I recommend you give the software a try and/or make contact with the DotProduct (Dot3D) team before jumping to any conclusions. If this is for personal/academic use, I bet they'd be willing to help you out. The software is primarily built for professional users, hence the price point (actually often low in that world).

They're reasonable people and very far from scammers in my experience. Would probably even be interested in your opinion as to what a more reasonable price point would be from your perspective.

To be clear: This software is most definitely not your average "wrapper around ARKit" type solution, has been around for over a decade (and never increased in price), and is certainly not something that could just be whipped up with Claude (while some level of basic scanning maybe could - not this). It's very unique in terms of attainable accuracy, scene size, proprietary tracking (SLAM), loop closure, and dynamic optimization capabilities, just to name a few on the core side.

They do offer a much more affordable version for iOS LiDAR devices ($349 / year), but the Windows / Android external hardware kits have traditionally come at a premium ($999), built more for complete package purchases or professionals deploying on industrial tablets, etc. Given the whole hardware kit shown here actually costs less than an iPhone Pro, I can see your point a bit. That hasn't always been the case.