OpenMapTiles vs Protomaps
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?
OpenMapTiles
Toolset for generating vector tiles from OpenStreetMap
VS
Protomaps
Serverless maps from a single PMTiles archive
| Feature | OpenMapTiles | Protomaps |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PLpgSQL | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | binary, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,133 | ★ 2,980 |
| First released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Mapbox | Mapbox, Google Maps |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenMapTiles if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in PLpgSQL
Choose Protomaps if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenMapTiles or Protomaps better?
Neither is universally better. OpenMapTiles has the larger community, while Protomaps is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenMapTiles and Protomaps free and open-source?
Yes. OpenMapTiles is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Protomaps under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenMapTiles and Protomaps with Docker?
OpenMapTiles: yes. Protomaps: check the project docs for container support.