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? Compare Headway with Compare openstreetmap-tile-server with

HE Headway Self-hostable maps stack you can run yourself VS OP openstreetmap-tile-server Dockerized OpenStreetMap raster tile server

Feature	Headway	openstreetmap-tile-server
Deploy effort	Under-an-hour setup	Under-an-hour setup
Health score	84 · Excellent	15 · At risk
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	★ 3,002	★ 1,449
First released	2022	2017
Replaces	Google Maps	Google Maps

What are Headway and openstreetmap-tile-server?

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-tile-server

openstreetmap-tile-server is a Docker image that bundles everything needed to run an OpenStreetMap raster tile server. It imports OSM data and renders standard map tiles with a single container.

All-in-one tile server
OSM data import
Standard map rendering
Single Docker container

Headway vs openstreetmap-tile-server: key differences

Headway is written in Rust, while openstreetmap-tile-server is built with Shell. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Headway versus MIT for openstreetmap-tile-server. Openstreetmap-tile-server is the lighter option, starting around 4,096 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for Headway. Openstreetmap-tile-server is the more established project (first released 2017), while Headway arrived in 2022. Headway has the considerably larger community, at 3,002 GitHub stars versus 1,449.

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-tile-server if…

Released under the MIT license
First-class Docker support for quick deployment
Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
Written in Shell

openstreetmap-tile-server details

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.

Which is lighter on resources, Headway or openstreetmap-tile-server?

openstreetmap-tile-server 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.