Free & open source — MIT License

Plan drone missions
visually

A free, open-source mission planner for DJI drones. Place waypoints on an interactive map, configure every flight parameter, and export KMZ files ready to load on your controller.

DroneRoute main interface showing mission planner with waypoints, configuration panel, and elevation chart

Works with your DJI drone

M300 RTK M350 RTK M30 / M30T Mavic 3E / 3T / 3M Mavic 3D / 3TD Mini 4 Pro

Everything you need to plan a mission

From placing your first waypoint to exporting a flight-ready KMZ file, DroneRoute has you covered.

Interactive map

Click to place waypoints and Points of Interest directly on OpenStreetMap. Drag markers to reposition. See animated flight paths in real time.

Full waypoint control

Set altitude, speed, gimbal pitch, heading mode, and turn mode per waypoint. Add actions like photo, video, hover, zoom, and more.

Points of interest

Define POIs on the map and automatically orient the camera toward them. Smart gimbal pitch calculates the perfect angle using trigonometry.

KMZ export & import

Generate DJI WPML-compliant KMZ files ready to load on your controller. Import existing KMZ files from DJI Pilot 2 to edit and re-export.

Mission templates

Generate orbit, grid survey, facade scan, and pencil path patterns in seconds. Fine-tune the generated waypoints afterward for full flexibility.

Share missions

Generate a read-only link for any saved route. Recipients can preview flight stats, open the mission in the editor, clone it, or export the KMZ — no account needed.

Mission templates

Start with a template, then customize every waypoint. Save hours of manual placement for common flight patterns.

Orbit template showing circular flight path around a center point

Orbit O

Circular flight path around a target. Ideal for building inspections, tower surveys, and cinematic orbits. Auto-creates a POI at the center.

Grid survey template showing zigzag lawn-mower pattern

Grid survey G

Lawn-mower zigzag pattern for area coverage. Perfect for mapping, photogrammetry, agricultural surveys, and search & rescue operations.

Facade scan template showing vertical scanning pattern

Facade scan F

Vertical scanning along building faces. Configurable standoff distance, altitude range, and row/column density for structural inspections.

Pencil path template showing freehand drawn flight path

Pencil path Z

Draw a freehand flight path on the map. Waypoints are placed at equal intervals along the drawn shape. Adjust waypoint count for precision.

See it in action

A closer look at what makes DroneRoute powerful and easy to use.

Smart gimbal pitch calculation

Smart gimbal pitch

When a waypoint faces a POI, DroneRoute calculates the exact gimbal angle to point the camera directly at the target using trigonometry.

Green lines on the map mean your camera is aimed correctly. Red dashed lines tell you to adjust. One click applies the perfect pitch.

Multiple waypoint selection with bulk actions

Bulk editing

Select multiple waypoints with Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click, then apply altitude, speed, or heading changes to all of them at once.

Drag-and-drop reordering in the sidebar lets you restructure your flight path without re-placing waypoints.

Elevation chart showing altitude profile

Elevation chart

Visualize the altitude profile of your entire mission at a glance. The interactive elevation graph shows height changes across every waypoint.

The footer bar displays total distance, estimated flight time, and waypoint/POI counts calculated from actual per-segment speeds.

Keyboard-first workflow

Navigate faster with shortcuts. Spend less time clicking, more time flying.

W Add waypoint
P Add POI
O Orbit template
G Grid survey
F Facade scan
Z Pencil path
Esc Cancel / Deselect
Del Remove selected
Ctrl+A Select all

Built with modern tools

A clean monorepo architecture with shared types between frontend and backend.

Frontend
React 19
TypeScript, Vite 6, Tailwind CSS v4, shadcn/ui, Zustand
Map
Leaflet
react-leaflet + OpenStreetMap tiles
Backend
Express 5
Node.js 22, better-sqlite3, JWT
Infrastructure
Docker
Multi-stage build, Traefik, SQLite

Self-host in one command

Your data, your server. No third-party services. Full privacy.

# Self-host with Docker
docker run -d -p 3001:3001 -v droneroute-data:/app/data fcsonline/droneroute:latest

# Open http://localhost:3001

Loved by drone pilots

What people are saying about DroneRoute.

★★★★★
"Finally, a free mission planner that actually generates valid DJI KMZ files. I was paying for commercial software before and this does everything I need."
MK
Marco K.
Commercial drone pilot
★★★★★
"The orbit and facade scan templates save me so much time on building inspections. Smart gimbal pitch is a game changer for pointing at POIs."
SA
Sarah A.
Structural engineer
★★★★★
"Being able to self-host this is huge. We run it on our own server for security reasons and it works flawlessly. The Docker setup is dead simple."
JR
James R.
Survey team lead

Ready to plan your next flight?

Start planning missions in minutes. No sign-up required for the live demo.