Maps & Geo

Map renderers (interactive maps)

• ★ MapLibre GL — open-source fork of Mapbox GL JS v1; vector tiles, GPU-rendered, fast. The default open-source choice; works with any tile provider.
• ★ Mapbox GL JS — closed-source successor (v2+); prettier defaults, paid above a generous free tier.
• Leaflet — raster-tile-first, tiny, mature, plugin-rich. Great for simple maps with markers / polygons.
• OpenLayers — full GIS-grade renderer; vector + raster; powerful but verbose.
• Google Maps Platform — battle-tested; paid (no real free tier in 2026).
• Apple MapKit JS — free for Apple Developer accounts; Apple-flavored.

React wrappers

• ★ react-map-gl — the go-to wrapper around MapLibre GL / Mapbox GL.
• react-leaflet — Leaflet wrapper.
• deck.gl + @deck.gl/react — WebGL-based geospatial visualization (heatmaps, hexagon bins, scatterplots over millions of points). Often layered on top of MapLibre.
• Pigeon Maps — tiny, no-dependency React maps.

Tile providers (where the map images come from)

• ★ MapTiler — generous free tier, vector + raster, custom styles. Most-recommended pairing with MapLibre.
• ★ Stadia Maps — free for development and small production; vector + raster.
• Mapbox — generous free tier; locks you to Mapbox GL.
• OpenStreetMap raster tiles — free but please follow the OSM tile usage policy (don't hammer them).
• Protomaps — single-file PMTiles you can self-host on R2 / S3; great for static-site maps.

Geocoding (address → lat/lng)

• ★ Nominatim (OSM) — free, but rate-limited and explicitly not for production heavy use.
• Mapbox Geocoding — free tier, easy.
• MapTiler Geocoding — free tier.
• Photon — open-source, self-hostable, OSM-based.
• Google Geocoding — paid, accurate.
• Geoapify, LocationIQ, OpenCage — affordable alternatives.

Reverse geocoding / address autocomplete

• Mapbox Address Autofill / Search Box — drop-in widget.
• Algolia Places — discontinued; alternatives above.
• Google Places — gold standard, paid.
• Smarty (US-focused) — accurate.

Routing / directions

• OSRM — open-source routing engine; self-host or use a hosted provider.
• GraphHopper — open-source routing; self-host.
• Valhalla — open-source; better turn-by-turn quality.
• OpenRouteService, MapTiler Routing, Mapbox Directions, HERE — hosted.

Geospatial analysis

• Turf.js — geospatial calculations in JS (area, distance, intersect, buffer).
• GeoTIFF.js, GDAL.js — for raster data.
• PostGIS — Postgres spatial extension; pair with @postgisftw/wkx.
• Cloudflare D1 / SQLite + R-Tree — cheap spatial indexes for small workloads.

Pick this if…

• Default new map, free, open: MapLibre GL + MapTiler tiles.
• Designer wants the prettiest defaults, willing to pay: Mapbox GL.
• Simple markers + polygons: Leaflet.
• Massive geospatial dataviz: deck.gl over MapLibre.
• Static site, want self-hosted tiles: Protomaps PMTiles on R2.
• Geocoding without breaking the bank: MapTiler or Mapbox free tier; Nominatim only for very low volume.