Headway 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?
Headway
Self-hostable maps stack you can run yourself
VS
OpenLayers
High-performance library for all kinds of web maps
| Feature | Headway | OpenLayers |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Rust | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | source, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,957 | ★ 12,532 |
| First released | 2022 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Google Maps | Google Maps JavaScript API |
Why pick each one
Choose Headway if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
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 Headway or OpenLayers better?
OpenLayers is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Headway if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Headway and OpenLayers free and open-source?
Yes. Headway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenLayers under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headway and OpenLayers with Docker?
Headway: yes. OpenLayers: check the project docs for container support.