Mapnik vs wanderer
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
wanderer
Trail database where you can upload your recorded tracks or create new
| Feature | Mapnik | wanderer |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,949 | ★ 3,802 |
| First released | 2006 | 2026 |
| Replaces | Google Maps, Mapbox | — |
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 wanderer if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Mapnik or wanderer better?
Neither is universally better. Mapnik has the larger community, while wanderer is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mapnik and wanderer free and open-source?
Yes. Mapnik is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and wanderer under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mapnik and wanderer with Docker?
Mapnik: yes. wanderer: yes.