Arc Hydro
Free
Esri's free hydrology framework for ArcGIS Pro — terrain preprocessing and the data model behind many agency workflows.
QGIS
DHS VerifiedActiveThe free, open-source GIS that has become the default spatial platform for water engineers worldwide.
by QGIS.org
- Pricing
- Open Source
- License
- GPL-2.0+
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- Python (PyQGIS), GDAL
- Platform
- Windows, macOS, Linux
About QGIS
QGIS needs little introduction as a GIS; it earns its place in a water-engineering directory because it has quietly become the discipline's default spatial platform. Terrain processing via bundled GRASS, SAGA and GDAL providers; mesh-layer support that reads TUFLOW, Telemac and Delft3D results natively; profile and cross-section tooling; and a plugin ecosystem covering everything from watershed delineation to EPANET network building.
For a water team, QGIS plus a handful of plugins replaces a five-figure GIS licence for the majority of drainage, floodplain and catchment workflows — and its Python console (PyQGIS) makes those workflows scriptable end to end.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
Appears in collections
- QGIS Tools for Catchment Delineation
The free GIS stack for going from raw DEM to watershed boundary and stream network.
Alternatives to QGIS
Ranked by the topics, categories and workflow stages they share with QGIS.
GRASS GIS
Open Source
Four decades of geospatial engineering — r.watershed and the most battle-tested hydrology modules in GIS.
HydroSHEDS
Free
The global hydrography reference — basins, river networks, lakes and hydro-environmental attributes, free.
SAGA GIS
Open Source
The geomorphometry powerhouse — hundreds of terrain and hydrology modules behind a free desktop GIS.
WhiteboxTools
Open SourceVerified
500+ fast geospatial analysis tools with the best DEM hydrology toolkit in open source.
Browser tool for estimating point terrain elevations globally by address, coordinates, or map click.