# Surfer Reviews **Vendor:** Golden Software **Category:** [Geology and Seismic Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/geology-and-seismic) **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 126 ## About Surfer Surfer® is a full-function 2D and 3D mapping, modeling, and analysis software package for scientists and engineers. Surfer's sophisticated interpolation engine quickly transforms XYZ and XYZC data into publication-quality maps. Virtually every aspect of the map is customizable. Enhance maps with profiles, legends, titles and labels, faults and breaklines, or external maps from any web mapping service. Surfer is used extensively by geologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, archaeologists, oceanographers, biologists, consultants, engineers, and many others across the globe. ## Surfer Reviews ### 1. Best experience **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** John P. | Mechanical engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 21, 2022 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I find surfer to be the most powerful and easy to use software for contouring gridding and surface mapping It is so accurate and helps you designing the best presantable map using grids Task can be automated using the golden software's scripture program It has more map types including vector, wireframe and base unlike other applications Regarded of how powerful it is it doesn't require high performing machines **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I actually did find nothing bad about this software everything works properly **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** For all your 3D mapping solutions I really recommend surfer because it is easy to use **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have been using surfer to create 3D map visualizations of a place where we would want to perfom our next project and it has been very helpful because it helped me to present my work so easily and I find this to be the best mapping purposes because it has helped me save time on creating all the 3d mappings as it is easy to use ### 2. Most powerful data visualization software a researcher and an engineer may ever need **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Igor Y. | research scientist, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 28, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Surfer has a wide selection of mapping methods and tools, including all known and tested gridding algorithms, a wide range of preset line and symbol styles as well as ability to build your own. Add scripting that you can manage through VBA (fully supported and Surfer library extensively documented) or other programming languages. Many more features, including geo projections, management of layers and overlays, ability to digitize an imported contour or an image, etc., etc. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Not much at all. Over many years active and enthusiastic users (including the author of this review) kept sending bug reports and suggestions for improvements and new features to the Surfer support team (should mention Kari Dickenson as one of the leads). Once a new feature gets implemented, you receive a notification email. After so many years and releases on the market, there is not much to complain about or suggest. As of now, they had nearly everything I ever suggested in my messages. Although, I would like to see plotting on spherical surfaces to make images on Earth or other realistic globes and not just in flat projections ;). One change in overall release arrangement made innovations challenging to follow - but this is strictly my personal opinion - at some point, they switched from release-version-make notation, like Surfer 12.XXX.YYY, to a linear version numbering, like Surfer 24.XXX. Personally, I liked when they were separating major and significant advancements (release) from bug fixes and minor improvements (version). However, I understand, the liner numbering is easier to follow for development and continual improvement. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** A wide and deep range of problems involving visualization of data and results, multilayer plots and overlays, 3D plots, automation of high quality plot generation, preparing maps in geo projections, etc., etc. ### 3. Long time user **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Scott H. | Hydrogeologist, Environmental Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 15, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** This is a great product for the price. It is easier to use with so many options for calculating surfaces and each new update has useful improvements. Surfer has come a long way from version 3 when I first started using it. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I wish it had a more direct integration with ESRI. I understand it competes with spatial analyst, but Surfer is a far superior product for spatial and 3D analysis. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Surfer mainly for topographic analysis. ### 4. Clearly the Best **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ernest B. | President, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The use of Golden Software products increases the quality and clarity of my reports and presentations. Their software is at the top of the class because it is continually updated based on user input. Plus, when I have a problem, in a matter of minutes, I can get friendly service from a competent professional on the phone. Their level of support is unmatched and greatly appreciated! **What do you dislike about Surfer?** There is really nothing I dislike about Golden Software products. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a Consultant my reports and presentations have to be the best. So I use the Best software available. ### 5. Very useful and easy to collaborate with other softwares **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** John Marie A. | Technical Staff, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 11, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Most of my work using Surfer are creating topographic maps and simple 3D map. Easy to learn. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Hope it will add more tools and software should be available to anyone with little cost **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Please try to use Surfer. Very easy to use and you will be delighted with the results you made. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Before I used only Autodesk software but later on I was able to collaborate my work with Surfer and was able to create good results. I realized that I can still enhanced my work using Surfer. ### 6. In our organization we are going to buy it, because we need it for surface and subsurface modelling. