SHSelfHostIndex

Headway vs OpenStreetMap Website

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 Website The Rails application powering openstreetmap.org
FeatureHeadwayOpenStreetMap Website
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score84 · Excellent84 · Excellent
CategoryMaps & GISMaps & GIS
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageRustRuby
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM8,192 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 3,002★ 2,834
First released20222006
ReplacesGoogle MapsGoogle Maps

What are Headway and OpenStreetMap Website?

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 Website

The OpenStreetMap website is the open-source Rails application that runs openstreetmap.org. It provides the map browsing interface, data editing tools, and user accounts for the collaborative world map.

  • Collaborative map editing
  • User accounts and diaries
  • Map data API
  • Open map data

Headway vs OpenStreetMap Website: key differences

Headway is written in Rust, while OpenStreetMap Website is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Headway versus GPL-2.0 for OpenStreetMap Website. OpenStreetMap Website is the lighter option, starting around 4,096 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for Headway. OpenStreetMap Website is the more established project (first released 2006), while Headway arrived in 2022.

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 Website if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Ruby
OpenStreetMap Website details

Frequently asked questions

Is Headway or OpenStreetMap Website 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 Website free and open-source?

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

Can I run Headway and OpenStreetMap Website with Docker?

Headway: yes. OpenStreetMap Website: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Headway or OpenStreetMap Website?

OpenStreetMap Website 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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