OpenStreetMap Website vs Tangram
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
Tangram
Flexible WebGL map rendering engine
| Feature | OpenStreetMap Website | Tangram |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,796 | ★ 2,335 |
| First released | 2006 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Google Maps | Mapbox GL JS, Google Maps |
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 Tangram if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (2.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenStreetMap Website or Tangram better?
Neither is universally better. OpenStreetMap Website has the larger community, while Tangram is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenStreetMap Website and Tangram free and open-source?
Yes. OpenStreetMap Website is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Tangram under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenStreetMap Website and Tangram with Docker?
OpenStreetMap Website: yes. Tangram: check the project docs for container support.