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Martin vs Protomaps: catalog facts
Martin	Protomaps
Best for: Self-hosting vector map tiles for your own web or mobile maps	Best for: Web developers self-hosting OpenStreetMap basemaps cheaply
Free Free and open source, developed under the MapLibre organisation.	Free + paid options Software and planet download are free; the hosted API is free for noncommercial use and needs GitHub sponsorship… Full pricing details for Protomaps Software and planet download are free; the hosted API is free for noncommercial use and needs GitHub sponsorship for commercial use.
Self-hosted, Command line	Web, Self-hosted, Command line
Serves tiles from PostGIS, MBTiles and PMTiles Includes tile generation and MBTiles tooling All 4 strengths for Martin Serves tiles from PostGIS, MBTiles and PMTiles Includes tile generation and MBTiles tooling Lightweight server that is quick to deploy Active project under the MapLibre organisation	Serves maps from a single static file with no tile server Free OpenStreetMap basemap for the whole planet All 4 strengths for Protomaps Serves maps from a single static file with no tile server Free OpenStreetMap basemap for the whole planet CLI can extract just the area you need Works with MapLibre through a plugin
Needs some GIS and server knowledge to set up A backend only, with no map viewer for end users	Aimed at developers building web maps, not end users Commercial use of the hosted API requires sponsorship
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Downloadable app, Self-hosted, Hosted service
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Martin github.com/maplibre/martin Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Protomaps protomaps.com Catalog checked September 23, 2026

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