Can I migrate from Mapbox GL JS to maps.guru?

If you are on Mapbox GL JS v1 (BSD) or have migrated to MapLibre GL JS, migration is straightforward, update the tile source URL and API key. Mapbox GL JS v2 styles are compatible with MapLibre GL JS in most cases, with minor differences in some advanced features.

Does maps.guru have comparable tile quality to Mapbox?

maps.guru uses global OpenStreetMap data (same source as Mapbox Streets) served in OpenMapTiles/MVT format. Style quality depends on your map style configuration. Mapbox has a richer curated style library; maps.guru provides MapLibre-compatible presets and AI style generation.

What about Mapbox geocoding, it has a more generous free tier?

Mapbox offers 100K free geocoding calls vs maps.guru's 10K. If geocoding volume is your primary concern and you're in the free tier, Mapbox's geocoding product is more generous. maps.guru's advantage is pricing predictability beyond the free tier, $49/mo for 200K geocoding calls vs PAYG at $5/1K.

maps.guru

Pricing verified July 2026

Mapbox Alternative

The Mapbox alternative without the credit-card wall

Compare maps.guru vs Mapbox: free tiers, mobile SDK pricing, and the gotcha that trips up most developers.

Pricing comparison

Metric	Mapbox	maps.guru
Free map loads / month	50,000 map loads (GL JS)	50,000 tiles
Free geocoding / month	100,000 geocoding callsMapbox is more generous on geocoding free tier	10,000 geocoding
Free routing / month	100,000 Directions API calls	10,000 routing (coming soon)
Paid tier, tiles	$5.00/1K map loads after 50K free	Pro $49/mo: 1M tiles flat, no per-call
Mobile Navigation SDK (MAU)	$0.30/MAU after 100 free; $0.08/trip after 1K free	Not applicable. Routing coming soon.
Credit card required	Yes, required for any paid usage	Only for paid plans; free requires no card
Overage billing	Yes, PAYG beyond each free tier	None: hard quota enforced

Honest tradeoffs

When Mapbox wins

Navigation SDK for mobile, most mature iOS/Android turn-by-turn SDK with offline maps
Generous free geocoding and routing tiers (100K/mo) vs maps.guru's 10K
Studio visual editor for style authoring, full GUI drag-and-drop
Datasets API for uploading and querying custom geospatial data at scale
Tilesets API for converting custom data to vector tiles in the cloud
Enterprise search products (Mapbox Search, Address Autofill) with address validation

When maps.guru wins

No credit card required for free tier, zero billing friction
Flat Pro pricing at $49/mo vs PAYG that compounds at scale
No overage charges, quota hard-stops prevent bill shock
MapLibre GL JS compatible, Mapbox GL JS has a proprietary license post-v2
India ₹3,999/mo Pro: no local currency from Mapbox
Cloudflare edge delivery, comparable latency, global CDN

Documented gotchas

Credit card required to unlock paid usage

Mapbox requires a valid credit card on file before serving requests beyond the free tier. Unexpected spikes are billed as PAYG. Teams that exceed their free quota without a card on file may experience service interruptions.

Source: Mapbox Pricing

Mapbox GL JS v2+ is proprietary, not open-source

Starting with Mapbox GL JS v2 (January 2021), the renderer changed from BSD to a proprietary license that restricts use without a Mapbox token. MapLibre GL JS is the community fork of v1 that remains truly open-source. maps.guru is built on MapLibre and supports the BSD-licensed ecosystem.

Source: Mapbox GL JS License

Navigation SDK pricing is per-MAU and per-trip

After 100 free MAU and 1K free trips, Navigation SDK costs $0.30/MAU + $0.08/trip. A consumer app with 10K MAU and 50K trips/month would cost $3,000/mo for the Navigation SDK alone, before tile and geocoding costs.

Source: Mapbox Pricing: Navigation SDK

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Mapbox Pricing — Mapbox
Mapbox Pricing by Products (Docs) — Mapbox
Mapbox Map Loads Glossary — Mapbox

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