Protomaps vs Tegola
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted maps & gis options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Protomaps | Tegola |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 69 · Good |
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,056 | ★ 1,505 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Mapbox, Google Maps | Mapbox, Tilehosting |
What are Protomaps and Tegola?
Protomaps
Protomaps is an open-source project for displaying maps from a single static file in the PMTiles format. It enables serverless map hosting on object storage or a CDN with no tile server required.
- Single-file map archives
- Serverless hosting
- Works on object storage
- Cheap to operate
Tegola
Tegola is an open-source vector tile server that generates Mapbox Vector Tiles from PostGIS and other spatial data sources. It serves fast, styleable maps to web and mobile clients.
- Mapbox Vector Tile output
- PostGIS data source
- Tile caching
- Single-binary deploy
Protomaps vs Tegola: key differences
Protomaps is written in TypeScript, while Tegola is built with Go. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Protomaps versus MIT for Tegola. Protomaps is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Tegola. Tegola is the more established project (first released 2016), while Protomaps arrived in 2021. Protomaps has the considerably larger community, at 3,056 GitHub stars versus 1,505. Tegola lists first-class Docker deployment; Protomaps does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Protomaps if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Tegola if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Protomaps or Tegola better?
Neither is universally better. Protomaps has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Protomaps and Tegola free and open-source?
Yes. Protomaps is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Tegola under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Protomaps and Tegola with Docker?
Protomaps: check the project docs for container support. Tegola: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Protomaps or Tegola?
Protomaps has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Tegola. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.