deck.gl vs OpenStreetMap Carto
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?
deck.gl
WebGL-powered framework for large-scale data visualization on maps
VS
OpenStreetMap Carto
The standard map style for OpenStreetMap rendering
| Feature | deck.gl | OpenStreetMap Carto |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | CC0-1.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | CartoCSS |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,360 | ★ 1,723 |
| First released | 2016 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Mapbox visualization, ArcGIS | Google Maps |
Why pick each one
Choose deck.gl if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 14.4k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose OpenStreetMap Carto if…
- Released under the CC0-1.0 license
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in CartoCSS
Frequently asked questions
Is deck.gl or OpenStreetMap Carto better?
deck.gl is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenStreetMap Carto if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are deck.gl and OpenStreetMap Carto free and open-source?
Yes. deck.gl is licensed under MIT and OpenStreetMap Carto under CC0-1.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run deck.gl and OpenStreetMap Carto with Docker?
deck.gl: check the project docs for container support. OpenStreetMap Carto: check the project docs for container support.