Mapeo vs OpenLayers
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?
Mapeo
Offline-first collaborative mapping for communities
VS
OpenLayers
High-performance library for all kinds of web maps
| Feature | Mapeo | OpenLayers |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | source, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 25 | ★ 12,532 |
| First released | 2017 | 2006 |
| Replaces | ArcGIS, Google My Maps | Google Maps JavaScript API |
Why pick each one
Choose Mapeo if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose OpenLayers if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Mature project with 12.5k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Mapeo or OpenLayers better?
Neither is universally better. OpenLayers has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Mapeo and OpenLayers free and open-source?
Yes. Mapeo is licensed under MIT and OpenLayers under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mapeo and OpenLayers with Docker?
Mapeo: check the project docs for container support. OpenLayers: check the project docs for container support.