Tileserver PHP vs Martin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Tileserver PHP | Martin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 89 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 593 | ★ 3,939 |
| First released | 2013 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Mapbox, Google Maps tiles | Mapbox |
What are Tileserver PHP and Martin?
Tileserver PHP
Tileserver PHP is a lightweight server that hosts raster and vector map tiles, MBTiles, and UTFGrids over standard protocols. It is simple to deploy on common PHP hosting for serving custom maps.
- Serves MBTiles and UTFGrids
- TMS and WMTS protocols
- Runs on shared PHP hosting
- Raster and vector tiles
Martin
Martin is a high-performance vector tile server that serves tiles directly from PostGIS databases, PMTiles, and MBTiles files. It powers fast, dynamic map serving with minimal configuration.
- PostGIS tile serving
- PMTiles and MBTiles support
- Auto-discovery of sources
- High performance
Tileserver PHP vs Martin: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Tileserver PHP's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Martin is actively maintained. Tileserver PHP is written in PHP, while Martin is built with Rust. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for Tileserver PHP versus MIT for Martin. Tileserver PHP is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Martin. Tileserver PHP is the more established project (first released 2013), while Martin arrived in 2018. Martin has the considerably larger community, at 3,939 GitHub stars versus 593. Martin lists first-class Docker deployment; Tileserver PHP does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Tileserver PHP if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Martin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Tileserver PHP or Martin better?
Neither is universally better. Martin has the larger community, while Tileserver PHP is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Tileserver PHP and Martin free and open-source?
Yes. Tileserver PHP is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Martin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Tileserver PHP and Martin with Docker?
Tileserver PHP: check the project docs for container support. Martin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Tileserver PHP or Martin?
Tileserver PHP has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Martin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.