Martin vs Valhalla
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
Valhalla
Open-source routing engine with multimodal support
| Feature | Martin | Valhalla |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,814 | ★ 6,050 |
| First released | 2018 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Mapbox | Google Directions 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 Valhalla if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Martin or Valhalla better?
Neither is universally better. Valhalla 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 Valhalla free and open-source?
Yes. Martin is licensed under MIT and Valhalla under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Martin and Valhalla with Docker?
Martin: yes. Valhalla: yes.