Headway vs openstreetmap-tile-server
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
openstreetmap-tile-server
Dockerized OpenStreetMap raster tile server
| Feature | Headway | openstreetmap-tile-server |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,957 | ★ 1,452 |
| First released | 2022 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Google Maps | Google Maps |
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 openstreetmap-tile-server if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Shell
Frequently asked questions
Is Headway or openstreetmap-tile-server better?
Neither is universally better. Headway has the larger community, while openstreetmap-tile-server is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Headway and openstreetmap-tile-server free and open-source?
Yes. Headway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openstreetmap-tile-server under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headway and openstreetmap-tile-server with Docker?
Headway: yes. openstreetmap-tile-server: yes.