Is ArcGIS online more popular than Desktop?

Question

I'm asking because I am a student who is completely new to GIS and it's really challenging me. When I search for instructions I'm finding most times (not all, but most) the instructions are for ArcGIS online, and it shows different menu options. So far, except for one thing I was challenged with I have been able to figure it out or search more and find instructions for the desktop version. I'm just curious if the online version is way more popular than the desktop version?

Katie_Clark · Answer

Hi @pertio ,

As others have stated, including the appropriate search terms in your query based on the software you're using will help find the most relevant results, since there are so many platforms that fall under "ArcGIS".

However, to answer your question a little more directly - "Which is more popular?":

The answer really is - "It depends". Each platform (Desktop vs. Online) is appropriate for different tasks. ArcGIS Online is used for creating web maps and applications, and sharing/organizing geospatial data within a web interface. On the other hand, Desktop (aka "ArcGIS Pro" in this case - ArcMap is still around but in mature support) is used for analysis, cartography (i.e. printable maps), etc. There is definitely overlap between the two in terms of functionality - you can do some analysis and cartography in ArcGIS Online (sometimes abbreviated as "AGO" or "AGOL"), and you can package layers and maps to share within ArcGIS Pro. But, if you're working towards using GIS in your career, you will very likely heavily depend on both platforms.

Quick note: there is also "ArcGIS Enterprise" (aka "Portal"), which is similar to ArcGIS Online except for the data is hosted on your own servers, rather than Esri servers. More work to maintain, but you have more freedom for customization and security configurations, etc. If you're just starting out, probably just focus on AGOL for now for web GIS stuff, unless you're really interested in server configuration, coding (i.e. building custom widgets), etc. 🙂

Hopefully that answers your question and gives you some guidance and further research. I remember how confused I was when I first started out, so I tried to answer with that perspective in mind!

ChristopherCounsell · Answer

When googling you can use search operators to narrow your results e.g.

adding the below to your search will remove the arcgis online documentation website from results

-doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online

Or enclosing "ArcGIS Pro" in double quotation marks will search for "ArcGIS Pro" over "ArcGIS" and "Pro".

These will narrow down your results significantly.

Including tool or workflows in your search will also help e.g. adding a layer to a map in arcgis pro

DanPatterson · Answer

perhaps bookmark the help and use it for your searches whether you are using Pro, arcmap or online

ArcGIS Pro help—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

Get started with ArcMap—ArcMap | Documentation (arcgis.com)

An introduction to ArcGIS Online—ArcGIS Online Help | Documentation