SHSelfHostIndex

MapLibre GL JS vs openstreetmap-tile-server

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 OP openstreetmap-tile-server Dockerized OpenStreetMap raster tile server
FeatureMapLibre GL JSopenstreetmap-tile-server
CategoryMaps & GISMaps & GIS
LicenseBSD-3-ClauseMIT
LanguageTypeScriptShell
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentsource, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 11,304★ 1,452
First released20202017
ReplacesMapbox GL JS, Google Maps JavaScript APIGoogle Maps

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 openstreetmap-tile-server if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Shell
openstreetmap-tile-server details

Frequently asked questions

Is MapLibre GL JS or openstreetmap-tile-server better?

Neither is universally better. MapLibre GL JS has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are MapLibre GL JS and openstreetmap-tile-server free and open-source?

Yes. MapLibre GL JS is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and openstreetmap-tile-server under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run MapLibre GL JS and openstreetmap-tile-server with Docker?

MapLibre GL JS: check the project docs for container support. openstreetmap-tile-server: yes.

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