kepler.gl vs Tileserver PHP
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?
kepler.gl
Open-source geospatial data visualization tool
VS
Tileserver PHP
Lightweight PHP server for map tiles and UTFGrids
| Feature | kepler.gl | Tileserver PHP |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,954 | ★ 594 |
| First released | 2018 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Tableau, ArcGIS | Mapbox, Google Maps tiles |
Why pick each one
Choose kepler.gl if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 12k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Tileserver PHP if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is kepler.gl or Tileserver PHP better?
Neither is universally better. kepler.gl has the larger community, while Tileserver PHP is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are kepler.gl and Tileserver PHP free and open-source?
Yes. kepler.gl is licensed under MIT and Tileserver PHP under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run kepler.gl and Tileserver PHP with Docker?
kepler.gl: check the project docs for container support. Tileserver PHP: check the project docs for container support.