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tesfay G. | Associate geospatial Information Officer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 17, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Map tools, grids and plot. contour generation from DEM, cut and fill calculation. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** No, I don't have. surfer is the full software but for the future, it should be supplemented by python and R. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** I would say Surfer should be supplemented with Python and R for ease of automation. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** to calculate the volume of any given area, and volume of contaminated soil, surface and subsurface 3D Modeling etc. ### 7. My work which is all map-related can be easily handled using surfer **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** muhammad a. | Geophysicist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 29, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** interpolation capabilities in contour map creation, many methods that can be selected according to needs **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I have not used all of the surfer's features in their entirety, so none of them have stuck with me due to surfer **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** 2d and 3d contour map creation, base map creation, digitization, and global coordinate transformation. these features make my job easier and faster in conducting various projects ### 8. Surfer Review **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Zaheer A. | Geophysicist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 17, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I used Surfer for the Mapping seismic 2D and 3D data, I find this very useful for coordinate conversion, loading data and fully customizating tools for contours maps. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Maps resolutions are not up to best level. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Customization of Contour maps ### 9. Generated contours with simulation data directly imported from matlab code was easiest with surfer **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Mechanical or Industrial Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 21, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The customizable quality of graphs and the integration with matlab code made my work much faster and presentable. I got best results for heat transfer profile. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Sometimes interpolation was not very accurate. It created lines out of the concentration area which I had to clear for better visualization. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I worked on a project for analysis of heat transfer rate through annular fins and I found surfer to be very useful for result graphy creation. ### 10. Great software package to enter the GIS world **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 04, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The software is very powerful and user-friendly. Most everything is intuitive. It is simple enough that I was able to pick it up as an undergrad with little guidance, and powerful enough that I used it during my Ph.D. studies. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** It does seem to always be playing catch up with other, more expensive geospatial softwares. This requires learning workarounds that can decrease the efficiency of finishing projects. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** If it is available at your company, go ahead and try it. Do the tutorial! It is quick and easy to pick up. If it is not available, ask for a free trial to try it out. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Coming from Academia, the most important things were on-ramping speed for new users and price point. Surfer is something that undergraduate students can pick up very easily, and can also afford if they need to purchase geospatial/GIS software for their career right out of school. ### 11. Use Friendly Software **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 28, 2021 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Availability of plenty customizations in terms of visualizations. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Not specified to a particular field as other software does. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creating 3D visualizations. Helps in Impressing the clients. ### 12. Excellent cross section development and mapping **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Melisa V. | Mine Engineer, Mining & Metals, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 01, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I have gone round and i must admit that i have not seen a tool with best contouring alogarithims like surfer and there is more to add to it on the sensible contour maps it can produce in a very short span of period. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I would like to have more controll in editing ground and it is so disrespectfull when it comes to units of measurements because it does not follow by default measurements. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Well apart from flexibility in editing and measurement monopoly would have no problem recommending this tool to miners and geologists out there. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creation of perfect contour map and analysis i would say generally utilise it for mapping purposes and mining as well as creating geological and geochemical models. ### 13. Great scientific visualization tool with plenty of applications **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Corey H. | Archaeology Field Director, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Surfer is a fairly easy-to-use piece of software that creates great looking products. It allows for plenty of customization in terms of contour intervals, color schemes, etc. the software has a wide array of applications within and outside of scientific fields. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** There can be a significant learning curve, at least when it comes to fine-tuning the customizations. In a previous version, I had encountered a lack of functionality that did not permit me to use the program as intended. Newer versions have fixed this functionality. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Stick with it - it could take a lot of tweaking and customizing to get exactly what you are looking for. If you find it difficult to accomplish certain tasks, check for a program update. