Modern GIS infrastructure

High Performance Cloud Native GIS Server

Source-available alternative to ArcGIS Server and GeoServer. Use existing Esri clients (ArcGIS Pro, SDKs) and modern open standards (OGC API, GeoServices REST, MVT) on a cloud-native stack.

Get started

MVP: PostGIS + vector features. Influence the roadmap

Who it’s for

GIS, data, and platform teams — one server for all of them.

GIS teams

Works with ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Esri SDKs, and open-source SDKs — without the cost and complexity of legacy stacks.

GeoServices REST FeatureServer OGC API Features Vector tiles (MVT)

Business & analytics

Edit in Excel and use the same data in BI tools like Power BI and Tableau.

Power BI Tableau Excel OData v4

Ops & platform

Modern DevOps and observability with container-first deployment options, IaC templates, and predictable upgrades.

OpenTelemetry GitOps Safe deployments Terraform templates Helm chart

How it works

Three steps to production-ready geospatial services.

1

Deploy Honua

Pull the ~80MB image. Run it anywhere Docker runs (Lambda, Kubernetes, Fargate). No installation wizard required.

2

Import your data

Import from existing Esri services, files (GeoJSON, Shapefile, GeoPackage, CSV, KML), or existing PostGIS tables.

3

Publish services

Expose GeoServices REST FeatureServer, OGC API Features, OData, and Mapbox Vector Tiles (MVT).

Architecture Comparison

Legacy GIS servers were built for VMs. Honua is engineered for Serverless and Kubernetes.

Architecture comparison across Honua, GeoServer, and ArcGIS Server.
Metric Honua (Cloud-Native) GeoServer (Legacy OSS) ArcGIS Server (Legacy Ent)
Disk / Image Size ~80 MB (Docker Image) ~500 MB (Docker/WAR) 10 GB+ (Install on Disk)
Min. Memory < 100 MB RAM 2 GB+ RAM 8 GB+ System Req.
Startup Time < 0.5s (Instant) 10–40s 5–10 Minutes
Architecture AOT Compiled JVM Monolith Enterprise Monolith
Scaling Scale-to-Zero Clustering Federated Sites
Licensing Free (ELv2) Free (GPL) $$$ / Core

Why it matters

  • Survive Traffic Spikes: React to load instantly. Honua starts in <0.5s, allowing auto-scalers to add capacity immediately during demand surges—no "warm-up" latency or downtime.
  • Slash Total Costs: Stop paying for idle cores and proprietary licenses. Swap expensive, over-provisioned hardware for a free, source-available docker image that thrives on cheap, tiny compute instances.
  • Safe, Declarative Ops: Configuration is unavoidable, but it shouldn't be fragile. Honua uses a validated metadata layer that is strictly separated from the runtime. Commit your service definitions to Git, review changes safely, and deploy without fear of "site corruption."

Deploy

Supported runtimes:

AWS ECS/Fargate Azure Container Apps Kubernetes Lambda Azure Functions

Single-node (evaluation)

In-memory State

Runs Honua + PostGIS. Ideal for demos, pilots, and internal tools.

Docker Compose PostGIS only

Production (multi-node/serverless)

Redis (Distributed State)

Scale out with shared Redis for coordination and caching.

PostGIS + Redis Helm Terraform Serverless

Deployment paths:

Docker Compose (single node)

Run PostGIS locally without Redis. Best for evaluation and single-node setups.

Docker Compose README

Terraform (AWS or Azure)

Modules for ECS/Fargate + RDS or Azure Container Apps + PostgreSQL, with Redis for multi-node.

Terraform modules README

Kubernetes + Helm

Install via the official chart with PostGIS and Redis for multi-node production.

Helm chart README
Config essentials: Env var defaults Full env var reference Proxy + forwarded headers