OpenLayers 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?
OpenLayers
High-performance library for all kinds of web maps
VS
Valhalla
Open-source routing engine with multimodal support
| Feature | OpenLayers | Valhalla |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | source, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,532 | ★ 6,050 |
| First released | 2006 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Google Maps JavaScript API | Google Directions API |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenLayers if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Mature project with 12.5k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
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 OpenLayers or Valhalla better?
OpenLayers is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Valhalla if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are OpenLayers and Valhalla free and open-source?
Yes. OpenLayers is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Valhalla under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenLayers and Valhalla with Docker?
OpenLayers: check the project docs for container support. Valhalla: yes.