# Cesium vs OpenLayers

## Key differences

- Cesium has 1.3× as many GitHub stars as OpenLayers (15.8K vs 12.6K).
- Cesium had more development activity over the last 12 months: 3,159 commits vs 827.
- OpenLayers is downloaded 1.6× as often on npm (923.1K vs 570.1K per week).
- Cesium is licensed under Apache-2.0; OpenLayers under BSD-2-Clause.

| | Cesium | OpenLayers |
|---|---|---|
| Description | WebGL 3D globes and maps. | Library for interactive web maps with support for many data sources, formats and projections. |
| GitHub stars | 15,798 | 12,602 |
| Commits (12 months) | 3,159 | 827 |
| Contributors | 311 | 332 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Install | `npm install cesium` | `npm install ol` |

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