Planet launches a free AI app to search its satellite imagery archive in plain language

Earth-observation company Planet has released the Planet AI App, a web application that pairs an interactive map with a chat window so users can search its satellite imagery by describing what they want to find. The launch was announced on November 5 in a post on the company's Planet Pulse blog, and the app is available at ai.planet.com.

How the app works

According to Planet, users type a request in everyday language and large language models translate it into a query against a searchable vector map of the globe. That map is built from AI analysis of visual features in Planet's monthly mosaics, which cover more than ten years of imagery. Results can be checked against the underlying satellite pictures, and the company encourages users to do so rather than rely on the AI's reading alone.

Beyond search, the app can flag when a change occurred at a location and show side-by-side comparisons or timelapses. A Deep Research option deploys agents for longer analyses. Users can upload their own files, such as images or CSV tables, track trends over time and schedule recurring reports. Snapshots and timelapses can be shared, and the app runs on desktop and mobile browsers.

Who it is for

Planet pitches the tool at people with no GIS training. Its examples include conservation teams checking deforestation alerts or habitat encroachment before sending field patrols, and environmental-compliance staff ranking industrial sites by their distance to waterways. The company claims tasks that once needed days of manual map scanning can now take minutes, a figure it has not backed with published measurements.

Planet says hundreds of people used an early version during the summer and that their feedback pointed to the discovery stage of an analysis as the app's main strength. The blog post does not name the language models behind the service.

Pricing and open questions

Access is free for now. Planet says signing in with a Planet Insights account will make it easier to reach premium capabilities in the future, but it has not described those features or their price. Usage limits and the image resolution exposed in the free tier are not detailed in the announcement.

The app fits into what chief executive Will Marshall calls "Planetary Intelligence": combining near-daily satellite coverage with AI to understand the physical world in close to real time. Planet's SuperDove satellites have imaged nearly all of Earth's land surface every day since 2017, according to Marshall's May 2026 essay. The app offers a conversational way into that archive, though how long access stays free, and on what terms, remains to be seen.