Planet Analytics
Planet Analytics is the satellite imagery and geospatial data platform operated by Planet Labs PBC, an American Earth-imaging company founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Publisher review
Planet Analytics is the satellite imagery and geospatial data platform operated by Planet Labs PBC, an American Earth-imaging company founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. The platform is designed for organizations that require frequent, high-resolution imagery of the entire planet — including agriculture firms tracking crop health, forestry services monitoring deforestation, urban planners assessing land-use change, and disaster response teams needing near-real-time situational awareness. It serves both commercial clients and academic researchers, with the latter often accessing the data through institutional subscriptions like Yale University's campus-wide plan.
The platform relies on a constellation of over 200 small satellites called 'Doves' that orbit in low Earth orbit and capture images across eight spectral bands (four-band PlanetScope imagery at 3-meter resolution from 2014 onward, with eight-band data available from 2020, plus RapidEye four-band imagery at 5-meter resolution covering 2009–2020). Imagery is collected daily, providing near-global coverage, and is transmitted to cloud-based storage where it is processed for atmospheric interference, cloud cover, and lighting. Users access the data via a web browser (Planet Explorer), desktop GIS plugins, or an API. The platform also offers analytic feeds, hyperspectral data, and planetary variables for deeper insights.
Planet Labs competes directly with MDA (a Canadian satellite operator with its own constellation), FlyPix AI (which applies AI to satellite imagery for object detection), and ResNexus (a property-management software that overlaps in the agriculture and real-estate monitoring space). While MDA offers similar daily revisit capabilities, Planet's strength lies in its sheer number of satellites and the breadth of its spectral bands. FlyPix AI differentiates by focusing on automated analysis rather than raw image delivery, and ResNexus targets a narrower vertical. Planet's market position is that of a high-volume, high-frequency imagery provider with a strong academic and research footprint.
The honest trade-offs: Planet's data is copyrighted and licensed strictly for non-commercial academic use under institutional subscriptions, meaning redistribution or commercial exploitation is prohibited. Annual download quotas — 2 million square kilometers for scene downloads and 50 million tile downloads per campus — are generous but can be depleted quickly by careless scripting or repeated downloads. Free alternatives for small-scale projects are limited, and the platform's pricing, while flexible, can become expensive for users who exceed their quotas. Additionally, the platform's reliance on cloud-based access means that users with poor internet connectivity may struggle to download large imagery sets efficiently.
How it works
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High-resolution imagery
Captures 3-meter resolution PlanetScope imagery (four-band from 2014, eight-band from 2020) and 5-meter RapidEye imagery (2009–2020).
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Near-daily global coverage
Over 200 Dove satellites orbit Earth daily, imaging the entire planet at a daily cadence for near-real-time monitoring.
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Eight spectral bands
Provides eight bands of data from PlanetScope SuperDove sensors, enabling detailed vegetation, water, and land-use analysis.
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Real-time monitoring capabilities
New imagery is added daily, allowing clients to detect changes in landscapes, crop health, and disaster impacts almost as they happen.
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Cloud-based access
Data is stored and processed in the cloud, accessible via web browser, desktop GIS plugins, or API from anywhere with an internet connection.
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Tailored industry solutions
Offers specialized tools and analytics for agriculture, forestry, urban planning, defense, and disaster response sectors.
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Flexible subscription models
Provides campus-wide annual limits for scene downloads (2 million sq km), tile downloads (50 million), and unlimited basemap tiles, with per-group quotas.
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- Generous annual download limits of 2 million square kilometers for scene downloads and 50 million tile downloads per campus subscription.
- Flexible pricing options include a $750 annual fee per group/lab for research use, with fees waived for small-scale undergraduate projects on a case-by-case basis.
- Comprehensive tutorials and documentation are available through Planet University, including an Introduction to Planet and Planet Explorer courses.
- Real-time monitoring is supported by a constellation of over 200 satellites that image the entire planet daily, enabling near-real-time change detection.
Trade-offs
- Free alternatives for small-scale projects are limited, and users may need to explore other sources like the Planet Education and Research Program for smaller study areas.
- Annual data quotas of 2 million square kilometers for scene downloads can be quickly depleted by repeated or excessive downloads, whether intentional or not.
- Potential for data usage limits to be reached rapidly if scripts separate download from processing, leading to repeated downloads and quota exhaustion.
