GraphHopper vs OSRM
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?
GraphHopper
Fast and flexible open-source routing engine
VS
OSRM
High-performance routing engine for OpenStreetMap
| Feature | GraphHopper | OSRM |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Java | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,619 | ★ 7,955 |
| First released | 2012 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Google Directions API | Google Directions API |
Why pick each one
Choose GraphHopper if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Java
Choose OSRM if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is GraphHopper or OSRM better?
Neither is universally better. OSRM has the larger community, while GraphHopper is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are GraphHopper and OSRM free and open-source?
Yes. GraphHopper is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OSRM under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GraphHopper and OSRM with Docker?
GraphHopper: yes. OSRM: yes.