OpenStreetMap Website vs Pelias
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?
OpenStreetMap Website
The Rails application powering openstreetmap.org
VS
Pelias
Modular open-source geocoder powered by Elasticsearch
| Feature | OpenStreetMap Website | Pelias |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | Twig |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,796 | ★ 3,562 |
| First released | 2006 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Google Maps | Google Geocoding API, Mapbox Geocoding |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenStreetMap Website if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Ruby
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 OpenStreetMap Website or Pelias better?
Neither is universally better. Pelias has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OpenStreetMap Website and Pelias free and open-source?
Yes. OpenStreetMap Website is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Pelias under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenStreetMap Website and Pelias with Docker?
OpenStreetMap Website: yes. Pelias: yes.