Embed a point cloud viewer in your website

What an embed is

An embed is a viewer running inside a box on your web page, the way a YouTube video sits in a blog post. Technically it is an iframe: a window inside your page whose contents come from the viewer's server. Your visitor's browser talks to that server directly, your web server never touches the point cloud, and the visitor needs no account and no software.

Three ways to do it

1. Self-host Potree

Potree is a free, open source WebGL viewer under a BSD licence. You convert the file with PotreeConverter into an octree of tiles, upload the tiles and the viewer to a web server, and put the page in an iframe. The project ships an embedded-iframe example. You own the whole stack: a server that can convert multi-gigabyte files, storage and bandwidth for the tiles, updates when browsers change, and the measuring and section tools as they are. Nothing stops another site from framing your page unless you add that yourself. Right for a team with a developer and a handful of files.

2. A hosted viewer with an embed

Hosted platforms convert and store the file and give you an embed snippet. Most let you list the websites allowed to show it, so the browser refuses to draw the frame anywhere else. The pattern is the same across the field: an iframe, a domain allowlist with wildcards, a logo that goes away on a higher plan, and an API on the top tier for companies that build software. Entry prices run from free with a badge to about $50 a month; APIs start much higher.

3. Send a link

If the goal is to get a client looking at the data, a link does it with nothing to build. A ViewerFX link opens in any browser, in Teams and on phones, with distance, height, area and spot elevation measuring, section cuts, plan view, interior mode and annotations. Viewers never need an account. Other websites cannot frame the link; that keeps it yours.

What a good embed needs

• Streaming, so a 20 GB file opens as fast as a 20 MB one. COPC and Potree octrees both do this.
• A domain allowlist, so the embed renders only on your sites and can be revoked.
• No accounts or installs for visitors, on desktop and on phones.
• The tools your visitors expect: measuring in the file's units, section cuts, colour by elevation or class.
• Open counts, so you know whether the embed is used.

What ViewerFX is building

An Embed add-on: pick a file, list your websites, paste one iframe snippet. Visitors get the full ViewerFX viewer inside your page, with the badge rule of your plan. For companies that build software, a Developer add-on with API keys, programmatic upload, a webhook when a file is ready, and short-lived tokens for the embed. Planned prices and the waitlist are at viewerfx.io/embed. Nothing is live yet, and what people on the list say shapes what ships first.

If you build software

A point cloud inside your own product means your servers upload the file to an API, get told when it has converted, and show it with a signed token that works only on your domains. Tell us what you build and how many files a month at viewerfx.io/embed; the API is being designed against real cases.

Related: Potree hosting without the server work, how to share a point cloud with a client, and every ViewerFX fact on one page.

Common questions

Can I embed a ViewerFX share link in my website today?

No. Share links open in any browser, but other websites cannot frame them; that is deliberate, so a link you send stays yours. An embed add-on with a domain allowlist is in development. Join the list at viewerfx.io/embed.

Do visitors to an embedded viewer need an account?

Not with ViewerFX, and not with most hosted viewers. The visitor opens your page and the viewer loads inside it. Some platforms require viewers to sign in on lower tiers; check before you commit.

How do I stop another site from copying my embed?

Hosted embeds list the websites allowed to show them, and the browser refuses to render the frame anywhere else. Self-hosted Potree has no such control unless you add it yourself.

How big a point cloud can a web embed show?

Any size, if the viewer streams. Streaming formats such as COPC and Potree octrees send only the points on screen. ViewerFX has converted a 19.8 GB LAS with 530 million points, and it opens like a small file.

What does embedding cost?

Potree is free to run and costs you the conversion, hosting and upkeep. Hosted viewers include embeds on plans from about $15 to $50 a month, often with their logo, and sell APIs on their top tiers. The planned ViewerFX add-on is $19 a month on top of a paid plan.