kepler.gl 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?
kepler.gl
Open-source geospatial data visualization tool
VS
Photon
Fast, typo-tolerant geocoder built on OpenStreetMap
| Feature | kepler.gl | Photon |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,954 | ★ 2,972 |
| First released | 2018 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Tableau, ArcGIS | Google Geocoding API |
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 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 kepler.gl or Photon better?
Neither is universally better. kepler.gl has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are kepler.gl and Photon free and open-source?
Yes. kepler.gl is licensed under MIT and Photon under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run kepler.gl and Photon with Docker?
kepler.gl: check the project docs for container support. Photon: yes.