Software Alternatives & Reviews

Mapnik VS Mapserver

Compare Mapnik VS Mapserver and see what are their differences

Mapnik logo Mapnik

Mapnik is a Free Toolkit for developing mapping applications.

Mapserver logo Mapserver

MapServer is an Open Source platform for publishing spatial data and interactive mapping...
  • Mapnik Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-03-12
  • Mapserver Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-13

Mapnik videos

The Secret to Mapnik Mastery

Mapserver videos

2019 - State of MapServer

More videos:

  • Review - Course Preview: Creating Geospatial Maps with MapServer and GDAL
  • Review - MapServer Project Status Report - Meet The Developers!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Mapnik and Mapserver)
Maps
37 37%
63% 63
Mapping And GIS
39 39%
61% 61
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Web Mapping
31 31%
69% 69

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Mapserver seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Mapnik mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Mapnik yet. Tracking of Mapnik recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Mapserver mentions (3)

  • GIS Developer career path
    If you want to get into web GeoDjango is a popular option for the backend, but you could also learn to roll your own with flask/FastAPI. You also have some choice of JavaScript libraries for the frontend, [Leaflet]() and [OpenLayers]() are likely the most popular frameworks, but there are others (personally I'd recommend OpenLayers as it's the only one backed by OSGeo as far as I know). It also wouldn't hurt to... Source: over 1 year ago
  • Why do I need geoserver?
    GeoServer and MapServer both have full OGC services, WMS, WMTS, WFS, etc. They have caching and tiling. Accessing OGC services through a web server will require an OGC server. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Welcome to the MapServer subreddit!
    Welcome here, fellow MapServer user! 🗺️. Source: about 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Mapnik and Mapserver, you can also consider the following products

GeoServer - The reference implementation of the Open Geospatial Consortiums WFS and WMS services, GeoServer is...

QGIS - QGIS is a desktop geographic information system, or GIS.

ArcGIS - ArcGIS software is a data analysis, cloud-based mapping platform that allows users to customize maps and see real-time data ranging from logistics support to overall mapping analysis.

Mapbox - An open source mapping platform for custom designed maps. Our APIs and SDKs are the building blocks to integrate location into any mobile or web app.

PostGIS - Open source spatial database

Leaflet - Leaflet is a modern, lightweight open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps.