OSRM vs Traccar
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?
| Feature | OSRM | Traccar |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,955 | ★ 7,563 |
| First released | 2012 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Google Directions API | Google Maps, Life360 |
Why pick each one
Choose OSRM if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Choose Traccar if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 7.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is OSRM or Traccar better?
Neither is universally better. OSRM has the larger community, while Traccar is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OSRM and Traccar free and open-source?
Yes. OSRM is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Traccar under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OSRM and Traccar with Docker?
OSRM: yes. Traccar: yes.