# OpenFreeMap

## What is OpenFreeMap?

OpenFreeMap is an open and free OpenStreetMap tile hosting service.

It's truly free: there are no limits on the number of map views or requests you can make, nor on how you use your map. There is no registration page, user database, API keys, or cookies.

It's truly open-source: everything, including the full production setup, is on GitHub.

## Why is this important?

OpenStreetMap is one of the most significant collective projects in history. More than 2 million users have contributed to it over 19 years; 3 million edits are made each day.

Unfortunately, when you want to use the map on your website or app, you need to look for a commercial map tile provider and hope your site doesn't become too popular. Otherwise, you might end up with a $10,000 bill in a single day, as Hoodmaps did [\*](https://twitter.com/levelsio/status/1730659933232730443).

You can try self-hosting, but it requires a big server and a lot of time to get it right.

## Who is behind this project?

I'm Zsolt Ero ([twitter](https://twitter.com/hyperknot), [blog](https://blog.hyperknot.com/)). I've created [MapHub](https://maphub.net/) and I've been running map hosting in production for 8 years.

## How can I use it?

<!--map_docs-->

## How can I donate or support this project?

...

## Is commercial usage allowed?

Yes

## Why did you make this?

Because I waited for years for someone to offer this service, but realised no one is going to make it. So, I thought I might use my map hosting experience and do it.

I'll share more about the why in a [blog post](https://blog.hyperknot.com/) in the future, feel free to subscribe.

## How can this work? How can a one person project offer unlimited map hosting for free?

There is no technical reason why vector tile hosting should cost as much as it does today. Vector tiles are just static files. OK, serving 300 million files is not easy, but at the end of the day they are just files.

Financially, the plan is to keep renting Hetzner servers until they cover the bandwidth. I believe it can work if enough people subscribe to the support plans.

If this project helps you to save on your map hosting costs, please consider subscribing to a support plan!

## How can I follow this project?

twitter: [hyperknot](https://twitter.com/hyperknot) and [OpenFreeMapOrg](https://twitter.com/OpenFreeMapOrg)

The main repo is [hyperknot/openfreemap](https://github.com/hyperknot/openfreemap)

Styles are at [hyperknot/openfreemap-styles](https://github.com/hyperknot/openfreemap-styles)

mastodon zsolt https://elk.zone/sigmoid.social/@hyperknot/followers

mastodon ofm TODO

## What is the tech stack?

The map schema is [OpenMapTiles](https://github.com/openmaptiles/openmaptiles).

The tiles are generated by [Planetiler](https://github.com/onthegomap/planetiler).

There is no tile server running, only BTRFS partition images with 300 million hard linked files.

The server is nginx on Ubuntu.

There is no cloud, just dedicated servers on Hetzner.

Currently using Cloudflare, but it's designed it so it can be changed any time.

Moreover, a lot of work is going into customising the styles at [openfreemap-styles](https://github.com/hyperknot/openfreemap-styles).

## What about PMTiles?

I would have loved to use PMTiles, they are a brilliant idea!

Unfortunately, making range requests in 80 GB files is just not working in production. They are fine for < 500 MB files, but have terrible latency and caching issues for full planet datasets.

## Attribution

If you are using MapLibre, attributions are automatically added.

If you are using this in a printed media or video, please attribute:

<a href="https://openfreemap.org/" target="_blank">OpenFreeMap</a> <a href="https://www.openmaptiles.org/" target="_blank">&copy; OpenMapTiles</a> Data from <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright" target="_blank">OpenStreetMap</a>

You don't need to display the OpenFreeMap part, but it's nice if you do.

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