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use Surfer to create contour maps showing artifact density. It is a great visualization tool that resulted in eye-catching maps that were used in publications. We have not come across another standalone tool that allows us to do this. ### 14. Surfer tirf **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Polly L. | NCRL Oroville and Tonasket , Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 13, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Surfer is an interesting thing to use. It’s reliable and good for everyone to use . **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Surfer is not a dislike thingy. Surfer is hard to manage when you are trying to use it. It’s hard to see what it is used for **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** I don’t know if I would recommend it to anyone else. It’s pretty hard to use and control **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Surfer is good when doing a project. It gives you ideas and how you can use surfer. If you like surfer you don’t have to use it ### 15. Staff Geologist **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Environmental Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 13, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The interface is easy to follow and creates basic figures with ease. Exporting figures is extremely easy. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Not as in depth analysis capabilities as with other platforms. Great for making static figures, but would not recommend for advanced geospatial analyses. One of the biggest things I struggled with when first using Surfer was the resizing of maps. In other GIS platforms, I was able to resize a map and the corresponding scale bar would automatically update. This is not the case in Surfer. To ensure your scale bar is correctly sized, you have to go in and type in two spots (cycle spacing and label). This seems like an easy fix. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Take the time to fully review the capabilities and functions. Download a trial if available and go through all the processes of map creation and analysis that might be pertinent to your work. This will help you make the decision. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am creating groundwater contaminate plume maps and analyzing the characteristics of the data. The kriging function is very easy with the basic parameters. For creating quick and easy isopleth maps, this platform is perfect. ### 16. An ideal tool for the mapping and creation of, 3D graphics **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Greg C. B. | Ingeniero de perforación, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 09, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The surfer is an ideal tool for all types of 3D modeling based on mappings, of all types of flat surfaces, especially for the creation of animations in three dimensions of land, with different contours and surfaces, thanks to this tool we can explore the land from our computer, and simulate work fields in this software. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** some colors are a little opaque, and do not enhance the quality of the environments created by maps, you can expand a range of colors stronger, and based on this create more real simulations, where you can detail fully, the different types of materials, of the area that you want to explore. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Thanks to surfer we can, give us a better vision of the terrain we want to explore, without needing to be directly in the field, and when we start with the exploration, we can map very large extensions of land, to know that possible obstacle, we can keep taking measure We move forward with the exploration of different land types, giving us a clearer idea of what kind of materials we can find. ### 17. Useful with Environmental work **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 19, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** It is simple to use and especially useful to get a quick picture of what is occurring as you begin your initial study. I love to use right after I have collected samples and to quickly enter them into surfer to get a quick initial picture of what is occurring before starting my analysis and report. The ease of creating contours have aided when I realize that there is an error in sampling or with the noise modeling program and I have been able to find errors in the noise modeling or collected another sample in time to get the results in to the client. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** For final product on a report for a client, you still need to carefully examine each contour to make sure they are accurate and make sense. The quality of the contours of course are more accurate and better with more data points. At the edges of your data depending on the project contours need to be adjusted to show true life accuracy. To better use surfer be careful on where you collect data so you data points are enough to show accurate contours. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use surfer to create groundwater contamination plume contours to submit with cleint reports or to analyze for remediation. I also used contours to evaluate noise along highways and create visuals overlayed on an aerial photo to determine who recieves a reductcion from the proposed noise wall. I have also used it to show groundwater flow for various projects. ### 18. Powerful tool, easy to use **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Environmental Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 10, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I use the software primarily for creating groundwater elevation contours, for which it is relatively fast and easy to produce. I have also used it to create 3D cross-sections. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I would like the software to have more CAD-like functionality for drawing, such as snap to grid. Maybe I just don't know all of the features yet. I would also like more tutorials and help functionality so I can learn how to use it better. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** If you create contours by hand with CAD software, Surfer can save you time and money, and create more realistic models. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creating groundwater elevation models quickly and accurately. **Official Response from Blakelee Mills:** > Thanks for your review! We're always looking for ways to improve and feature development is based directly on feedback from users. Please email support@goldensoftware.com with your feature requests and we'd be glad to add it to our customer request database. Regarding your request for tutorials and help functionality, check out the Surfer support portal that has a ton of how-to articles and videos - https://support.goldensoftware.