Nominatim vs Photon
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Nominatim | Photon |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 16,384 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,499 | ★ 3,068 |
| First released | 2008 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Geocoding API | Google Geocoding API |
What are Nominatim and Photon?
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
Photon
Photon is an open-source geocoder built for OpenStreetMap data that supports search-as-you-type and typo tolerance. Built on Elasticsearch, it returns results in multiple languages.
- Search-as-you-type
- Typo tolerance
- Multilingual results
- Downloadable prebuilt index
Nominatim vs Photon: key differences
Nominatim is written in Python, while Photon is built with Java. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Nominatim versus Apache-2.0 for Photon. Photon 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 Photon arrived in 2013.
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 Photon if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Nominatim or Photon better?
Neither is universally better. Nominatim has the larger community, while Photon is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Nominatim and Photon free and open-source?
Yes. Nominatim is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Photon under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nominatim and Photon with Docker?
Nominatim: yes. Photon: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Nominatim or Photon?
Photon 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.