Idunn vs Mimirsbrunn
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Idunn | Mimirsbrunn |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 0 · At risk | 0 · At risk |
| Status | Archived | Archived |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 38 | ★ 7 |
| First released | 2018 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Google Places API, Foursquare Places | Google Places API |
What are Idunn and Mimirsbrunn?
Idunn
Idunn is an open-source API that aggregates geocoding, place details, and points of interest for map applications. It was built to power the Qwant Maps frontend with self-hostable data services.
- Place detail API
- Points of interest
- Geocoding aggregation
- Powers Qwant Maps
Mimirsbrunn
Mimirsbrunn is an open-source geocoding system that powers fast autocomplete and address search over geographic data. It indexes OpenStreetMap and other datasets into Elasticsearch for self-hosted lookup.
- Autocomplete geocoding
- Elasticsearch indexing
- OpenStreetMap ingest
- Rust performance
Idunn vs Mimirsbrunn: key differences
Note that both projects' repositories are archived — neither is actively developed. Idunn is written in Python, while Mimirsbrunn is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Idunn versus AGPL-3.0 for Mimirsbrunn. Idunn is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Mimirsbrunn. Mimirsbrunn is the more established project (first released 2016), while Idunn arrived in 2018. Idunn has the considerably larger community, at 38 GitHub stars versus 7.
Why pick each one
Choose Idunn if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Choose Mimirsbrunn if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Idunn or Mimirsbrunn better?
Neither is universally better. Idunn has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Idunn and Mimirsbrunn free and open-source?
Yes. Idunn is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Mimirsbrunn under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Idunn and Mimirsbrunn with Docker?
Idunn: yes. Mimirsbrunn: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Idunn or Mimirsbrunn?
Idunn has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Mimirsbrunn. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.