Tileserver PHP vs Protomaps
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?
Tileserver PHP
Lightweight PHP server for map tiles and UTFGrids
VS
Protomaps
Serverless maps from a single PMTiles archive
| Feature | Tileserver PHP | Protomaps |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 594 | ★ 2,980 |
| First released | 2013 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Mapbox, Google Maps tiles | Mapbox, Google Maps |
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 Protomaps if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Tileserver PHP or Protomaps better?
Neither is universally better. Protomaps 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 Protomaps free and open-source?
Yes. Tileserver PHP is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Protomaps under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Tileserver PHP and Protomaps with Docker?
Tileserver PHP: check the project docs for container support. Protomaps: check the project docs for container support.