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000653807-Surfer. We also offer free webinars (https://www.goldensoftware.com/webinars) and live training classes (https://www.goldensoftware.com/trainingclass). ### 19. Worked fine for what I needed it for **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Mining & Metals | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 20, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The program was easy to use and with the limited training that i had with it I was able to perform my required tasks and I was able to navigate through the program without tooo much trouble. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I really didn't have any problems with the program. I was trained to use a limited number of function within the program, but it provided me with the tools necessary to complete my tasks. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Surfer was used to create geologic models which were used in forcasting production and qualities of production. ### 20. Surfer **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mario J. | Senior Consultant Geologist, Oil & Energy, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 18, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Simple and quick It is good for data QC. Basic interpretation in non-faulted areas **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Very little options - No much power. The option of algorithms is very limited. Faulting is very limited. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** A quic display - data QC ### 21. Surfer review **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Environmental Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 01, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I like that the program is both basic and easy to use, and capable at the same time. There are plenty of resources available online to help with any problem. The contouring is much more capable than freeware such as QGIS. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** The constant updates are hard to keep up with. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** The cost is worth the time savings. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Provides professional groundwater contour maps to clients, that are easy to produce. ### 22. Complementary **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** James W. | Hydrogeologist I-Project Manager in the Corrective Action and Field Support Section, Environmental Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 02, 2019 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The user interface. Very simple and easy to use **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Not a lot of help the user interface is hard to understand at some points **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Groundwater modeling and contaminant transport ### 23. Best map graphics program there is -- and far less expensive than the ARCview alternative. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lawrence T. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** In essence, Surfer permits automated map drafting of all sorts. I especially appreciate its georeferencing, contouring, and map overlay features. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Nothing about the program is problematic in my experience. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** This program, like all others in the Golden Software Suite, requires experience to gain the most benefit. Fortunately, most of the other programs provided by Golden Software use the same general architecture, so learning on one of their programs is likely transferrable to other members of their program suite. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** The program, again, permits automated map drafting of all sorts. It used to take me a whole day, for example, to hand contour a single data set. With Surfer I can make (literally) hundreds of contour maps, construct overlays on topographic or other base maps -- and thereby much more quickly make sense out of field data. ### 24. Easy to use and intuitive **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I have been using Surfer since it was a DOS application (wow, I'm really dating myself!). It has always been straight-forward with a clean, intuitive GUI. My students (college undergraduate geology majors) have always become reasonable proficient with it in a single lab session. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I generally prefer Surfer's contouring to that ArcGIS so I like to contour equipotential lines, export as a shapefile to ArcGIS. On my version of Surfer (9), the table contour values are not transferred. Perhaps this has been corrected on the latest version but manual entering of contour values is tedious. Again, I don't have the latest version but I would like to see more ease of use with the vector drawing feature. It would be nice if a vector diagram could be made directly from a grid of potential values (e.g., hydraulic head). **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** If your looking for an easy-to-use product for contouring randomly spaced or gridded data from field measurements or model output, this is a great product. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Very easy to teach students. ### 25. Petroleum Exploration Geologist **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Oil & Energy | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 27, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I use Surfer since 1989, mostly for regional works, gridding and mapping with faults, putting in the same window the topography and above it the geology, moreover culture information, rivers, etc. all in 3D. Frequently I crop the grids and show images or contours over them. Now I use the grid editor very frequently and I am very happy with it. I am very pleasant with the capabilities of the Surfer for my job and I can present the products in a very professionally manner. Recently Surfer improved a lot with the possibility of using all of the cores of your computer, it is great at all. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Actually I have nothing to dislike about Surfer **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** I highly recommend Surfer for the purposes of integrating all kind of information and presenting it in a very professional manner with not highly hardware needs at all. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Present the maps and products in 3D to facilitate understand the ideas we are trying show to other geologists and non geologists as well, in a very professional manner with the set of information and detail as complete as is required with a very efficient hardware needs. ### 26. The best in the field. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Paulo Cesar Colonna R. | Professor, Higher Education, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 01, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Excellent for complex mapping analysis, and superb in automation on a variety of platforms. