# Cesium vs Leaflet

## Key differences

- Leaflet has 2.9× as many GitHub stars as Cesium (45.7K vs 15.8K).
- Cesium had more development activity over the last 12 months: 3,159 commits vs 184.
- Leaflet is downloaded 16× as often on npm (9.3M vs 570.1K per week).
- Cesium is licensed under Apache-2.0; Leaflet under BSD-2-Clause.
- Leaflet is the older project: its repository was created in 2010, Cesium's in 2012.

| | Cesium | Leaflet |
|---|---|---|
| Description | WebGL 3D globes and maps. | JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. |
| GitHub stars | 15,798 | 45,702 |
| Commits (12 months) | 3,159 | 184 |
| Contributors | 311 | 382 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Install | `npm install cesium` | `npm install leaflet` |

Source: https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/cesium-vs-leaflet/ · Data updated 2026-10-04 · Content: CC BY 4.0, Awesome Dataviz (https://awesomedataviz.com).