Mapbox GL JS vs Leaflet vs MapLibre: Interactive Maps in JavaScript (2026)

TL;DR

For web mapping in 2026: MapLibre GL JS is the free, open-source fork of Mapbox GL JS and the right default for most new projects. Mapbox GL JS is the same technology with Mapbox's proprietary tile service and analytics — use it if you need Mapbox's specific features or commercial support. Leaflet is the right choice if you need a simpler, lighter library without WebGL requirements or need to support older browsers.

Key Takeaways

Leaflet: ~2.5M weekly downloads — lightweight, DOM-based, excellent for simple maps
Mapbox GL JS: ~600K weekly downloads — vector tiles, 3D, powerful, but requires a Mapbox account
MapLibre GL JS: ~500K weekly downloads — the MIT-licensed fork of Mapbox GL JS, no API key for rendering
MapLibre was created in 2021 after Mapbox changed its license from BSD to proprietary
MapLibre = Mapbox GL JS + open source license + community governance
Use Leaflet for simple choropleth/marker maps; MapLibre/Mapbox for vector tiles, 3D, custom styles

Download Trends

Package	Weekly Downloads	License	WebGL Required
`leaflet`	~2.5M	BSD	❌ SVG/Canvas
`mapbox-gl`	~600K	Proprietary (2.0+)	✅
`maplibre-gl`	~500K	MIT	✅

The Mapbox → MapLibre Backstory

In late 2020, Mapbox changed mapbox-gl-js from BSD-2 to a proprietary license requiring Mapbox's tile service. The open-source community forked version 1.13 (the last BSD release) and created MapLibre GL JS.

Today, MapLibre is governed by the Linux Foundation and has:

Active development beyond the Mapbox 1.x fork
GPU-accelerated WebGL rendering
Vector tile support
3D terrain and sky rendering
Protocol handlers for custom tile sources

If you're using Mapbox GL JS 1.x: switch to MapLibre today. If you're evaluating which to use: MapLibre unless you specifically need Mapbox's commercial tile/analytics services.

Leaflet

Leaflet is the classic JavaScript mapping library — lightweight (42KB), battle-tested, and works everywhere including IE11:

import L from "leaflet"
import "leaflet/dist/leaflet.css"

// Fix default marker icon issue with bundlers:
import markerIcon2x from "leaflet/dist/images/marker-icon-2x.png"
import markerIcon from "leaflet/dist/images/marker-icon.png"
import markerShadow from "leaflet/dist/images/marker-shadow.png"

delete (L.Icon.Default.prototype as any)._getIconUrl
L.Icon.Default.mergeOptions({
  iconUrl: markerIcon,
  iconRetinaUrl: markerIcon2x,
  shadowUrl: markerShadow,
})

// Basic map with OpenStreetMap tiles:
const map = L.map("map").setView([37.7749, -122.4194], 13)

L.tileLayer("https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", {
  attribution: "© OpenStreetMap contributors",
  maxZoom: 19,
}).addTo(map)

// Add markers:
const marker = L.marker([37.7749, -122.4194])
  .addTo(map)
  .bindPopup("<b>San Francisco</b><br>City by the Bay")

// Add GeoJSON layer (choropleth, polygons):
L.geoJSON(geoJsonData, {
  style: (feature) => ({
    color: "#3388ff",
    weight: 2,
    opacity: 1,
    fillOpacity: 0.3,
    fillColor: getColorByValue(feature?.properties.value),
  }),
  onEachFeature: (feature, layer) => {
    layer.bindPopup(feature.properties.name)
    layer.on("mouseover", () => layer.setStyle({ weight: 3, fillOpacity: 0.5 }))
    layer.on("mouseout", () => layer.resetStyle())
  },
}).addTo(map)

