# Cartopy vs leafmap

## Key differences

- leafmap has 2.3× as many GitHub stars as Cartopy (3.8K vs 1.6K).
- Cartopy had more development activity over the last 12 months: 226 commits vs 130.
- Cartopy is downloaded 23× as often on PyPI (260.3K vs 11.3K per week).
- Cartopy is licensed under BSD-3-Clause; leafmap under MIT.
- Cartopy is the older project: its repository was created in 2012, leafmap's in 2021.

| | Cartopy | leafmap |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Cartographic projections and geospatial data plotting with matplotlib. | Interactive mapping and geospatial analysis in Jupyter with multiple mapping backends. |
| GitHub stars | 1,625 | 3,794 |
| Commits (12 months) | 226 | 130 |
| Contributors | 127 | 46 |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Install | `pip install Cartopy` | `pip install leafmap` |

Source: https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/cartopy-vs-leafmap/ · Data updated 2026-11-01 · Content: CC BY 4.0, Awesome Dataviz (https://awesomedataviz.com).