Abstract Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a quantitative representation of terrain and is important for Earth science and hydrological applications. DEM can be generated using photogrammetry, interferometry, ground and laser surveying and other techniques. Some of the DEMs such as ASTER, SRTM, and GTOPO 30 are freely available open source products. Each DEM contains intrinsic errors due to primary data acquisition technology and processing methodology in relation with a particular terrain and land cover type. The accuracy of these datasets is often unknown and is non-uniform within each dataset. In this study we evaluate open source DEMs (ASTER and SRTM) and their derived attributes using high postings Cartosat DEM and Survey of India (SOI) height information. It was found that representation of terrain characteristics is affected in the coarse postings DEM. The overall vertical accuracy shows RMS error of 12.62 m and 17.76 m for ASTER and SRTM DEM respectively, when compared with Cartosat DEM. The slope and drainage network delineation are also violated. The terrain morphology strongly influences the DEM accuracy. These results can be highly useful for researchers using such products in various modeling exercises.