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Mapbox vs OpenStreetMap: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Mapbox and OpenStreetMap

Mapbox and OpenStreetMap are two widely used platforms for mapping and geolocation. While they serve a similar purpose, there are several key differences between the two.

  1. Map Data Sources: One key difference between Mapbox and OpenStreetMap is the source of their map data. Mapbox primarily relies on various commercial data providers, including proprietary and third-party sources, for its map data. On the other hand, OpenStreetMap relies on user-generated content and crowdsourced data to create and update its maps. This means that Mapbox can provide more comprehensive and up-to-date data, especially in areas where user contributions are limited.

  2. Customization and Styling: Mapbox offers a high level of customization and styling options for maps. It provides developers with extensive control over the appearance of map elements, such as colors, labels, icons, and overlays. OpenStreetMap, on the other hand, has limited styling capabilities by default. While it allows users to add their own custom layers and styles, the level of customization is not as extensive as Mapbox.

  3. Pricing and Accessibility: Mapbox offers various pricing plans, including free options for smaller projects, as well as different tiers for larger and enterprise-level usage. It provides a flexible pricing structure that allows users to scale their usage according to their needs. OpenStreetMap, on the other hand, is completely free and open-source. It is accessible for anyone to use and contribute to without any cost involved.

  4. Community Involvement: OpenStreetMap has a strong community of contributors who actively update and improve the map data. The open nature of the project allows anyone to contribute and make corrections or additions to the map. This community-driven approach ensures that OpenStreetMap data is continuously updated and improved. Mapbox, on the other hand, relies on its team of data experts and commercial data providers to curate and update its map data. While Mapbox does encourage community involvement, the level of user contributions is not as prominent as in OpenStreetMap.

  5. Integration and Development: Mapbox offers a suite of developer tools and APIs that make it easier for developers to integrate maps and geolocation functionality into their applications. It provides extensive documentation, SDKs, and plugins for various programming languages and platforms. OpenStreetMap also provides APIs and developer tools, but the range of features and documentation may not be as extensive as Mapbox.

  6. Privacy and Data Ownership: Mapbox allows developers to have greater control over the data they use on their maps. Developers can decide whether to use Mapbox's map data or overlay it with their own proprietary data. OpenStreetMap, being an open-source project, allows users to freely access and use the map data, as well as contribute back to the community. However, there may be limitations on the usage of OpenStreetMap data for certain purposes, such as commercial use or redistribution.

In summary, Mapbox relies on commercial data providers, offers extensive customization options, has flexible pricing plans, encourages community involvement, provides developer-friendly tools, and allows greater control over data usage. OpenStreetMap, on the other hand, relies on user-generated data, has limited default styling options, is completely free and open-source, fosters a strong community of contributors, provides APIs for development, and has certain usage limitations.

Advice on Mapbox and OpenStreetMap
  1. I would like to input a spreadsheet with names and associated addresses into a map program to; pinpoint all of the locations on a map. How can I do that? On which map? Are there field size limitations? All help would be appreciated.

  2. There is a subdivision that is about one(1) mile by 3/4 mile in size. Is there a map program that would create the most efficient way to drive all of the streets in the subdivision without a lot of doubling back?

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Replies (1)

You could use a low-code platform to read the spreadsheet and use them as input for the pin pointing. The most expert provider would HERE or TomTom for the best routing algoritmes. Input parameters would be dependent on the chosen provider.

I see your stack is mostly Google and I am not familiar with that. But we have implemented this through the M365 Teams/SharePoint, Excell, MS PowerPlatform, our WMS and Azure.

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From a StackShare Community member: "We're a team of two starting to write a mobile app. The app will heavily rely on maps and this is where my partner and I are not seeing eye-to-eye. I would like to go with an open source solution like OpenStreetMap that is used by Apple & Foursquare. He would like to go with Google Maps since more apps use it and has better support (according to him). Mapbox is also an option but I don’t know much about it."

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Replies (6)
Recommends
on
MapboxMapbox

I use Mapbox because We need 3D maps and navigation, it has a great plugin for React and React Native which we use. Also the Mapbox Geocoder is great.

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Recommends
on
OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap

I use OpenStreetMap because that has a strong community. It takes some time to catch up with Google Maps, but OpenStreetMap will become great solution.

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Blair Gemmer
Software Engineer at VYNYL · | 2 upvotes · 175.6K views
Recommends
on
Google MapsGoogle Maps

Google Maps is best because it is practically free (they give you $300 in free credits per month and it's really hard to go over the free tier unless you really mean business) and it's the best!

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Shuuji TAKAHASHI
Recommends
on
Google MapsGoogle Maps

I use Google Maps because it has a lot of great features such as Google's rich APIs, geolocation functions, navigation search feature, street map view, auto-generated 3D city map.

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Recommends
on
OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap

Its open source and we use it.

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Fabio Fraga Machado
Recommends
on
OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap

I use OpenStreetMap because i have the control of the environment, using Docker containers or bare-metal servers.

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Pros of Mapbox
Pros of OpenStreetMap
  • 28
    Best mapping service outside of Google Maps
  • 22
    OpenStreetMap
  • 15
    Beautifully vectorable
  • 11
    Fluid user experience
  • 8
    Extensible
  • 7
    React/ RNative integration
  • 5
    3D Layers
  • 4
    Low Level API
  • 4
    Affordable
  • 3
    Great customer support
  • 3
    Custom themes
  • 2
    High data volume rendering
  • 23
    Simple
  • 17
    Free
  • 9
    Open-Source
  • 8
    Open-Data
  • 1
    React/ RNative integration

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- No public GitHub repository available -

What is Mapbox?

We make it possible to pin travel spots on Pinterest, find restaurants on Foursquare, and visualize data on GitHub.

What is OpenStreetMap?

OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world.

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