Hauk 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?
Hauk
Self-hosted real-time location sharing service
VS
OpenLayers
High-performance library for all kinds of web maps
| Feature | Hauk | OpenLayers |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Java | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 924 | ★ 12,532 |
| First released | 2019 | 2006 |
| 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 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 Hauk or OpenLayers better?
Neither is universally better. OpenLayers 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 OpenLayers free and open-source?
Yes. Hauk is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenLayers under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hauk and OpenLayers with Docker?
Hauk: yes. OpenLayers: check the project docs for container support.