Compare software

TileServer GL vs GeoServer: catalog facts
TileServer GL	GeoServer
Best for: Developers hosting their own vector and raster map tiles	Best for: Organisations publishing spatial data through standard web map services
Free Free to download and run from the GitHub repository.	Free Free and open source; commercial support is available from third-party companies.
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Serves both vector and raster tiles Server-side rendering with MapLibre GL Native All 4 strengths for TileServer GL Serves both vector and raster tiles Server-side rendering with MapLibre GL Native Works with MapLibre, Leaflet, OpenLayers and WMTS clients Docker images including a light variant	OGC-certified WMS, WFS, WCS and WMTS Reads many spatial data sources All 4 strengths for GeoServer OGC-certified WMS, WFS, WCS and WMTS Reads many spatial data sources Active releases with security updates in 2026 OSGeo project with commercial support options
Needs your own tile data and some server setup Aimed at developers rather than casual map users	Requires GIS knowledge to set up and run Server software, not a map viewer for end users
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for TileServer GL github.com/maptiler/tileserver-gl Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for GeoServer geoserver.org Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.