head to head · open source
storybook vs mapnik
storybook has 91,081 GitHub stars, 10,452 forks, 1,831 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mapnik has 3,960 stars, 841 forks, 730 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. storybook leads on adoption by 2,200% (91,081 vs 3,960 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 | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 841 |
| 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
Storybook is an open source, MIT licensed frontend workshop, written in TypeScript, for building, documenting, and testing UI components and pages in isolation, aimed at frontend engineers and design system teams working in React, Angular, Vue, Svelte, React Native, HTML, and other supported renderers.
read the full storybook overview →
About mapnik
Mapnik is an open source toolkit for developing mapping applications. It lives in the C++ and Python open source GIS, cartography, and map rendering ecosystem. At the core is a C++ shared library that provides algorithms and patterns for spatial data access and visualization. The project describes itself as a collection of geographic objects such as maps, layers, datasources, features, and geometries.
read the full mapnik overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is storybook or mapnik more popular?
storybook has 91,081 GitHub stars and mapnik has 3,960. 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 (91,081 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mapnik if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.