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Surfer does not respect the measuring system of the user by default. Minimally it should respect the measuring system that is set in Windows. Only 3 countries in the world still do not use the metric system, but Surfer, by default, starts with "inches". **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Surfer is the best in the field. I´ve tryed others, no comparison. It is expensive, but it is excellent. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Environmental hydrodynamic modeling. Surfer is the main tool to presents complex maps of flows in natural water bodies and transport of various types of scalar quantities, such as concentrations. For exemples see www.sisbahia.coppe.ufrj.br ### 27. Using Surfer to support regulatory approvals **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** David N. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** 1) Range of options to produce grids 2) Mapping and digitizing **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Would like more flexibility in editing grids. Such as a node selection and export tools. Would be great to digitize or import a polygon which would then extract grid nodes within or outside of polygon and/or complete a numerical operation on the selected nodes within or outside of a region or multiple regions. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Learn how different gridding methods can influence the resulting grid and learn to choose parameters appropriately. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Visualisation of spatial and temporal variations in water level and topography. Has improved out ability to adapt to changes and to predict future changes enabling relevant forward planning. ### 28. My favorite graphics software **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Robin R. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 24, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I can make presentation or publication quality plots in much less time than Matlab I have used Surfer (and Grapher) for more than 25 years now. I have also used it in teaching. It is easy for the students to use and has saved me tons of time with my research, letting me focus on the science and not the presentation, which is easy with Surfer. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** It would be awesome if you could access binary files like netcdf through Surfer and/or Grapher **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am in acedemia. I use surfer for research. It has saved me tons of time and the figures look great,. **Official Response from Kari Dickenson:** > Thank you for your review! We are happy to hear your positive comments. I wanted to let you know that Surfer can import netCDF files and can use them like any other grid file. This functionality has been included since Surfer version 12. In the Open Grid dialog, change the "Files of type" to "NetCDF Network Common Data Form" to select the file. Thanks again! ### 29. Powerfull Versatile Tool for Variety of Applications **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrey K. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Rapid growth of new feature set based on my feedback. Very good beta testing process using forum. Before each major release I get the comprehensive report on my suggested features and current status of its implementation. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Quite frequent release of major updates that require paying additional amounts almost every year. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Surfer is a must-have tool in a toolbox of a geoscientist. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** 1) Preparing a comprehensive datasets for petroleum system and basing modeling. 2) Preparing the digital elevation and bathymetry models of engineering constructions and freshwater reservoirs. 3) Planning outdoor activity using GPS tracking. ### 30. Easy and efficient **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Grega J. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 23, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The surfer for me is a first go-to tool when any interpolation of data is required. The grid creation with advanced options (e.g. Breaklines etc) is easy and fast even when dealing with lidar-grade datasets. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** The handling of the colors when a custom fill contour could be a bit easier. When exporting contours to dxf, text labels come in default setting that makes it hard to edit once in ACAD environment. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Highly recommend it. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Large dataset operation, data interpolation, contour maps creation... ### 31. A very pratical mapping tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Gilvan H. | Geólogo, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** It is very easy to use, export and import many types of files, gridding operations are easy to understand and to perform, automation is easy to implement **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Default measurement in inches; the addressing of surfer and data files is sometimes confusing **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Those who intend to use gridding methods, I recommend to read the manual that is very well written and one can learn a lot. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** It makes mapping of several types of data very easy in a Windows environment, specially, allowing access to spreadsheets where variables are calculated **Official Response from Kari Dickenson:** > Thank you for the nice compliments for Surfer! I wanted to make sure you were aware that although the program opens initially with the page units of inches, you can change them to centimeters instead (click File | Options and on the General page change the "Page units" to "Centimeters" and click OK). Surfer will keep these units unless you change them again. I hope that helps! ### 32. Excellent program **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Darryl G. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Map Tools - 3D view provides the ability to review the site with the vegetation filtered out. The trackball can provide an overall site review from any angle. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Grid Calculus - gradient. Using the rainbow color scale, the gradients are usually at the extreme low end of the custom color scale for a steep site. This makes it difficult to work with the color scale. