Maptoolkit.org vs. Protomaps
Both services do the same job on paper: free, no-key vector basemaps for MapLibre, built on OpenStreetMap. In practice they solve different problems. Protomaps distributes its basemap as a single PMTiles archive - a cloud-optimized file you can serve straight from any static host over HTTP range requests, no tile server process at all. That makes it the most self-hostable option in this comparison: download an extract once, put it behind any CDN, and repeat that for regular map data updates.
Maptoolkit.org is a free, production-grade tile server with opinionated cartography. The same tiles power commercial deployments at Deutsche Bahn, Red Bull Media House and the Austrian and German National Tourism Offices - including outdoor-specific styles (Hiking, Cycling, Winter), global hillshading, contour lines, water depths and 3D terrain out of the box. There's no self-hosting on the Community License, but you get edge-cached delivery across 350+ Cloudflare data centers and weekly OSM updates taken care for you.
See the cartography side by side
Note: Sample Protomaps map limited to Barcelona/Catalunya.
The differences that matter.
All of these solutions are highly innovative, each tailoring to different strengths. Choose the one that best fits your project requirements.
| Dimension | Maptoolkit.org | Protomaps | OpenFreeMap | VersaTiles | OpenMapTiles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Available as | Free tile server | Limited tile server, data download | Free tile server, data download | Free tile server, data download | Do-it-yourself toolchain |
| Cost | Free | Free tile server for non-commercial use, free downloads | Free | Free | Free |
| Monthly request limits | unlimited | 1M tile requests | unlimited | unlimited | |
| Attribution | © Maptoolkit © OSM + logo | © Protomaps © OpenStreetMap | OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles – Data from OpenStreetMap | © OpenStreetMap contributors | © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors |
| API key / sign-up | None | API key | None | None | |
| Commercial use | (< €1M/year) | (downloads only) | |||
| OSM updates | Weekly | Daily (API) | Weekly | Several times per year | |
| Max data zoom | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Tile schema | Maptoolkit | Protomaps | OpenMapTiles | Shortbread | OpenMapTiles |
| Standard styles | Summer, Light, Hiking, Winter, Dark, Street, Cycling (7) | Light, Dark, White, Grayscale, Black (5) | Liberty, Positron, Bright, Dark, Fiord (5) | Colorful, Eclipse, Graybeard, Shadow, Neutrino (5) | OpenMapTiles, Basic, Bright, Positron, Dark Matter, Fiord Color, Toner (7) |
| Style editor | MapMaker | tiles.versatiles.org | |||
| Hillshading / contour lines | Just hillshade, download only | ||||
| Swiss-style rock drawing in the Alps | |||||
| Water depths | Download only | ||||
| 3D terrain | Download only | ||||
| Labels for regions, mountain ranges, valleys, etc. | |||||
| Provider | Maptoolkit.com, Austria & Germany | Brandon Liu (individual), USA | Zsolt Ero (individual), Hungary | Michael Kreil (individual), Germany | Maptiler.com, Switzerland |
| Privacy | Privacy Policy | Privacy info | Privacy Policy |
Compare cartographic density and file sizes
Colors are random. Feature density: Click on any feature to inspect its data. File size: Red squares show tile boundaries. The kB value in the top left corner (to the right of the tile number) shows its file size before compression. Note: Sample Protomaps map limited to Barcelona/Catalunya.
Pick the one that fits your project.
Both are excellent within their remit. Here's the short version.
Pick Protomaps if…
- You need to self-host without running a tile server at all - just a PMTiles file behind any static host or CDN.
- Your project is large-commercial and you need a free, downloadable solution.
- You like the cartography better.
Pick Maptoolkit if…
- You want weekly OSM updates and large data sizes for worldwide coverage to be taken care for you.
- You want outdoor-grade cartography (hiking, cycling, winter, hillshading, contour lines, water depths, 3D terrain).
- You like the cartography better.