Leaflet 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?
Leaflet
Lightweight JavaScript library for interactive maps
VS
Tileserver PHP
Lightweight PHP server for map tiles and UTFGrids
| Feature | Leaflet | Tileserver PHP |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 45,461 | ★ 594 |
| First released | 2011 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Maps JavaScript API | Mapbox, Google Maps tiles |
Why pick each one
Choose Leaflet if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 45.5k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
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 Leaflet or Tileserver PHP better?
Neither is universally better. Leaflet has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Leaflet and Tileserver PHP free and open-source?
Yes. Leaflet is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Tileserver PHP under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Leaflet and Tileserver PHP with Docker?
Leaflet: check the project docs for container support. Tileserver PHP: check the project docs for container support.