Martin vs Nominatim
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?
Martin
Blazing-fast vector tile server written in Rust
VS
Nominatim
Geocoding and reverse geocoding for OpenStreetMap data
| Feature | Martin | Nominatim |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 16,384 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,814 | ★ 4,406 |
| First released | 2018 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Mapbox | Google Geocoding API |
Why pick each one
Choose Martin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose Nominatim if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Martin or Nominatim better?
Neither is universally better. Nominatim has the larger community, while Martin is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Martin and Nominatim free and open-source?
Yes. Martin is licensed under MIT and Nominatim under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Martin and Nominatim with Docker?
Martin: yes. Nominatim: yes.