Pelias 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?
Pelias
Modular open-source geocoder powered by Elasticsearch
VS
Valhalla
Open-source routing engine with multimodal support
| Feature | Pelias | Valhalla |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Twig | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,562 | ★ 6,050 |
| First released | 2014 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Google Geocoding API, Mapbox Geocoding | Google Directions API |
Why pick each one
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)
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 Pelias or Valhalla better?
Neither is universally better. Valhalla has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Pelias and Valhalla free and open-source?
Yes. Pelias is licensed under MIT and Valhalla under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pelias and Valhalla with Docker?
Pelias: yes. Valhalla: yes.