LogLog vs. OTISS.

OTISS is an Android app plus GPS positioning built specifically for BS5837:2012 planning surveys, pitched as a cheaper alternative to buying dedicated survey equipment. It's one of a small, fragmented set of UK BS5837-specific tools — alongside Mapscape and Portable Mapper — in a niche with no single modern, mobile-first, PDF-annotation-based leader.

If GPS-based positioning in the field, rather than working from a supplied topo plan, is how you prefer to survey, OTISS's Android-and-GPS approach is a genuine fit for that workflow.

The UK BS5837 workflow described by practitioners on forums like Arbtalk is consistent: notebook and paper plan in the field, then typing into Excel and hand-drawing a survey plan in AutoCAD — described as "time consuming" by one user. Others use an iPad with a pre-formatted Numbers spreadsheet and a separate PDF-labeling app just to stop "paper flapping about on a clipboard." Even users with a dedicated data collector still carry a paper plan on site to reference tree numbers — the paper never fully goes away, it just moves.

LogLog's core mechanic — load the client's actual PDF topo plan, tap to drop numbered pins directly on it, record data per pin — maps closely onto exactly what a BS5837 preliminary survey needs, without requiring GPS positioning or a separate CAD step to reference tree locations. Preservation Category A/B/C/U is a built-in field on every tree record, alongside a heritage flag and stem-diameter (DBH) capture including multi-stem trees.

The gap this closes is specifically the one Nathan84 described on Arbtalk: notebook and paper plan in the field, then typing into Excel and drawing a survey plan in AutoCAD afterward. Marking directly on the plan PDF while you're standing next to the tree — instead of a grid reference or a napkin sketch — means the numbering, the species, and the condition rating are already tied to a specific location on the drawing your client gave you, before you've left the site.

LogLog does not export DWG or shapefile formats — no CAD/GIS export exists today. If your deliverable has to land directly in a CAD technician's Tree Constraints Plan or feed an Arboricultural Impact Assessment drawing without manual re-entry, that's a real gap: you'd hand your CAD tech the CSV/XLSX and annotated PDF to redraw from, not a native CAD file they can drop straight in. LogLog also doesn't calculate or draw Root Protection Area (RPA) circles automatically — it records the DBH data an RPA calculation needs, but the calculation and circle-drawing step is still yours to do. If CAD/GIS interoperability is the dealbreaker requirement for your practice, that's worth weighing honestly before switching.

OTISS's own costs page lists Standard and Premium subscription tiers with a column header reading "per annum charges (excl. VAT)" — followed by no actual figures. The only published numbers on that page are for add-on training days. Everything else routes to "contact us to discuss your requirements." LogLog's free tier is free to start, no demo call or sales conversation required to find out what it costs — see the pricing page for what's included (Pro's price isn't set yet either, but it's not gated behind a sales call).

BS5837 is a small, fragmented market — Mapscape, Portable Mapper, and OTISS each solve a piece of it, and none has emerged as an obvious modern, mobile-first leader. LogLog isn't trying to be a full BS5837 compliance suite either. It solves the specific field-capture step: mark trees on the actual plan, record the category and condition data, get it off your device in a format your CAD tech or report can use. If your practice needs native DWG export or automated RPA drawing today, that's a real gap worth weighing against how much time the plan-based capture itself saves you in the field.