Leaflet with React (react-leaflet):

import { MapContainer, TileLayer, Marker, Popup, GeoJSON } from "react-leaflet"
import "leaflet/dist/leaflet.css"

function LocationMap({ locations }: { locations: Location[] }) {
  return (
    <MapContainer
      center={[37.7749, -122.4194]}
      zoom={13}
      style={{ height: 400, width: "100%" }}
    >
      <TileLayer
        url="https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"
        attribution="© OpenStreetMap contributors"
      />
      {locations.map((loc) => (
        <Marker key={loc.id} position={[loc.lat, loc.lng]}>
          <Popup>{loc.name}</Popup>
        </Marker>
      ))}
    </MapContainer>
  )
}

Leaflet strengths:

42KB — smallest of the three
No WebGL — works on all devices/browsers
Excellent plugin ecosystem (400+ plugins: heatmaps, clustering, routing, drawing)
Simple, well-documented API
react-leaflet for React integration

Leaflet limitations:

No vector tiles — uses raster tiles (lower quality at high zoom, larger bandwidth)
No 3D terrain or buildings
Performance degrades with thousands of markers (use leaflet.markercluster)
No built-in style customization beyond tile URL swap

MapLibre GL JS

MapLibre GL JS renders maps using WebGL — every element is a GPU-accelerated layer:

import maplibregl from "maplibre-gl"
import "maplibre-gl/dist/maplibre-gl.css"

// Initialize with a free tile source (no API key required):
const map = new maplibregl.Map({
  container: "map",
  style: "https://demotiles.maplibre.org/style.json",  // Free demo tiles
  // Or use a self-hosted tile server, Stadia Maps, Maptiler, OpenMapTiles:
  // style: "https://api.maptiler.com/maps/streets-v2/style.json?key=YOUR_KEY",
  center: [-122.4194, 37.7749],
  zoom: 12,
})

// Add a source (vector tiles, GeoJSON, raster, etc.):
map.on("load", () => {
  // GeoJSON source:
  map.addSource("packages", {
    type: "geojson",
    data: {
      type: "FeatureCollection",
      features: packageLocations.map((pkg) => ({
        type: "Feature",
        geometry: { type: "Point", coordinates: [pkg.lng, pkg.lat] },
        properties: { name: pkg.name, downloads: pkg.downloads },
      })),
    },
  })

  // Circle layer:
  map.addLayer({
    id: "package-circles",
    type: "circle",
    source: "packages",
    paint: {
      "circle-radius": ["interpolate", ["linear"], ["get", "downloads"], 0, 4, 10000000, 20],
      "circle-color": [
        "interpolate",
        ["linear"],
        ["get", "downloads"],
        0, "#blue",
        10000000, "#red",
      ],
      "circle-opacity": 0.8,
    },
  })

  // Click handler:
  map.on("click", "package-circles", (e) => {
    const props = e.features?.[0].properties
    new maplibregl.Popup()
      .setLngLat(e.lngLat)
      .setHTML(`<strong>${props?.name}</strong><br>${props?.downloads.toLocaleString()}/week`)
      .addTo(map)
  })
})

MapLibre with React (react-map-gl):

import Map, { Source, Layer, Popup, NavigationControl } from "react-map-gl/maplibre"
import "maplibre-gl/dist/maplibre-gl.css"

const circleLayer = {
  id: "packages",
  type: "circle" as const,
  paint: {
    "circle-radius": 6,
    "circle-color": "#8884d8",
    "circle-opacity": 0.8,
  },
}

function PackageMap({ geoJson }: { geoJson: GeoJSON.FeatureCollection }) {
  const [popupInfo, setPopupInfo] = useState(null)

  return (
    <Map
      initialViewState={{ longitude: -100, latitude: 40, zoom: 3.5 }}
      style={{ width: "100%", height: 400 }}
      mapStyle="https://demotiles.maplibre.org/style.json"
    >
      <NavigationControl />
      <Source type="geojson" data={geoJson}>
        <Layer {...circleLayer} />
      </Source>
    </Map>
  )
}

MapLibre advanced features:

// 3D terrain:
map.addSource("terrain", {
  type: "raster-dem",
  url: "https://api.maptiler.com/tiles/terrain-rgb/tiles.json?key=YOUR_KEY",
  tileSize: 256,
})
map.setTerrain({ source: "terrain", exaggeration: 1.5 })
map.setFog({})  // Add atmospheric haze