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** It substantially reduces the time needed for a site reconnaissance, particularly for sites 2 acres or more. At least half of the information can be provided by a review of the 3D surface with the grid calculus command. The site reconnaissance can then focus on certain areas that are highlighted by the program. It is now an indispensable part of my work. ### 33. Surfer is powerful and user friendly. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jordan G. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I like the significant upgrades to Surfer 14 and 15 have allowed for much more efficient data processing, cross section development, and mapping. Surfer has most of the features I need to process reasonable sized datasets. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I dislike how bulky surfer is. It can bog down my computer doing some data processing that takes other programs less time. I also would like to be able to adjust shapefile/base layer labels in the same manner as post layers. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** LIDAR processing Cross section development Grid math and evaluation of complicated datasets. ### 34. Long time user **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Environmental Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 08, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Having used Surfer since its inception in the '80s I have been continually impressed with its broad base of contouring options, ability to handle large datasets, speed at contouring, and the many other features that show up with each new version. No other contouring package comes close to Surfer on a performance/cost basis. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I have Surfer 13.6.618 and find it difficult to incorporate coordinates. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Using Surfer I have been able to easily demonstrate technical results to non-technical clients. Properly created, Surfer images exemplify the age-old statement that "a picture is worth a thousand words." I believe that in my professional career Surfer images have kept my past company on the top of the list for many clients. ### 35. Best Mapping Software I've Ever Seen **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Don H. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Great functionality, versatile and perfectly accurate. I've used Surfer for over 25 years to create some of the most extensive and comprehensive geostudies ever compiled in North America. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** There is nothing to dislike about Surfer, however I do not like sharks and snakes, or major earthquakes. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have been able to create extremely complex geological and geochemical studies using Surfer. No other software could have come close to the results I've achieved using Surfer. Obviously this has resulted in substantial competitive advantages in my business. ### 36. Surfer has a huge positive impact on our organisation **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Olivier L. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 27, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The ease of automating repetitive tasks is priceless. As a highly operational organisation, it is extremely rewarding to begin the day knowing that a variety of scheduled tasks have been running overnight, creating numerous maps to aid in the organisation's decision process. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** There is nothing that I dislike. However, there are minor improvements that could be made. For example, it would be convenient to be able to reverse a drawn weather front (in the line object types) and to have more flexibility with the colors of the same weather fronts. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** By automating a large number of weather related charts, we are able to identify which numerical guidance model provides the best weather forecast. This helps us make cost-saving decisions. ### 37. Surfer manages to stay ahead of expectations **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Construction | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 30, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I am almost never frustrated by Surfer. A rarity in the world of software. The program runs smoothly and it is always possible to interrupt a process. The intuitiveness of the interface and contextual help is great. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I can only think about this: I have some points which are still on the wish-list for future versions. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Surfer is a great and affordable tool to analyse spatial data and produce professional maps. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creating maps, analysing spatial data. Surfer allows making beautiful maps that astonish internal and external clients. ### 38. Powerful gridding/mapping software that is reliable and easy to use **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Russell F. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 27, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Surfer is easy to use. It is possible to work out how to do most things with minimal use of the manual. The menus are very intuitive. I use it form work and also for making maps for trekking. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Maybe some more preference options. Not much else to dislike. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Get on board! **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use it for every mapping and for contouring geochemical and other grid data. ### 39. Very pleased. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Environmental Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** I like the ease of creating georeferenced heat maps and contour maps from a variety of data. I also like how much easier it is to clip data than previous versions of Surfer. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I dislike the fact that plotting maps with layouts does not produce crisp lines. However, I admit that this may be user error. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** The ease of creating georeferenced heat maps and contour maps which are easy to interpret, saves my company a lot of time and money. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Surfer reduces the overall time spent in creating visual representations of georeferenced data thereby allowing me to spend more time on data interpretation and reporting. ### 40. Powerful, easy to use program to model 3D data **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Paul M. