SHSelfHostIndex

Maps & GIS

Navigate privately with self-hosted maps, routing, and geospatial tools.

52 self-hosted apps · 81 comparisons

All maps & gis apps

Last reviewed Aug 26, 2026 · 414 words

Self-hosting maps usually means self-hosting code, not the planet. The display libraries in this category are nearly free to run; the data behind them is what gets heavy. OSRM lists 8 GB of RAM as its floor before you have loaded a large road network, GraphHopper wants 4 GB, and serving your own planet-scale tiles is a project in itself. Which side of that line your idea sits on is most of the decision.

How to choose your mapping stack

Start with what kind of thing you need: a library, an engine, or a finished app. Leaflet, MapLibre GL JS, OpenLayers, and deck.gl are code you embed in your own site. OSRM and GraphHopper are routing servers you stand up behind an API. Traccar and Dawarich are complete applications with their own web UIs — no programming involved.

For the libraries, the split is raster versus vector. Leaflet (45,518 stars, maintained since 2011) draws classic raster tiles from any provider and has the deepest plugin ecosystem. MapLibre GL JS renders vector tiles on WebGL — sharper, fully restyleable, and API-compatible with the Mapbox GL it forked in 2020. OpenLayers is the pick when you need real projections and OGC services rather than a simple slippy map, and deck.gl or kepler.gl take over when "some markers" becomes millions of GPU-rendered points.

For the servers and apps, budget RAM before features: routing engines sit at the heavy end, QGIS on the desktop also lists 4 GB, and Dawarich wants 2 GB plus Postgres. Everything display-side runs anywhere.

Where to start

Embedding a map today: Leaflet plus a public tile provider under its usage policy, upgrading to MapLibre with self-hosted vector tiles only when traffic or styling demands it. Tracking vehicles or family phones: Traccar, which speaks 200+ GPS device protocols and does live tracking, geofencing, and alerts from one Java server. Replacing Google Timeline: Dawarich imports your Takeout history and renders trips and heatmaps privately — a satisfying early win in any degoogling project, though it is young (first released 2024).

My default for a first-timer is Leaflet. It is the category's only Easy-rated entry, it runs from any static host, and it teaches the tile-layer-marker mental model every other tool here assumes. Add a routing engine or a vector pipeline later, when you have a concrete reason and the RAM to match.

Curated picks

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Maps & GIS comparisons

81 head-to-head comparisons in this category.