Cesium vs Leaflet
A data-driven comparison of two JavaScript map & geospatial visualization libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
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.
By the numbers
- Cesium
- Leaflet
Show data as a table
| Metric | Cesium | Leaflet |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 15,798 | 45,702 |
| npm downloads / week | 570,055 | 9,271,302 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 3,159 | 184 |
| Contributors | 311 | 382 |
| Forks | 3,882 | 6,179 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Cesium
- Leaflet
Show data as a table
| Month | Cesium | Leaflet |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 271 | 20 |
| Nov 2025 | 99 | 16 |
| Dec 2025 | 85 | 21 |
| Jan 2026 | 191 | 21 |
| Feb 2026 | 392 | 9 |
| Mar 2026 | 527 | 18 |
| Apr 2026 | 369 | 21 |
| May 2026 | 274 | 18 |
| Jun 2026 | 236 | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | 189 | 36 |
| Aug 2026 | 349 | 0 |
| Sep 2026 | 177 | 3 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Cesium | Leaflet |
|---|---|---|
| Description | WebGL 3D globes and maps. | JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. |
| Category | JavaScript map & geospatial visualization libraries | JavaScript map & geospatial visualization libraries |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | 1.146 () | v1.9.4 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 1,601 | 401 |
| Install | npm install cesium | npm install leaflet |
Which should you choose?
Popularity and activity are only part of the story. Consider which ecosystem you work in, the chart types and interactions you need, how much data you render, and whether the license fits your project. Both tool pages list alternatives if neither is quite right.