head to head · open source
storybook vs mapnik
storybook has 91,428 GitHub stars, 10,495 forks, 1,831 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mapnik has 3,973 stars, 839 forks, 730 open issues and last shipped yesterday. storybook leads on adoption by 2,201% (91,428 vs 3,973 stars). storybook is written in TypeScript under MIT; mapnik is written in C++ under LGPL-2.1. storybook has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, mapnik 21%. storybook was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| storybook | mapnik | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 91K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 839 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick storybook if
- You weight community size — 91K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mapnik if
- You want the mapnik feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and mapnik fits your workflow better
About storybook
Build bulletproof UI components faster Storybook is a frontend workshop for building UI components and pages in isolation. Thousands of teams use it for UI development, testing, and documentation. Find out more at storybook.js.org ! View README for: Table of contents 🚀 Getting Started 📒 Projects 🛠 Supported Frameworks & Examples 🔗Addons 🏅 Badges & Presentation materials 👥 Community 👏 Contributing 👨💻 Development scripts 💸 Sponsors 💵 Backers :memo: License Getting Started Visit Storybook's website to learn more about Storybook and to get started. Documentation Documentation can be found on Storybook's…
read the full storybook overview →
About mapnik
Mapnik is an open source toolkit for developing mapping applications. At the core is a C++ shared library providing algorithms and patterns for spatial data access and visualization. Mapnik is basically a collection of geographic objects like maps, layers, datasources, features, and geometries. The library doesn't rely on any OS specific "windowing systems" and it can be deployed to any server environment. It is intended to play fair in a multi threaded environment and is aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at web based development. For further information see and also our wiki documentation. Installation See…
read the full mapnik overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is storybook or mapnik more popular?
storybook has 91,428 GitHub stars and mapnik has 3,973. storybook has the larger community by that measure.
Are storybook and mapnik free?
Both are open source. storybook is licensed under MIT and mapnik under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between storybook and mapnik?
storybook is written in TypeScript and mapnik in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, storybook or mapnik?
Choose storybook if you want the larger community (91,428 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mapnik if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.