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** It is powerful software for analysing and presenting 3D data at a very reasonable price. The free support provided by Golden Software is beyond excellent. Surfer has been progressively improved and is now a very powerful program for processing a variety of 3D data **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Nothing - there is nothing I dislike about Surfer **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Surfer recognises a wide variety of data types including standard (x,y,z) data, georeferenced images, GIS and point cloud data. It could be the the only 3D data analysis tool you need. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Presentation of 3D data in pursuit of technical solutions to open cut mining problems. I have used Surfer to analyse data that would have required a $10k add-on to my existing mine modelling software. ### 41. Excellent Product **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** carl s. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Easy to use and full of useful features. I especially like the easy interaction between the program and spreadsheet applicatons.. Golden Software keeps this program up to date with the latest technology. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** The software is limited to two dimensions. However, If SURFER went 3-D it may require significant software engineering but could potentially rival other 3-D software applications in the industry. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** This software is full of great features. Thinking outside the box is helpful when trying to solve spatial problems. I continue to find new ways to evaluate my data. Take some time to sit down and play with this software. You will not be disappointed! **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Groundwater contouring, contaminant plume distribution, grid mathematics for import into modeling software. ### 42. 16 year user **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Research | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Ease of use is the best part about Surfer. Because of this I have been able to quickly show many other people how to make use of it in conjunction with our geophysical software. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** For our purposes, the "3D" function is not very useful. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Call tech support anytime you need help and it is very likely your question will be answered very quickly and effectively. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** 2D modeling and mapping for consumers of our geophysical exploration services. Easy to create simple to very detailed 2D models and maps for client consumption. Writing script to allow and proprietary software to communicate with Surfer was relatively straightforward and the tech support from Surfer offered timely assistance where needed. ### 43. Helpful tool for raster data **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Renewables & Environment | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 23, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** It is very simple to open files with height and land-use data from different data sources and to define surface models als input data set for model simulations. We have to form grids from large files. Furthermore, the residual analysis is very often used. It is important to visualize and examine the data in order to detect and correct errors. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I do not have much to criticize. But we often use worksheets, but handling of calculation procedures are very cumbersome. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** We have been using surfers and didger since many years, regularly, but not daily. Particularly, these products are attractive for small offices. You can process large data files and analyse the data is variable manner. The results can be presented in meaningful diagrams and maps for the reports. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use surfer for defining surface models, and then, for converting and formating these data and export then for input of simulation model. The exact presentation of surface features are important for the calculation of atmospheric windflow simulation, gridding of height model and estimation of roughness parameters. ### 44. Use Surfer for developing oil and gas maps. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Oil & Energy | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Ability to print to a vector .pdf file so that the sharpness of the lines, symbols and text is maintained no matter how far you zoom in. I especially like that the .pdf file created allows layers to be turned on and off when the file is opened. It would really be nice if these layers could be customizable so that they can be moved up or down so that they appear in a logical order. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Unable to have polygon names that are obtained using Map Viewer retained when brought over to Surfer. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Terrific program! There are several enhancements that should be considered by the Surfer team including: 1) Ability to specify the format for labels (for example rather than scientific notation, using a fixed format with number of decimal places specified. 2) Legend - need to be able to size the symbols in the legend without changing the size of the symbols on the map. 3) Ability to connect to Rest Service for dynamically linking shape files. 4) Improve legend editing to allow one to directly edit the text of the legend. 5) When you double click on a Surfer file it provides an error stating: "There was a problem sending the command to the program." If you first open Surfer 15 and then open the file this error does not occur. The workaround involves making changes to the Registry Editor which is a very dangerous method of correcting this issue. This should be resolved within Surfer's program rather than relying on the user to have to make Registry Editor changes. 6) Would like to have additional "free" training on the use or Scripter and examples. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mineral interest ownership map that provides identification for future petroleum well locations. ### 45. excellent mapping, gridding, and data analysis/presentation/illustration software. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** It is very capable and creates professional level work, but is not overly complex to use and not packed with "bloatware" I don't use. It has also always been very stable and "light" software to open and run and use, despite being so capable. It is extremely high quality software, especially for the price. The addition of GIS/pro-level coordinate system conversions over the last 10 years has made it highly valuable. