Featured tile layers

Featured tile layers refer to the set of different map styles featured on the OpenStreetMap web site. These can be accessed and selected by activating the "Layers" sidebar and then looking under the "Map Layers" section. There are currently 6 layers featured, and of these the "Standard" layer is the default.

People wishing to propose a new tile layer should read the new tile layer policy and contact the Operations Working Group. Other servers, not appearing on the main page but available to public are listed at raster tile providers.

Tile layer	Required						Preferred					Remarks
	Support	Global	Traffic	Reliable	Up to date	Open data	Non-comm.	Free/open licence	OSM data	Uniqueness	Significance
Currently featured layers
Standard	OK	OK	OK	OK	z0-z12 monthly; z13+ minutes	OK	OK	CC0 [1]	Yes, except for admin boundaries at z1-z3 (Natural Earth)	Attempts to do many things at once (Jack of all trades, master of none)		Zoom: max z19 Also known as the "Default" layer. or "openstreetmap-carto". Sometime mistaken/misleading name Mapnik is used.
CyclOSM	Yes	OK	Yes	OK	z1-z11 weekly; z12-z20 live rendering	OK	OK	OK	OK	Contour lines Cycle map. World coverage	Open source, CartoCSS source code at https://github.com/cyclosm/cyclosm-cartocss-style/.	Zoom: max z20 Hosted thanks to OSM-Fr.
Cycle Map	OK	OK	OK	OK	~24 hours	OK	OK	No style sheet published	landcover at z0-z8 is not OSM based	Contour lines Focuses on bicycle features, shows bicycle routes		Zoom: max z21
Transport Map	OK	OK	OK	OK	~6 hours	OK	OK	No style sheet published	OK	Displays routes, and public transport	Roads are not most prominent feature	Zoom: max z21 Promotes the same features as ÖPNVKarte. Featured in November 2011.
Tracestrack	? Wait for OWG's evaluate	OK	? Wait for OWG's evaluate	? Wait for OWG's evaluate	z1-z12 monthly; z12-z20 daily or weekly; language label: 2 days, have rotation.	OSM and SRTM	?	CC0 [2]	landcover at z0-z8 is not OSM based	a mix of osm-carto and OpenTopoMap. It has many improvements: more tag support (busway, embankment, cuisine, solar plants, aquaculture, pitch, sea, tree etc.), CJK fonts, etc.	There is also better internationalisation: country specific road shields, peaks using imperial system in the US, hierarchical place rendering in China, etc.	Zoom: max z19 Featured in September 2023.
Humanitarian	OK	OK	OK	OK	z1-z12 weekly; z13+ ~5 minutes	OK	OK	CC0[3]	OK	Focuses on the developing countries with an emphasis on features related to development and humanitarian work.	Good contrasting style in terms of overall colour choices. Terrain shading. Many new/different icons (particularly for basic amenities in developing countries) and more nuanced surface track-type rendering.	Zoom: max z20 See demo and legend. Style developed and maintained by HOT (openly on github) Hosted on OpenStreetMap.fr servers, which expect to handle the traffic.
Former layers
ÖPNVKarte	OK	OK	OK	OK	at least 5 months (unstable, see talk page for details)	unknown	OK	No style sheet published	OK	Displays routes, and public transport	Roads are not most prominent feature	Zoom: max z18 Promotes the same features as the OpenCycleMap Transport Layer Featured in July 2020. Removed in January 2024.
MapQuest Open [4]	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Run by MapQuest	MIT license [5]	Dead	Different styles for different countries. Renders U.S. highway shields.	Commercial service "Simpler" style using fewer colours.	Featured in November 2011. June 2015 they've discontinued their documentation site and broken various things. Not looking too good for future availability. The tile service will no longer be free after 11 July 2016 (will require subscription and authorization keys).
NoName	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Run by CloudMade	No style sheet	Dead	Debugging style for nameless roads		Removed in November 2011. There are other QA tools that display the same information and are more updated.
Tiles@home	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	Dead	OK	OK [6]	Dead	Used Osmarender renderer		Removed in Feb 2012[7]. Developer support reduced Feb 2011.

History

• For a long time, the OpenStreetMap web site featured two layers, Standard (then called "Mapnik") and Tiles@home. Cycle Map and NoName were added sometime later.
• April 2011 — The OpenStreetMap Foundation Board approved the proposed guidelines for adding new tile layers.
• November 2011 — Transport Map and MapQuest Open were added under the new guidelines. At the same time NoName was removed due to not being very updated and because other QA tools do it better.
• February 2012 — Tiles@home was removed due to unavailable support.
• September 2013 — Humanitarian was added. See the OSM Blog announcement and the HOTOSM blog post.
• June 2016 — The Mapquest default rendering has been removed, as it will no longer support the free tile service without paid subscription and authorization keys for each website domain, starting on 11 July 2016.
• July 2020 - ÖPNVKarte was added
• January 2021 — CyclOSM was added
• September 2023 — Tracestrack was added
• January 2024 - ÖPNVKarte was removed, due to repeated technical problems

Example renderings and wiki support templates

Standard / OSM carto		{{slippymap |lat=34.8 |lon=-111.76460 |zoom=18 |width=200 |height=200 |layer=leaflet |marker=no}}
CyclOSM		{{slippymap |lat=34.8 |lon=-111.76460 |zoom=18 |width=200 |height=200 |layer=cyclosm |marker=no}}
Cycle Map		{{slippymap |lat=34.8 |lon=-111.76460 |zoom=18 |width=200 |height=200 |layer=cycle |marker=no}}
Transport Map		{{slippymap |lat=34.8 |lon=-111.76460 |zoom=18 |width=200 |height=200 |layer=transport |marker=no}}
ÖPNVKarte		{{slippymap |lat=34.8 |lon=-111.76460 |zoom=18 |width=200 |height=200 |layer=oepnv |marker=no}}
Humanitarian		{{slippymap |lat=34.8 |lon=-111.76460 |zoom=18 |width=200 |height=200 |layer=humanitarian |marker=no}}

See also

• Layer URL parameter