Hauk vs MapLibre GL JS
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
MapLibre GL JS
Open-source interactive vector map library for the web
| Feature | Hauk | MapLibre GL JS |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Java | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 924 | ★ 11,304 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Maps location sharing | Mapbox GL JS, 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 MapLibre GL JS if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Mature project with 11.3k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Hauk or MapLibre GL JS better?
Neither is universally better. MapLibre GL JS has the larger community, while Hauk is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Hauk and MapLibre GL JS free and open-source?
Yes. Hauk is licensed under Apache-2.0 and MapLibre GL JS under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hauk and MapLibre GL JS with Docker?
Hauk: yes. MapLibre GL JS: check the project docs for container support.