Hauk vs Leaflet
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?
Hauk
Self-hosted real-time location sharing service
VS
Leaflet
Lightweight JavaScript library for interactive maps
| Feature | Hauk | Leaflet |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Java | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 924 | ★ 45,461 |
| First released | 2019 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Google Maps location sharing | Google Maps JavaScript API |
Why pick each one
Choose Hauk if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Java
Choose Leaflet if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 45.5k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Hauk or Leaflet better?
Neither is universally better. Leaflet has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Hauk and Leaflet free and open-source?
Yes. Hauk is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Leaflet under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hauk and Leaflet with Docker?
Hauk: yes. Leaflet: check the project docs for container support.