ArcGIS Pro: Still the Best GIS?

Spatial Stack with Matt Forrest

ArcGIS Pro has been the center of GIS workflows for decades but how does it hold up in a world moving toward open, cloud-native, and AI-powered geospatial tools? In this video, I break down what ArcGIS Pro actually is, where it shines, where it struggles, and how it fits into the modern GIS ecosystem.

Whether you’re doing personal GIS projects, running a small team, or architecting enterprise-scale systems, this deep dive will help you understand when ArcGIS Pro is the right choice and when alternatives like QGIS, GeoPandas, DuckDB, PostGIS, Sedona, or cloud-native stacks might serve you better.

What You’ll Learn

- What ArcGIS Pro is and how it fits into Esri’s ecosystem
- Its strengths in cartography, desktop analysis, 3D tools, enterprise integration, and data management
- Newer support for modern formats like GeoParquet, COGs, STAC, and DuckDB
- Where ArcGIS Pro begins to struggle (big data, cloud workflows, Python lock-in, cost/licensing)
- How it compares to open tools like QGIS, GeoPandas, and modern geospatial data platforms
- My honest assessment of whether YOU should be using ArcGIS Pro across personal, team, and enterprise use cases

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0:00 Intro to ArcGIS Pro
0:31 My background with Esri
1:16 What is ArcGIS
4:02 Why does ArcGIS Pro matter?
7:11 Do you need to use ArcGIS Pro?
12:54 How do you use ArcGIS Pro?
14:50 Pitfalls of ArcGIS Pro
17:47 When to use ArcGIS Pro?
20:15 Where to learn about ArcGIS Pro?

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