- Home
- Photogrammetry Software
- OpenReco
OpenReco
What it is
OpenReco is free, open-source desktop software for turning drone and camera imagery into dense point clouds, textured meshes, orthomosaics, and elevation models. Its node-based workspace can run a complete reconstruction graph or selected stages, while caching results for reproducible work. Reconstruction uses COLMAP CUDA for GPU multi-view stereo and provides an automatic CPU fallback. Models can be georeferenced from EXIF GPS data or ground control points. Measurement tools cover volume, profile, area, and distance, and vegetation mapping includes NDVI, ExG, and VARI. Outputs can be exported as LAS, LAZ, PLY, OBJ, GeoTIFF, GeoJSON, DXF, CSV, 3D Tiles, and contour SHP. Downloads are listed for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The site describes OpenReco as MIT licensed, with no account or subscription required. It names surveying, mapping, agriculture, forestry, VFX, heritage, construction, earthworks, robotics, and research among its target fields.
For and against
For
- Free MIT-licensed open-source software
- Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- Supports GPU processing with CPU fallback
- Includes georeferencing and vegetation maps
- Exports many GIS and 3D formats
Against
- Desktop deployment only
- Reconstruction depends on imagery inputs
- No hosted platform is listed
The verdict
OpenReco combines photogrammetry reconstruction, georeferencing, measurements, vegetation analysis, and broad exports in a free desktop package. Its platform coverage and CPU fallback support varied workflows, while its focus remains image-based reconstruction.
Who it suits
OpenReco suits teams in surveying, mapping, agriculture, forestry, construction, heritage, VFX, robotics, and research. It is also appropriate for users needing desktop processing and GIS-oriented exports.
Plans and prices
Free
No account · no subscription · Windows, macOS and Linux downloads
Read 15 Oct 2026 · abhibagul.github.io
On the record
- Account and subscription
- The site says users can download OpenReco with no account and no subscription.abhibagul.github.io · read 4 Oct 2026
- Analysis
- Features include volume, profile, area, and distance measurements, plus NDVI, ExG, and VARI vegetation maps.abhibagul.github.io · read 4 Oct 2026
- CLI
- The command line includes run, resume, diff, report, stages, batch, export, ui, volume and profile commands.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Dense reconstruction
- Dense multi-view stereo depth maps are fused into a high-density point cloud, using COLMAP CUDA with CPU fallback.abhibagul.github.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Desktop UI
- The UI provides a layer tree, schema-driven parameter panels, live run progress and a three.js 3D viewport.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- The repository contains documentation covering discovery, product planning, architecture, pipeline specification and roadmap, plus a detailed README.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Download platforms
- The site lists Windows, macOS, and Linux downloads.abhibagul.github.io · read 4 Oct 2026
- Elevation products
- The product can rasterize digital surface models and generate contours from elevation data.abhibagul.github.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Export formats
- Listed outputs include LAS, LAZ, PLY, OBJ, GeoTIFF, GeoJSON, DXF, CSV, 3D Tiles and contour shapefiles.abhibagul.github.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Exports
- Listed output formats include LAS, LAZ, PLY, OBJ, GeoTIFF, GeoJSON, DXF, CSV, 3D Tiles, and contour SHP.abhibagul.github.io · read 4 Oct 2026
- Georeferencing
- Models can be positioned using EXIF GPS or ground-control points in an EPSG coordinate reference system.abhibagul.github.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- GPU requirements
- NVIDIA dense processing requires the machine's NVIDIA driver and CUDA COLMAP; macOS uses CPU because it has no CUDA.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Install options
- The README describes standalone PyInstaller binaries plus installation from Python with pip and an optional bootstrap command.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Licence
- OpenReco is released under the MIT licence and its stated dependencies are restricted to permissive BSD, MIT, Apache or similar licences.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- License
- The site describes OpenReco as MIT licensed and open source.abhibagul.github.io · read 4 Oct 2026
- Limit: approximate outputs
- Orthophoto processing is described as approximate and the DTM is based on morphological DSM processing.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: Gaussian splatting
- The Gaussian Splatting branch requires torch, gsplat, CUDA, nvcc, CUDA headers and a host C++ compiler, and is not validated on the developer's Windows machine.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: maturity
- The README labels the project an incomplete v0.1.1 release and describes it as early even though the UAV pipeline is functional.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
