Martin vs OpenMapTiles
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Martin | OpenMapTiles |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 79 · Good |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Rust | PLpgSQL |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,936 | ★ 3,170 |
| First released | 2018 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Mapbox | Mapbox |
What are Martin and OpenMapTiles?
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
OpenMapTiles
OpenMapTiles is an open-source toolset for self-hosting the entire pipeline of generating vector map tiles from OpenStreetMap data. It produces ready-to-use tiles and styles for serving custom maps.
- Full vector tile pipeline
- OSM data import
- Multiple map styles
- Self-hosted tile generation
Martin vs OpenMapTiles: key differences
Martin is written in Rust, while OpenMapTiles is built with PLpgSQL. Licensing differs — MIT for Martin versus BSD-3-Clause for OpenMapTiles. Martin is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for OpenMapTiles. OpenMapTiles is the more established project (first released 2016), while Martin arrived in 2018.
Why pick each one
Choose Martin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose OpenMapTiles if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in PLpgSQL
Frequently asked questions
Is Martin or OpenMapTiles better?
Martin is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenMapTiles if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Martin and OpenMapTiles free and open-source?
Yes. Martin is licensed under MIT and OpenMapTiles under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Martin and OpenMapTiles with Docker?
Martin: yes. OpenMapTiles: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Martin or OpenMapTiles?
Martin has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 8,192 MB for OpenMapTiles. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.