Cesium vs MapLibre GL JS
A data-driven comparison of two JavaScript map & geospatial visualization libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
CesiumWebGL 3D globes and maps.
MapLibre GL JSWebGL-based interactive vector tile maps in the browser; community fork of Mapbox GL JS.
Key differences
- Cesium has 1.3× as many GitHub stars as MapLibre GL JS (15.8K vs 11.8K).
- Cesium had more development activity over the last 12 months: 3,159 commits vs 1,416.
- MapLibre GL JS is downloaded 12× as often on npm (6.8M vs 570.1K per week).
- Cesium is licensed under Apache-2.0; MapLibre GL JS under BSD-3-Clause.
- Cesium is written primarily in JavaScript, MapLibre GL JS in TypeScript.
- Cesium is the older project: its repository was created in 2012, MapLibre GL JS's in 2020.
By the numbers
- Cesium
- MapLibre GL JS
Show data as a table
| Metric | Cesium | MapLibre GL JS |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 15,798 | 11,801 |
| npm downloads / week | 570,055 | 6,760,062 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 3,159 | 1,416 |
| Contributors | 311 | 385 |
| Forks | 3,882 | 1,268 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Cesium
- MapLibre GL JS
Show data as a table
| Month | Cesium | MapLibre GL JS |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 271 | 91 |
| Nov 2025 | 99 | 101 |
| Dec 2025 | 85 | 87 |
| Jan 2026 | 191 | 67 |
| Feb 2026 | 392 | 102 |
| Mar 2026 | 527 | 111 |
| Apr 2026 | 369 | 145 |
| May 2026 | 274 | 108 |
| Jun 2026 | 236 | 105 |
| Jul 2026 | 189 | 128 |
| Aug 2026 | 349 | 146 |
| Sep 2026 | 177 | 225 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Cesium | MapLibre GL JS |
|---|---|---|
| Description | WebGL 3D globes and maps. | WebGL-based interactive vector tile maps in the browser; community fork of Mapbox GL JS. |
| Category | JavaScript map & geospatial visualization libraries | JavaScript map & geospatial visualization libraries |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | 1.146 () | v6.12.0 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 1,601 | 252 |
| Install | npm install cesium | npm install maplibre-gl |
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.
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Cesium
WebGL 3D globes and maps.
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MapLibre GL JS
WebGL-based interactive vector tile maps in the browser; community fork of Mapbox GL JS.