SHSelfHostIndex

MapLibre GL JS vs OpenStreetMap Website

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 Website The Rails application powering openstreetmap.org
FeatureMapLibre GL JSOpenStreetMap Website
CategoryMaps & GISMaps & GIS
LicenseBSD-3-ClauseGPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptRuby
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM256 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentsource, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 11,304★ 2,796
First released20202006
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 Website if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Ruby
OpenStreetMap Website details

Frequently asked questions

Is MapLibre GL JS or OpenStreetMap Website better?

MapLibre GL JS is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenStreetMap Website if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are MapLibre GL JS and OpenStreetMap Website free and open-source?

Yes. MapLibre GL JS is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and OpenStreetMap Website under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run MapLibre GL JS and OpenStreetMap Website with Docker?

MapLibre GL JS: check the project docs for container support. OpenStreetMap Website: yes.

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