# Leaflet vs OpenLayers

## Key differences

- Leaflet has 3.6× as many GitHub stars as OpenLayers (45.7K vs 12.6K).
- OpenLayers had more development activity over the last 12 months: 827 commits vs 184.
- Leaflet is downloaded 10× as often on npm (9.3M vs 923.1K per week).
- Both are released under the BSD-2-Clause license.
- Leaflet is the older project: its repository was created in 2010, OpenLayers's in 2012.

| | Leaflet | OpenLayers |
|---|---|---|
| Description | JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. | Library for interactive web maps with support for many data sources, formats and projections. |
| GitHub stars | 45,702 | 12,602 |
| Commits (12 months) | 184 | 827 |
| Contributors | 382 | 332 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Install | `npm install leaflet` | `npm install ol` |

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