Dawarich vs Tileserver PHP
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
Tileserver PHP
Lightweight PHP server for map tiles and UTFGrids
| Feature | Dawarich | Tileserver PHP |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,036 | ★ 594 |
| First released | 2024 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Maps Timeline | Mapbox, Google Maps tiles |
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 Tileserver PHP if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Dawarich or Tileserver PHP better?
Neither is universally better. Dawarich has the larger community, while Tileserver PHP is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dawarich and Tileserver PHP free and open-source?
Yes. Dawarich is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tileserver PHP under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dawarich and Tileserver PHP with Docker?
Dawarich: yes. Tileserver PHP: check the project docs for container support.