folium vs leafmap
A data-driven comparison of two Python map & geospatial visualization libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
Key differences
- folium has 2× as many GitHub stars as leafmap (7.4K vs 3.8K).
- folium had more development activity over the last 12 months: 198 commits vs 130.
- folium is downloaded 54× as often on PyPI (607K vs 11.3K per week).
- Both are released under the MIT license.
- folium is the older project: its repository was created in 2013, leafmap's in 2021.
By the numbers
- folium
- leafmap
Show data as a table
| Metric | folium | leafmap |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 7,414 | 3,794 |
| PyPI downloads / week | 606,950 | 11,309 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 198 | 130 |
| Contributors | 190 | 46 |
| Forks | 2,267 | 477 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- folium
- leafmap
Show data as a table
| Month | folium | leafmap |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | 2 | 39 |
| Dec 2025 | 16 | 6 |
| Jan 2026 | 3 | 16 |
| Feb 2026 | 41 | 6 |
| Mar 2026 | 4 | 16 |
| Apr 2026 | 8 | 5 |
| May 2026 | 7 | 5 |
| Jun 2026 | 11 | 2 |
| Jul 2026 | 28 | 6 |
| Aug 2026 | 24 | 12 |
| Sep 2026 | 15 | 5 |
| Oct 2026 | 39 | 12 |
Side by side
| Attribute | folium | leafmap |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Builds interactive Leaflet.js maps from Python data. | Interactive mapping and geospatial analysis in Jupyter with multiple mapping backends. |
| Category | Python map & geospatial visualization libraries | Python map & geospatial visualization libraries |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | v0.20.0 () | v0.64.0 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 58 | 0 |
| Install | pip install folium | pip install leafmap |
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.