TileServer GL 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?
TileServer GL
Serve vector and raster map tiles from MBTiles
VS
Valhalla
Open-source routing engine with multimodal support
| Feature | TileServer GL | Valhalla |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,872 | ★ 6,050 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Mapbox | Google Directions API |
Why pick each one
Choose TileServer GL if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
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 TileServer GL or Valhalla better?
Neither is universally better. Valhalla has the larger community, while TileServer GL is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are TileServer GL and Valhalla free and open-source?
Yes. TileServer GL is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Valhalla under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run TileServer GL and Valhalla with Docker?
TileServer GL: yes. Valhalla: yes.