At a glance
The short version, row by row. The Waymorphic column is the same on every comparison.
| Waymorphic Map | The OpenStreetMap standard tiles | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Waymorphic MapFree. No plan, no quota set in advance, no invoice. | OSM standard tilesFree, on donated hardware, for the OpenStreetMap website and light use. |
| API key | Waymorphic MapNone. A style URL is the whole setup. | OSM standard tilesNone, but a valid HTTP User-Agent or Referer that identifies your site is required. |
| Usage limits | Waymorphic MapFair use: normal maps in browsers and apps. Bulk downloads and scraping are blocked. | OSM standard tilesThe tile usage policy: no bulk downloading, no offline use, no apps without permission from the Operations Working Group, and access may be blocked without notice if use is heavy. |
| Commercial use | Waymorphic MapYes. Personal, commercial, public sector, hobby. | OSM standard tilesDiscouraged: the policy warns that commercial services may lose access at any point. |
| Map data | Waymorphic MapOpenStreetMap, in the OpenMapTiles schema, refreshed from new planet builds. | OSM standard tilesOpenStreetMap, rendered minutes after every edit. |
| Styles | Waymorphic MapFive: Positron, Bright, Liberty, Dark and Fiord. Any MapLibre style written for the OpenMapTiles schema also works. | OSM standard tilesOne: OpenStreetMap Carto, as raster PNG tiles. |
| Coverage | Waymorphic MapThe whole planet, zoom 0 to 14 (the tiles overzoom cleanly to street level). | OSM standard tilesThe whole planet, zoom 0 to 19. |
| Works with | Waymorphic MapMapLibre GL JS, MapLibre Native, Leaflet with a plugin, QGIS, anything that reads a MapLibre style or TileJSON. | OSM standard tilesLeaflet, OpenLayers and anything that draws raster tiles. |
| Self-hosting | Waymorphic MapNot this service itself: it is not open source. But it is built from open-source parts and follows open formats, so you can run a compatible server of your own that answers the same URLs. | OSM standard tilesYes, with the OpenStreetMap Carto stack, which is heavy to run. |
| Beyond the basemap | Waymorphic MapTiles, styles, fonts, sprites and shaded relief, plus search, address lookup and place lookups, all free and keyless. No routing; the examples show free public services for that. | OSM standard tilesNothing; the tiles are a by-product of the website. |
| Support | Waymorphic MapBest effort. It is fast and stable, but there is no contract or uptime guarantee. | OSM standard tilesNone. |
Where the OpenStreetMap standard tiles is the better choice
The honest list. If one of these is what you need, this is not the page that talks you out of it.
- The freshest map there is
An edit on OpenStreetMap shows on the standard layer within minutes. Waymorphic Map refreshes from planet builds, so it is days or weeks behind.
- The OSM Carto look
The style everyone recognises from openstreetmap.org, with its dense detail at high zoom.
- Raster with zero setup
One Leaflet line and a map appears; there is nothing simpler for a personal page or a quick prototype.
- Zoom 19
Street furniture and building detail beyond what a zoom-14 vector tileset carries natively.
Where Waymorphic Map fits
What you gain by pointing the map here instead.
- It is meant for your site and your app
Waymorphic Map's fair-use terms welcome apps and commercial sites. The OSM tile policy does not, and it can block you.
- A CDN
Tiles come from a cache near the visitor rather than from a small set of donated servers on the other side of the world.
- Vector tiles
Sharp on any screen, rotatable, tiltable, restylable in the browser, with labels that stay upright and the globe if you want it.
- Five styles
A quiet Positron under your data, a dark basemap for a dashboard, or the familiar Bright look.
How to switch
If you use Leaflet, the smallest change is to keep Leaflet and add the MapLibre plugin so it can draw vector tiles. If you are starting fresh, use MapLibre GL JS directly.
const map = L.map('map').setView([51.5074, -0.1276], 11);
L.tileLayer('https://tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png', {
attribution: '© OpenStreetMap contributors',
}).addTo(map);// With maplibre-gl.js and maplibre-gl-leaflet.js on the page:
const map = L.map('map').setView([51.5074, -0.1276], 11);
L.maplibreGL({
style: 'https://tiles.waymorphic.com/styles/bright',
}).addTo(map);- The plugin is maplibre-gl-leaflet. Leaflet's markers, popups and controls keep working on top.
- Or replace Leaflet with MapLibre GL JS: the first example is the whole map in five lines.
- The attribution comes with the style, so the credit OpenStreetMap's licence requires stays on the map.
Questions and answers
Is it really not allowed to use tile.openstreetmap.org in an app?
The policy says distributing an app that uses the tiles is forbidden without prior permission, and that heavy use may be blocked without notice. Many small sites do it anyway, and many have been blocked.
Does Waymorphic Map have the OSM Carto style?
No. Carto is a raster style with its own rendering stack. Bright is the closest of the five vector styles in feel.
Does Waymorphic Map help OpenStreetMap?
It takes load off the Foundation's servers by giving apps somewhere else to go, and every map carries the attribution and the link. If you can, donate to the Foundation too.