inside, beside its censused trees, eligible area, target trees, survival rate and list of monitoring plots.

Seasons and survival, already linked

Each site holds its monitoring plots, visits and survival rate, configured for your project with our team.

A demo site boundary on the Field App map on a phone, with the site record and its eligible area below.

Shapes on the project map

Field teams draw or walk points, lines and polygons in the Field App, and each one is saved to its site.

Where each fits

Pick QField when

Your team already works in QGIS and has someone to own the project.
You need GIS editing in the field: snapping, vertices, many layers.
You want open source with no licence cost.

Pick Restoration Scope when

Your carbon project needs parcel boundaries, plantings and monitoring rounds kept linked, not spread across layers.
Nobody has time to maintain a QGIS project and its sync.
Field, office and funders need the same records, not exported maps.
You want existing QGIS layers brought in rather than rebuilt.

Where each sits, from word of mouth to a custom system

1 Word of mouth
2 Paper
3 Excel files
Workable from here4 Google Sheets
5 Advanced Sheets
6 Airtable
7 Restoration software
8 Network of tools: QField
9 Adaptable platform: Restoration Scope
10 Custom system

QField takes QGIS projects into the field, one part of a network of tools around QGIS. Restoration Scope is an adaptable platform with its own field app, so visits, sites and maps live in one system.

Where restoration records live, from word of mouth to custom software

Questions teams ask

Is Restoration Scope a QField alternative?

For GIS editing, no: QField is the better tool. For running restoration operations and reporting on them, yes.

Is QField free?

The app is open source and free. As of October 2026, QFieldCloud, the sync service, has a free Community tier with 100 MB, paid plans for teams, and free or discounted plans for nonprofits.

Can both use an external GNSS receiver?

Yes. QField documents high-precision GNSS with NTRIP corrections, and the Restoration Scope Field App can use an external GNSS receiver too.

Can I bring my QGIS data into Restoration Scope?

Yes. GIS files come in beside spreadsheets and survey forms, tied to the sites they describe.

Restoration Scope publishes this comparison. Something out of date? Write to info@restorationscope.com.