Mapnik vs Tangram
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?
Mapnik
Toolkit for rendering raster map tiles from spatial data
VS
Tangram
Flexible WebGL map rendering engine
| Feature | Mapnik | Tangram |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | MIT |
| Language | C++ | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,949 | ★ 2,335 |
| First released | 2006 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Maps, Mapbox | Mapbox GL JS, Google Maps |
Why pick each one
Choose Mapnik if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Choose Tangram if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Mapnik or Tangram better?
Neither is universally better. Mapnik has the larger community, while Tangram is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mapnik and Tangram free and open-source?
Yes. Mapnik is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Tangram under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mapnik and Tangram with Docker?
Mapnik: yes. Tangram: check the project docs for container support.