Carlson Survey
Civil engineering design software
CAD software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
Take the quiz to check if Carlson Survey and its alternatives fit your requirements.
$99 per year
Free Trial
Free version unavailable
Small
Medium
Large
- Agriculture, fishing, and forestry
- Construction
- Real estate and property management
What is Carlson Survey
Carlson Survey is a surveying and civil site design software suite used to process field data, create topographic surfaces, and produce survey deliverables such as plats, alignments, and stakeout reports. It targets land surveyors, civil engineering technicians, and small-to-midsize engineering and surveying firms that need CAD-based production workflows. The product is commonly deployed with AutoCAD-compatible or IntelliCAD-based CAD platforms and supports data exchange with common survey instruments and GNSS workflows. It emphasizes survey calculations, COGO, surface modeling, and drafting in a single environment.
Survey-first COGO toolset
Carlson Survey includes a deep set of COGO and survey calculation functions for boundary work, traverse adjustment, and coordinate geometry tasks. These capabilities are tightly integrated with drafting so users can compute and annotate without switching applications. For organizations focused on land surveying deliverables, this reduces reliance on separate calculation utilities. It also supports typical survey deliverables such as legal descriptions, point/line labeling, and stakeout reporting.
Flexible CAD platform options
The software is available in configurations that run on AutoCAD or on IntelliCAD-based environments, which can lower dependency on a single CAD vendor. This flexibility can reduce licensing cost and simplify deployment for teams that already standardize on DWG-based workflows. It also helps mixed environments where some users need full AutoCAD while others do not. DWG-centric drafting improves interoperability with many downstream civil and architectural teams.
Field-to-finish data workflows
Carlson Survey supports importing and managing field data (points, codes, and observations) and turning it into linework, surfaces, and plan sheets. These workflows align with common land surveying processes such as topographic mapping, construction staking preparation, and as-built drafting. The product includes tools for surface creation and contouring that connect directly to point databases. This can streamline production for small teams that want a single package from raw observations to deliverables.
Less broad BIM coverage
Compared with platforms that extend deeply into multidisciplinary BIM and large infrastructure modeling, Carlson Survey is more centered on surveying and site/corridor-related drafting. Organizations needing integrated structural, building, and advanced model-based coordination may require additional tools. Model federation, discipline-wide data management, and advanced BIM collaboration are typically handled outside the product. This can increase toolchain complexity for large, multi-discipline projects.
Enterprise collaboration limitations
The product is primarily designed for desktop production workflows and may require third-party systems for enterprise-grade collaboration, versioning, and centralized model governance. Teams that need cloud-first coordination, automated issue tracking, and large-scale design review workflows may find gaps. Managing multi-user standards and audit trails often depends on external CAD management practices. This can be a constraint for organizations with strict governance requirements.
Learning curve for CAD users
While familiar to CAD users, the survey-specific concepts (COGO, field coding, traverse adjustment, point databases) can require training for staff coming from general CAD backgrounds. Productivity depends on consistent field coding standards and disciplined data management. Organizations without established survey workflows may need time to configure templates and standards. This can slow initial adoption in mixed CAD/civil teams.
Plan & Pricing
- Official public retail pricing: Not listed on Carlson Software's public product pages (no MSRP shown).
- Student / Educational license (official): Carlson Civil Suite (includes Carlson Survey) — $99 for a one-year student license (educational use; expires after one year).
Seller details
Carlson Software, Inc.
Maysville, Kentucky, USA
1983
Private
https://www.carlsonsw.com/
https://x.com/CarlsonSoftware
https://www.linkedin.com/company/carlson-software/
