Dawarich vs Mapnik
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Dawarich
Self-hosted location history tracker and visualizer
VS
Mapnik
Toolkit for rendering raster map tiles from spatial data
| Feature | Dawarich | Mapnik |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Ruby | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,036 | ★ 3,949 |
| First released | 2024 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Google Maps Timeline | Google Maps, Mapbox |
Why pick each one
Choose Dawarich if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10k GitHub stars
- Written in Ruby
Choose Mapnik if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Dawarich or Mapnik better?
Dawarich is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Mapnik if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Dawarich and Mapnik free and open-source?
Yes. Dawarich is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mapnik under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dawarich and Mapnik with Docker?
Dawarich: yes. Mapnik: yes.