SHSelfHostIndex

Headway vs OpenStreetMap Carto

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?
HE Headway Self-hostable maps stack you can run yourself VS OP OpenStreetMap Carto The standard map style for OpenStreetMap rendering
FeatureHeadwayOpenStreetMap Carto
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupRead-the-docs project
Health score84 · Excellent81 · Excellent
CategoryMaps & GISMaps & GIS
LicenseApache-2.0CC0-1.0
LanguageRustCartoCSS
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM8,192 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentdockerbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 3,002★ 1,730
First released20222012
ReplacesGoogle MapsGoogle Maps

What are Headway and OpenStreetMap Carto?

Headway

Headway is a complete, self-hostable maps stack that combines tiles, geocoding, and routing into one deployment. It aims to let anyone run their own Google Maps replacement for a city or region.

  • Complete maps stack
  • Search and routing built in
  • Per-region deployment
  • Privacy focused

OpenStreetMap Carto

OpenStreetMap Carto is the CartoCSS map stylesheet used to render the standard map layer on openstreetmap.org. It is used with renderers like Mapnik to produce raster tiles from OSM data.

  • Standard OSM map style
  • Mapnik rendering
  • Detailed cartography
  • Widely reused base style

Headway vs OpenStreetMap Carto: key differences

Headway is written in Rust, while OpenStreetMap Carto is built with CartoCSS. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Headway versus CC0-1.0 for OpenStreetMap Carto. OpenStreetMap Carto is the lighter option, starting around 4,096 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for Headway. OpenStreetMap Carto is the more established project (first released 2012), while Headway arrived in 2022. Headway lists first-class Docker deployment; OpenStreetMap Carto does not.

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
Headway details

Choose OpenStreetMap Carto if…

  • Released under the CC0-1.0 license
  • Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
  • Written in CartoCSS
OpenStreetMap Carto details

Frequently asked questions

Is Headway or OpenStreetMap Carto better?

Neither is universally better. Headway has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Headway and OpenStreetMap Carto free and open-source?

Yes. Headway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenStreetMap Carto under CC0-1.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Headway and OpenStreetMap Carto with Docker?

Headway: yes. OpenStreetMap Carto: check the project docs for container support.

Which is lighter on resources, Headway or OpenStreetMap Carto?

OpenStreetMap Carto has the smaller minimum footprint at 4,096 MB of RAM, compared to about 8,192 MB for Headway. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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