Nominatim vs Pelias
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Nominatim | Pelias |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 81 · Excellent |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Twig |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 16,384 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,499 | ★ 3,592 |
| First released | 2008 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Google Geocoding API | Google Geocoding API, Mapbox Geocoding |
What are Nominatim and Pelias?
Nominatim
Nominatim is a tool to search OpenStreetMap data by name and address and to generate addresses from coordinates. It powers the search box on openstreetmap.org and can be self-hosted as a geocoding API.
- Address search
- Reverse geocoding
- OSM data based
- Self-hosted geocoding API
Pelias
Pelias is a modular, open-source geocoder that searches and ranks place names and addresses from multiple data sources. It runs on Elasticsearch and can be fully self-hosted for privacy.
- Multi-source data ingest
- Autocomplete search
- Reverse geocoding
- Elasticsearch backend
Nominatim vs Pelias: key differences
Nominatim is written in Python, while Pelias is built with Twig. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Nominatim versus MIT for Pelias. Pelias is the lighter option, starting around 4,096 MB of RAM against 16,384 MB for Nominatim. Nominatim is the more established project (first released 2008), while Pelias arrived in 2014.
Why pick each one
Choose Nominatim if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose Pelias if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (3.6k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Nominatim or Pelias better?
Neither is universally better. Nominatim has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Nominatim and Pelias free and open-source?
Yes. Nominatim is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Pelias under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nominatim and Pelias with Docker?
Nominatim: yes. Pelias: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Nominatim or Pelias?
Pelias has the smaller minimum footprint at 4,096 MB of RAM, compared to about 16,384 MB for Nominatim. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.