Headway vs Photon
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
Photon
Fast, typo-tolerant geocoder built on OpenStreetMap
| Feature | Headway | Photon |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,957 | ★ 2,972 |
| First released | 2022 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Maps | Google Geocoding 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 Photon if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Headway or Photon better?
Photon 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 Photon free and open-source?
Yes. Headway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Photon under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headway and Photon with Docker?
Headway: yes. Photon: yes.