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Honestly can't think of dislikes. It is a good bit more complex than it was 20 years ago, but those were all very valuable additions, and they really are not complex. There might be some room on improvement on using attributes connected with shp files, but they've been heading that direction and I might just be behind on what it can do there. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Highly recommended for mapping, contouring, some data visualization, and some "GIS" work. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a solo consultant, it let's me create figures and maps that in the past would have required a dedicated GIS or drafting person to do. ### 46. Professional geological applications of Surfer **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Research | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Surfer is very intuitive to use and great for 3D data views. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Nothing really, it is a fabulous program **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** A stunning product! **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Processing structural geology data in relation to landscape morphology. Integration of data from gravity and magnetics in a 3D perspective. The program is fast and very easy to use compared to other methods; being able to load huge tables is a big plus! Being able to generate fast 3D views of DEM data is great to understand regional tectonic views and integrate this with gravity and magnetics, and customer (and user) support is amazing! It is a community product and the interaction with fellow user is fabulous. ### 47. Long time Surfer user **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Greg C. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Ease of use, powerful, value and support. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** Limitations imposed by an annual maintenance plan. **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Although too soon to say, I'm considering the possibility of dropping a support plan for a spatial analysis module associated with another well known and very expensive GIS software platform. Surfer appears to have capabilities that meet my needs at a much more attractive price point. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mapping subsurface data; gridding, contouring and spatial solutions. ### 48. Surfer data visualization **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jonathan G. | Associate Technical Director, Civil Engineering, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 23, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Ease of use. The GUI/toolbar is clear and icons are indicative of tasks, making it easy to navigate. I like the point cloud feature now. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** The process of scripting repetitive tasks, like importing multiple common data sets, is necessary. The setup of preferences is very detailed, allowing the user to configure almost anything needed. However, due to the complexity and the number of attributes that can be set as preferences, this process is lengthy and cumbersome. It would be better to have a more user-friendly interface, possibly menu-driven or categorized. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Visualization of surface data ### 49. Powerful Flexible Modelling **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** IAN P. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 27, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** The flexibility and malleability of the 3D models generated from real and honoured data **What do you dislike about Surfer?** The Help file may be better organised (too many unexplained jargon terms) but that is a criticism of ll large modelling programs **Recommendations to others considering Surfer:** Excellent modelling programme with considerable power and flexibility. The ongoing development is much focussed and very responsive to user requirements. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Much smarter and safer mine planning/execution. Increased productivity with increased safety. ### 50. Powerful piece of analytical software for a fair price **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** John V. | Owner, Mining & Metals, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2018 **What do you like best about Surfer?** Surfer is easy to use, powerful, and versatile. Able to import and export a wide variety of data types and files. Good gridding algorithms. Very stable. **What do you dislike about Surfer?** I'd like Surfer to have better drafting abilities. It excels at data processing and analysis, but relatively weak at turning those into figure sets for reports. Paperspace/modelspace structure (similar to CAD) would be very helpful. **What problems is Surfer solving and how is that benefiting you?** Cost-effective software to process and analyze scientific data. ## Surfer Discussions - [What technical resources are available to me?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/technical-resources) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [What license options are available?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/license-options) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [How much does Surfer cost? Are there ongoing maintenance and support fees?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/surfer-pricing) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [Do you offer a trial version of Surfer?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/1827-do-you-offer-a-trial-version-of-surfer) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [View Surfer pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/surfer/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-02+23%3A42%3A25+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=d1f8b90c-09d7-457c-9416-aa8b48876fba&secure%5Btoken%5D=2930e5f562a46eebc0d8027d98efeb931a8d90c1b42b5654eb70bf91ebc27dda&format=llm_user) ## Surfer Features **Data Management** - Data Capture - Data Storage - Data Manipulation - Data Visualization **Agentic AI - Geology and Seismic** - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Adaptive Learning - Decision Making **Agentic AI - Oil and Gas Engineering** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Adaptive Learning - Decision Making **Agentic AI - Oil and Gas Simulation and Modeling** - Adaptive Learning - Decision Making **Map Creation** - Geocoding - Buffer Zone Query - Overlaying - Publishing **Analysis** - Spatial Analysis ## Top Surfer Alternatives - [Esri ArcGIS](https://www.g2.com/products/esri-arcgis/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (515 reviews) - [GEOVIA Surpac](https://www.g2.com/products/geovia-surpac/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (22 reviews) - [Petrel E&P Software Platform](https://www.g2.com/products/schlumberger-petrel-e-p-software-platform/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (17 reviews)