SHSelfHostIndex

MapLibre GL JS vs React Leaflet Maps

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?
MA MapLibre GL JS Open-source interactive vector map library for the web VS RE React Leaflet Maps React components for embedding Leaflet maps
FeatureMapLibre GL JSReact Leaflet Maps
CategoryMaps & GISMaps & GIS
LicenseBSD-3-ClauseHippocratic-2.1
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentsource, bare-metalsource
GitHub stars★ 11,304★ 5,598
First released20202015
ReplacesMapbox GL JS, Google Maps JavaScript APIGoogle Maps React, Mapbox React

Why pick each one

Choose MapLibre GL JS if…

  • Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
  • Mature project with 11.3k GitHub stars
  • Written in TypeScript
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
MapLibre GL JS details

Choose React Leaflet Maps if…

  • Released under the Hippocratic-2.1 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 5.6k GitHub stars
  • Written in TypeScript
React Leaflet Maps details

Frequently asked questions

Is MapLibre GL JS or React Leaflet Maps better?

Neither is universally better. MapLibre GL JS has the larger community, while React Leaflet Maps is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are MapLibre GL JS and React Leaflet Maps free and open-source?

Yes. MapLibre GL JS is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and React Leaflet Maps under Hippocratic-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run MapLibre GL JS and React Leaflet Maps with Docker?

MapLibre GL JS: check the project docs for container support. React Leaflet Maps: check the project docs for container support.

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