MapLibre GL JS 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?
MapLibre GL JS
Open-source interactive vector map library for the web
VS
Photon
Fast, typo-tolerant geocoder built on OpenStreetMap
| Feature | MapLibre GL JS | Photon |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | source, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,304 | ★ 2,972 |
| First released | 2020 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Mapbox GL JS, Google Maps JavaScript API | Google Geocoding API |
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
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 MapLibre GL JS or Photon 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 Photon free and open-source?
Yes. MapLibre GL JS is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Photon under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MapLibre GL JS and Photon with Docker?
MapLibre GL JS: check the project docs for container support. Photon: yes.