// 3D buildings:
map.addLayer({
  id: "3d-buildings",
  source: "composite",
  "source-layer": "building",
  type: "fill-extrusion",
  paint: {
    "fill-extrusion-color": "#aaa",
    "fill-extrusion-height": ["get", "height"],
    "fill-extrusion-base": ["get", "min_height"],
    "fill-extrusion-opacity": 0.6,
  },
})

// Animated data (live tracking):
function updateVehiclePositions(positions: Position[]) {
  const geojson = { type: "FeatureCollection", features: positions.map(toFeature) }
  const source = map.getSource("vehicles") as maplibregl.GeoJSONSource
  source.setData(geojson)  // GPU handles the re-render efficiently
}

Mapbox GL JS

Mapbox GL JS shares the same rendering engine as MapLibre but requires a Mapbox account:

import mapboxgl from "mapbox-gl"
import "mapbox-gl/dist/mapbox-gl.css"

mapboxgl.accessToken = "pk.eyJ1Ijoi..."  // Required, even for free tier

const map = new mapboxgl.Map({
  container: "map",
  style: "mapbox://styles/mapbox/streets-v12",
  center: [-122.4194, 37.7749],
  zoom: 12,
})

Mapbox-specific advantages:

Mapbox Studio — visual style editor with curated map styles
Mapbox's tile CDN — global, fast, with traffic data built-in
Mapbox Geocoding and Directions APIs
Mapbox Datasets — manage your own geographic data
Enterprise SLA and commercial support

When Mapbox is worth the cost:

You need Mapbox's curated style ecosystem (Mapbox Streets, Satellite, Light, Dark)
Turn-by-turn navigation with live traffic data
Geocoding (address search → coordinates) at scale
Compliance requirements needing SLA and support contracts

Free tier: 50,000 map loads/month — sufficient for most projects.

Free Tile Providers (for MapLibre)

The main advantage of MapLibre is using any tile provider:

Provider	Free Tier	Notes
Maptiler	100K tiles/month	Good Mapbox alternative, Swiss company
Stadia Maps	200K tiles/month	OSM-based, no credit card for free
OpenMapTiles	Self-hosted	Full planet OSM tiles
Protomaps	Pay-per-request	Very cheap, PMTiles format
Stamen (Stadia)	Free (non-commercial)	Watercolor, Toner, Terrain styles

Feature Comparison

Feature	Leaflet	MapLibre	Mapbox GL JS
Rendering	SVG/Canvas	WebGL	WebGL
Vector tiles	❌	✅	✅
3D terrain	❌	✅	✅
3D buildings	❌	✅	✅
Custom styles	Basic	Full (JSON)	Full + Studio
API key required	❌	❌ (for rendering)	✅
Bundle size	~42KB	~290KB	~300KB
Mobile performance	✅	✅	✅
React integration	react-leaflet	react-map-gl	react-map-gl
Plugin ecosystem	400+	Growing	Growing
IE/old browser support	✅	❌ WebGL only	❌ WebGL only
License	BSD	MIT	Proprietary
Free tier	N/A	✅	50K loads/mo

When to Use Each

Choose MapLibre if:

Starting a new project with vector tile or 3D requirements
You want Mapbox GL JS functionality without the API key
Open-source license compliance matters
You'll host your own tile server or use an alternative provider

Choose Mapbox GL JS if:

You want Mapbox's visual style editor (Studio)
You need Mapbox's geocoding, directions, or isochrone APIs
Commercial support or SLA is required
Your project already uses Mapbox infrastructure

Choose Leaflet if:

Simple marker/polygon maps without 3D requirements
Browser compatibility including old iOS/Android versions
You need Leaflet's specific plugin ecosystem (routing, drawing, heatmaps)
Smallest bundle size is critical

Methodology

Download data from npm registry (weekly average, February 2026). Feature comparison based on official documentation. Bundle sizes from bundlephobia.

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