Martin vs Protomaps
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Martin | Protomaps |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | binary, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,939 | ★ 3,056 |
| First released | 2018 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Mapbox | Mapbox, Google Maps |
What are Martin and Protomaps?
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
Protomaps
Protomaps is an open-source project for displaying maps from a single static file in the PMTiles format. It enables serverless map hosting on object storage or a CDN with no tile server required.
- Single-file map archives
- Serverless hosting
- Works on object storage
- Cheap to operate
Martin vs Protomaps: key differences
Martin is written in Rust, while Protomaps is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Martin versus BSD-3-Clause for Protomaps. Protomaps is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Martin. Martin is the more established project (first released 2018), while Protomaps arrived in 2021. Martin lists first-class Docker deployment; Protomaps does not.
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 Protomaps if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Martin or Protomaps better?
Neither is universally better. Martin has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Martin and Protomaps free and open-source?
Yes. Martin is licensed under MIT and Protomaps under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Martin and Protomaps with Docker?
Martin: yes. Protomaps: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Martin or Protomaps?
Protomaps 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.