Valhalla vs wanderer
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?
Valhalla
Open-source routing engine with multimodal support
VS
wanderer
Trail database where you can upload your recorded tracks or create new
| Feature | Valhalla | wanderer |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Maps & GIS | Maps & GIS |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,050 | ★ 3,802 |
| First released | 2015 | 2026 |
| Replaces | Google Directions API | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Valhalla if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Choose wanderer if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Valhalla or wanderer better?
Neither is universally better. Valhalla has the larger community, while wanderer is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Valhalla and wanderer free and open-source?
Yes. Valhalla is licensed under MIT and wanderer under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Valhalla and wanderer with Docker?
Valhalla: yes. wanderer: yes.