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Maps · head to head

Lonboard vs TomTom Developer Portal

Lonboard logo

Lonboard

Maps

Python map rendering in Jupyter that skips GeoJSON and moves millions of features without choking

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
T

TomTom Developer Portal

Maps

TomTom provides mapping and traffic APIs, SDKs, and data products for developers

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lonboard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Lonboard it is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file; TomTom Developer Portal default rate limits on self-serve plans are modest at approximately 5 requests per second; higher limits require contracts
  • They diverge on capability: Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer, TomTom Developer Portal covers Core Functionality.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lonboard and TomTom Developer Portal actually diverge.

Attributes where Lonboard and TomTom Developer Portal differ
AttributeLonboardTomTom Developer Portal
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WindowsWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Maps).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Lonboard

  • GeoArrow binary transfer
  • GeoPandas input
  • deck.gl layers
  • Jupyter widget
  • Large dataset handling
  • Styling by attribute
  • Open source licence

Only in TomTom Developer Portal

  • Core Functionality
  • User Interface

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Lonboard

  • An analyst exploring a national road or parcel dataset in a notebook where pydeck or ipyleaflet becomes unusable at that sizenot TomTom Developer Portal
  • A researcher publishing a reproducible analysis where the visualisation must run from the same script as the processingnot TomTom Developer Portal
  • A data scientist joining spatial data to model outputs in pandas and needing to see the result immediately without exporting to a GISnot TomTom Developer Portal
  • A team building an internal analysis pipeline on GeoParquet that wants rendering without a serialisation step in the middlenot TomTom Developer Portal

TomTom Developer Portal

No use cases recorded yet. See the TomTom Developer Portal review.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Lonboard

  • It is a notebook visualisation library, not a mapping application, so there is no editing, no layout, no map export for print and no sharing beyond distributing the notebook or an HTML file
  • Maintenance sits with Development Seed as an open source side output of a consultancy, so roadmap priorities follow client projects and there is no support contract to buy
  • Layer coverage is a subset of deck.gl, so an analyst needing a less common layer type has to drop to pydeck or write JavaScript rather than staying in Python
  • It expects data already in GeoPandas or Arrow form, which means the performance benefit depends on the rest of your pipeline being Arrow-friendly; reading a large Shapefile is still the slow step
  • Rendering happens in the browser, so very large datasets are ultimately limited by the client machine's memory and GPU rather than by the server, and a laptop will still fail on data a workstation handles

TomTom Developer Portal

  • Default rate limits on self-serve plans are modest at approximately 5 requests per second; higher limits require contracts
  • Limited POI rich media compared to Google Places; no reviews, photos, or user-generated content
  • Smaller developer community with fewer tutorials and Stack Overflow answers than Google or Mapbox
  • No official Flutter SDK; developers must use third-party plugins for Flutter integration
  • Maps SDK for Web v6 deprecated as of February 2026 with migration required to newer SDK

Pricing, plan by plan

Lonboard

Free
  • LonboardFree
    • Open source, no licence fee
    • No usage limits
    • Installed from PyPI or conda

TomTom Developer Portal

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the TomTom Developer Portal review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Lonboard if

  • You need geoarrow binary transfer.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want geopandas input.
Lonboard review

Choose TomTom Developer Portal if

  • You need core functionality.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want user interface.
TomTom Developer Portal review

Questions people ask

Is Lonboard or TomTom Developer Portal better?
Neither clearly leads. Lonboard starts at Free and TomTom Developer Portal at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lonboard or TomTom Developer Portal?
Lonboard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Lonboard and On request for TomTom Developer Portal.
Does Lonboard or TomTom Developer Portal run on more platforms?
Lonboard runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. TomTom Developer Portal runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Lonboard for free?
Yes. Lonboard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. TomTom Developer Portal starts at On request.
What is Lonboard best used for?
Lonboard is most often used for an analyst exploring a national road or parcel dataset in a notebook where pydeck or ipyleaflet becomes unusable at that size, a researcher publishing a reproducible analysis where the visualisation must run from the same script as the processing, a data scientist joining spatial data to model outputs in pandas and needing to see the result immediately without exporting to a gis, a team building an internal analysis pipeline on geoparquet that wants rendering without a serialisation step in the middle. Of those, an analyst exploring a national road or parcel dataset in a notebook where pydeck or ipyleaflet becomes unusable at that size and a researcher publishing a reproducible analysis where the visualisation must run from the same script as the processing are not what TomTom Developer Portal is typically brought in for.
What can Lonboard do that TomTom Developer Portal cannot?
Lonboard covers GeoArrow binary transfer, GeoPandas input, deck.gl layers, Jupyter widget. TomTom Developer Portal covers Core Functionality, User Interface.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lonboard: Why not just use pydeck?

pydeck serialises geometry to GeoJSON to reach the browser. Lonboard uses a binary GeoArrow pipeline, which is the reason it handles far larger datasets in the same notebook.

TomTom Developer Portal: Does TomTom Developer Portal have a free tier?

Yes. TomTom offers a freemium plan with 50,000 tile requests plus 2,500 non-tile requests daily at no cost with no credit card required, and commercial use is permitted.

Source
Lonboard: Who maintains it?

Development Seed, a geospatial engineering consultancy, as an open source project. There is no commercial support offering.

TomTom Developer Portal: What APIs does TomTom provide?

TomTom provides REST APIs for Maps (display raster or vector maps), Navigation (routing and turn-by-turn), Places (geocoding and POI search), and Traffic (real-time flow and incidents), plus JavaScript SDK and mobile SDKs.

Source
Lonboard: Does it work outside Jupyter?

It is built as a Jupyter widget. Exporting to standalone HTML is possible, but the intended environment is a notebook.

TomTom Developer Portal: What JavaScript SDKs are available?

TomTom provides Maps SDK for JavaScript with TypeScript support, a Services library as a wrapper for REST APIs, and mobile integration through NativeScript WebView for iOS and Android.

Lonboard: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes, it is open source with no licence fee.

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