Today in Edworking News we want to talk about OpenFreeMap
What is OpenFreeMap?
OpenFreeMap lets you display custom maps on your website and apps for free. You can either self-host or use our public instance. Everything is open-source, including the full production setup — there’s no ‘open-core’ model here. Check out our GitHub. The map data comes from OpenStreetMap. Using our public instance is completely free: there are no limits on the number of map views or requests. There’s no registration, no user database, no API keys, and no cookies. We aim to cover the running costs of our public instance through donations. We also provide weekly full planet downloads both in Btrfs and MBTiles formats.
How can I use it?
Have a look at the default styles and read more about how to integrate it to your website or app.
Why build this project?
OpenStreetMap is one of the most important collective projects in history. It began 20 years ago, and today, 3 million edits are made each day! For a long time, when you wanted to use the map on your website or app, you had to look for a commercial map tile provider and hope your site didn’t become too popular. Otherwise, you might end up with a $10,000 bill in a single day, as Hoodmaps did. Self-hosting was an option, but it required a big server and a lot of time to get it right. Since I’ve spent many years developing the map tile infrastructure for MapHub, I decided to open-source it so anyone can use it. With OpenFreeMap, you now have the option to either set up your own server with just one line of code or use our public instance.
How can offer a free public instance?
There is no technical reason why map hosting costs as much as it does today. Vector tiles are just static files. It’s true that serving hundreds of millions of files is not easy, but at the end of the day, they are just files. Financially, the plan is to keep renting servers until they cover the bandwidth. I believe it can be self-sustainable if enough people subscribe to the support plans. If this project helps you save on your map hosting costs, please consider subscribing to a support plan.
What is the tech stack?
There is no tile server running; only nginx serving a Btrfs image with 300 million hard-linked files. This was my idea; I haven’t read about anyone else doing this in production, but it works really well. (You can read more about it on GitHub). There is no cloud, just dedicated servers. Special thanks go to Michael Barry for developing Planetiler. It made it possible to generate the tiles in 5 hours instead of 5 weeks. The map schema is OpenMapTiles. The styles are forked and heavily modified.
Attribution
Attribution is required. If you are using MapLibre, they are automatically added, you have nothing to do. If you are using alternative clients, or if you are using this in printed media or video, you must add the following attribution: OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap You do not need to display the OpenFreeMap part, but it is nice if you do.
OpenStreetMap logo, the source of map data for OpenFreeMap.
Remember these 3 key ideas for your startup:
Cost Efficiency: OpenFreeMap offers a free public instance with no limits on map views or requests, saving your startup significant costs on map hosting.
Ease of Integration: With open-source infrastructure and no need for API keys or registration, integrating custom maps into your website or app is straightforward and hassle-free.
Support and Sustainability: Consider sponsoring the project to ensure its longevity and benefit from potential paid support plans for a smoother transition and SLA guarantees.
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Example of a custom map integration using OpenStreetMap data.
For more details, see the original source.
