ArcGIS Experience Builder: When to Use It and What It Does
ArcGIS Experience Builder is Esri’s tool for creating web apps and interactive experiences without writing code. It lets teams combine maps, widgets, data, and layout into a configurable application, hosted on ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. Use it when a StoryMap is too linear and a single web map is too limited, but you still want a maintainable, out-of-the-box solution.
Most organizations that need a geospatial application reach for one of two answers: a custom-coded web app, which is powerful but expensive to build and maintain, or a simple shared web map, which is quick but rigid. ArcGIS Experience Builder sits between them. It produces genuine applications, with multiple pages, linked widgets, and responsive layouts, while staying entirely configurable. This guide explains what Experience Builder does, when it is the right tool, and how it compares to the other ways of presenting spatial data.
What ArcGIS Experience Builder does
Experience Builder assembles applications from three ingredients: data sources such as feature services and web maps, widgets that display or interact with that data, and a layout you arrange visually. You connect a data source once, drop in widgets like a map, a list, a chart, or a filter, and wire them together so a selection in one updates the others. The result is a hosted web application that runs on any device, with no custom development involved.
Because it is part of the ArcGIS platform, an Experience Builder app reads live from your feature services. When the underlying data changes, the app reflects it. Access is governed by the same ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise sharing model you already use, so you are not bolting on a separate permissions system.
When Experience Builder is the right choice
The tool earns its place in a specific band of needs. It is the right answer when:
- You need more than one view or page, with navigation between them.
- Widgets must interact, so selecting a feature filters a list or updates a chart.
- The audience needs to explore and act, not just read a narrative.
- You want a polished, branded application without a development budget.
- The solution has to be maintainable by a GIS team rather than a software team.
It is the wrong tool when the goal is a linear, scrolling story, where an Esri StoryMap fits better, or when a single shared web map already answers the question. Choosing the lightest tool that meets the need keeps the work maintainable, which is the same principle that should guide platform decisions across the ArcGIS stack.
How it compares to the alternatives
| Tool | Best for | Interaction model | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web map (ArcGIS Online) | A single map to share or explore | Pan, zoom, click | Lowest |
| Esri StoryMap | A guided, scrolling narrative | Linear scroll | Low |
| Experience Builder | Multi-view configurable web apps | Linked widgets, multiple pages | Low, no code |
| Custom web app | Highly specific, novel requirements | Anything you can build | Highest, requires developers |
The honest comparison is between Experience Builder and custom development. Custom apps can do anything, but they carry a permanent cost: developers to build them, developers to maintain them, and risk when those developers move on. Experience Builder covers the large majority of real-world application needs with none of that overhead, which is why it is the default recommendation for app development on the ArcGIS platform. It belongs in the same out-of-the-box toolkit as Web AppBuilder, Field Maps, and Survey123.
Experience Builder and Web AppBuilder
Teams familiar with Web AppBuilder often ask how the two relate. Experience Builder is the more flexible and modern of the two, offering full layout control, multi-page experiences, and responsive design that Web AppBuilder does not. For new applications, Experience Builder is generally the better starting point. Web AppBuilder still serves existing apps and certain configurations, so the right move depends on what you already run and where you are heading.
Common applications teams build
Experience Builder fits a wide range of real uses: a public-facing project explorer with a map, a filterable list, and detail panels; an internal asset-management app where staff select a feature and see linked records; a program dashboard combined with interactive maps; or a data-submission experience paired with Survey123. The pattern is the same: live data, linked widgets, and a layout matched to the audience. For ideas on what the broader platform can do, see our list of ArcGIS features most organizations never use but should.
Choosing between Experience Builder and a StoryMap
The line is interaction versus narrative. If your audience needs to follow a story you control, scrolling from point to point, build a StoryMap. If they need to explore data and take action across multiple views, build an Experience Builder app. Many organizations need both, for different audiences. Our comparison of StoryMaps versus static maps and our gallery of Esri StoryMap examples help clarify when the narrative format wins.
Working with GeoLever
GeoLever configures ArcGIS Experience Builder applications as part of its GeoConsult engagements, always with out-of-the-box Esri tools rather than custom code, so what we build stays maintainable by your team. Diana Muresan, a Senior GIS Engineer and Certified ArcGIS Expert, leads the configuration and ties it to a sound data foundation underneath. Every engagement is scoped and quoted within 48 hours of a 30-minute discovery call. See the services or book a discovery call to talk through your application.
A configuration walkthrough
Understanding how an Experience Builder app comes together makes the tool less abstract. Configuration follows a consistent pattern, none of which involves writing code.
- Connect data sources. Add the web maps and feature services the app will use. Because these are live ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise services, the app stays current as the data changes.
- Choose a template and layout. Start from a responsive template, then arrange pages and panels to match how the audience will move through the app.
- Add widgets. Drop in a map, a list, a chart, a filter, or a search widget. Each is configured through its settings rather than through programming.
- Wire interactions. Link widgets so a selection in the map filters the list, or a filter updates the chart. This message-passing between widgets is what makes the result a genuine application rather than a static page.
- Share with the right audience. Publish the app and govern access through the same sharing model your organization already uses across the ArcGIS platform.
The whole flow is configuration, which is precisely why it stays maintainable by a GIS team. There is no codebase to inherit and no developer dependency to manage when staff change.
Governance and maintenance considerations
An application is only as useful as it is trustworthy and current, so a few governance habits matter. Decide who owns the app and who can edit it. Keep the underlying feature services clean, because a polished app on unreliable data is worse than no app at all. Document the data sources and the intent of each page so a future colleague can maintain it. Because Experience Builder reads live data, most maintenance is about keeping that data healthy rather than touching the app itself, which is a far lighter burden than maintaining custom software.
Where Experience Builder fits in a broader platform strategy
Experience Builder is one tool in the Esri out-of-the-box toolkit, alongside Field Maps for field data collection, Survey123 for structured data submission, and ArcGIS Dashboards for real-time monitoring. The strongest implementations combine them: a Survey123 form feeds a feature service, a dashboard monitors the incoming data, and an Experience Builder app gives staff a richer way to explore and act on it. Seen this way, Experience Builder is the assembly layer that ties live data and other Esri tools into a single interface for a specific audience. Choosing it, rather than custom development, keeps your geospatial applications inside one coherent, supported platform that your own team can own over the long term.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ArcGIS Experience Builder used for?
It is used to create web apps and interactive experiences without code, by combining maps, widgets, data sources, and layouts into a configurable application hosted on ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. It suits multi-view apps with linked widgets, sitting between a simple shared web map and a fully custom-coded application.
Do I need to know how to code to use Experience Builder?
No. Experience Builder is a configuration tool. You connect data sources, add widgets, and arrange a layout visually, with no custom development required. This is what keeps applications maintainable by a GIS team rather than dependent on software developers.
What is the difference between Experience Builder and Web AppBuilder?
Experience Builder is the more flexible and modern tool, with full layout control, multi-page experiences, and responsive design that Web AppBuilder does not offer. For new applications it is generally the better starting point, while Web AppBuilder continues to serve existing apps and certain configurations.
When should I use a StoryMap instead of Experience Builder?
Use an Esri StoryMap when the goal is a guided, scrolling narrative for an audience that should follow a story you control. Use Experience Builder when the audience needs to explore data and act across multiple views with linked widgets. The deciding question is narrative versus interaction.
Can Experience Builder apps use live data?
Yes. Because Experience Builder is part of the ArcGIS platform, apps read live from feature services and reflect changes in the underlying data. Access is governed by the same ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise sharing model your organization already uses.