- Planet satellite data is copyrighted and licensed strictly for academic, non-commercial use, prohibiting redistribution or republication of original datasets or significant derivatives.
Pricing context
Research use: $750 annually per group/lab to offset institutional costs. Small-scale undergraduate projects may have fees waived on a case-by-case basis. Campus-wide subscriptions include annual limits of 2 million sq km for scene downloads, 50 million tile downloads, and unlimited basemap tile downloads.
Getting started with Planet Analytics
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Sign up for Planet
Go to planet.com and create an account. Choose a subscription plan that fits your use case—research groups pay $750 annually per lab, while small-scale undergraduate projects may qualify for a fee waiver.
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Connect to data source
Log in to Planet Explorer in your web browser. Alternatively, install the Planet plugin for QGIS or ArcGIS, or generate an API key from your account settings to access imagery programmatically.
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Configure search filters
In Planet Explorer, define your area of interest by drawing a polygon or uploading a GeoJSON file. Set date ranges, cloud cover limits, and spectral band preferences to narrow down the imagery you need.
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Download first imagery
Review the search results and select the scenes you want. Click the download button to save PlanetScope or RapidEye imagery to your local machine, keeping track of your annual download quota of 2 million square kilometers.
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Schedule recurring downloads
Use the Planet API to automate daily or weekly downloads for your area of interest. Write a script that checks for new imagery and downloads only fresh scenes to avoid exhausting your quota with repeated downloads.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Planet Analytics and what does it do?
Planet Analytics is a satellite imagery and geospatial data platform by Planet Labs PBC. It provides frequent, high-resolution images of Earth using over 200 Dove satellites, serving agriculture, forestry, urban planning, and disaster response with near-daily global coverage.
How much does Planet Analytics cost for academic research?
For research use, Planet Analytics costs $750 annually per group or lab to offset institutional costs. Small-scale undergraduate projects may have fees waived on a case-by-case basis. Campus-wide subscriptions include generous download limits for scenes and tiles.
What are the data download limits for Planet Analytics campus subscriptions?
Campus subscriptions include annual limits of 2 million square kilometers for scene downloads and 50 million tile downloads. Unlimited basemap tile downloads are also provided. These quotas can be depleted quickly by careless scripting or repeated downloads.
What satellite imagery resolution does Planet Analytics offer?
Planet Analytics captures 3-meter resolution PlanetScope imagery with four spectral bands from 2014 and eight bands from 2020. It also provides 5-meter RapidEye imagery covering 2009 to 2020. The constellation of over 200 satellites enables near-daily global imaging.
Can I use Planet Analytics data for commercial projects?
No, Planet satellite data is copyrighted and licensed strictly for non-commercial academic use under institutional subscriptions. Redistribution or commercial exploitation of original datasets or significant derivatives is prohibited, limiting use to research and education.
What are the main competitors to Planet Analytics in Earth observation?
Planet Analytics competes with MDA, which offers similar daily revisit capabilities, FlyPix AI for automated object detection, and ResNexus for property management. Planet's strength is its large satellite fleet and broad spectral bands, with a strong academic and research footprint.
Alternatives
How Planet Analytics compares
Direct head-to-head against 2 competitors. Picked by 7wData.
Planet Analytics
- Pricing
- Research use: $750 annually per group/lab to offset institutional costs. Small-scale undergraduate projects may have fees waived on a case-by-case basis. Campus-wide subscriptions include annual limits of 2 million sq km for scene downloads, 50 million tile downloads, and unlimited basemap tile downloads.
- Target
- Planet Analytics is the satellite imagery and geospatial data platform operated by Planet Labs PBC, an American Earth-imaging company founded in 2010 and headquartered in
- Strength
- Generous annual download limits of 2 million square kilometers for scene downloads and 50 million tile downloads per campus subscription.
- Watch for
- Free alternatives for small-scale projects are limited, and users may need to explore other sources like the Planet Education and Research Program for smaller study areas.
BlackSky
- Pricing
- Custom/Contact sales
- Target
- Government and defense intelligence
- Deployment
- Cloud-based
- Strength
- Real-time geospatial intelligence
- Watch for
- Smaller satellite fleet than Planet
ICEYE
- Pricing
- Custom/Contact sales
- Target
- Disaster monitoring and security
- Deployment
- Cloud API
- Strength
- Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging
- Watch for
- Niche focus on SAR limits optical imagery options
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Sources
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