Headway vs Protomaps
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Headway | Protomaps |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | binary, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,002 | ★ 3,056 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Maps | Mapbox, Google Maps |
What are Headway and Protomaps?
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
Protomaps
Protomaps is an open-source project for displaying maps from a single static file in the PMTiles format. It enables serverless map hosting on object storage or a CDN with no tile server required.
- Single-file map archives
- Serverless hosting
- Works on object storage
- Cheap to operate
Headway vs Protomaps: key differences
Headway is written in Rust, while Protomaps is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Headway versus BSD-3-Clause for Protomaps. Protomaps is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for Headway. Headway lists first-class Docker deployment; Protomaps 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
Choose Protomaps if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Headway or Protomaps better?
Protomaps 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 Protomaps free and open-source?
Yes. Headway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Protomaps under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headway and Protomaps with Docker?
Headway: yes. Protomaps: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Headway or Protomaps?
Protomaps has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 8,192 MB for Headway. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.