MapComplete
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 9 map editors by recommenders
Free web editor letting anyone add and update OpenStreetMap data through thematic maps, without other tools' complexity. Common caveat: cluttered, hard-to-navigate UI.
Free web editor letting anyone add and update OpenStreetMap data through thematic maps, without other tools' complexity. Common caveat: cluttered, hard-to-navigate UI.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 84%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Thematic maps for specific tasks
“Beginner-friendly editors are https://MapComplete.org (which has thematic maps; disclaimer: I'm the main dev)”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela” “nice alternative if you care about some part of the map that are not easily filterable by StreetComplet”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “Pokémon Go Scans Trained the Navigation Tech for Military Drones” “Checkout https://mapcomplete.org/cycle_infra and https://mapcomplete.org/cyclenodes.html”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” - Comment from 13 Sep 2026 in “Make your first edit to OpenStreetMap”
- Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Book Corners: Community map of neighborhood book exchange spots”
- Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps”
- Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Meet ski map artist James Niehues, the 'Monet of the mountains'”
- Comment from 13 Sep 2026 in “Make your first edit to OpenStreetMap”
Easy OSM editing for anyone
“Yeah, the complexity of the other tools is the pitch of MapComplete”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” “I opened this up, and immediately saw a contribution I could make.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” “makes it easy to update data for anyone”
Comment from 3 May 2026 in “OpenTrafficMap” - Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “An interactive map of FLock Cams”
- Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps”
Praised as a top OSM tool
“genuinely one of the best tools to emerge in the OpenStreetMap ecosystem in recent years”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” “Really nice project. Thank you for contributing to the OSM community.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” “Really great way to edit OSM”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” - Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps”
Mapping cameras, toilets, artworks
“You can use https://mapcomplete.org/surveillance to delete the cameras from OSM”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “An interactive map of FLock Cams” “I use https://mapcomplete.org/ to add images of artworks to OSM objects.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time” “anyone can easily see and update surveillance camera's in OpenStreetMap”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “A walking tour of surveillance infrastructure in Seattle” - Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Cluttered, hard-to-navigate interface
“having to navigate all those options with terrible design and UI”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” “needs a serious UI/UX revamp (easy)”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” Cannot make basic edits
“I can't even select cycle paths or roads, just edit POIs”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps” “I can't do something I feel like should be super basic.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “MapComplete – Contibute to OpenStreetMaps”
Other map editors people recommend
The four most recommended other map editors, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every Door | 22 | 4 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| MapCompleteThis page | 16 | 3 | 84% | 7 | — | Approved |
| iD editor | 12 | 3 | 80% | 6 | — | Approved |
| JOSM | 11 | 11 | 50% | 4 | — | — |
| Vespucci | 8 | 2 | 80% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
33 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I sidestep most of the complexity by having a lot of thematic maps”
“Web-based and thematically focused.”
“data goes to OpenStreetMap too”
“I use mapcomplete or streetcomplete to kill time when traveling.”
“Beginner-friendly editors are https://MapComplete.org (which has thematic maps; disclaimer: I'm the main dev)”
“This one sends data straight to OSM. I don't have my own database to "moderate"”
“it's why I made https://mapcomplete.org/bookcases.html”
“it seemed perfectly usable back then already”
“I use https://mapcomplete.org/ to add images of artworks to OSM objects.”
“I've made a webapp that ties those services together”
“You can use a different, webbased one”
“same concept, but different implementation”
“Yeah, the complexity of the other tools is the pitch of MapComplete”
“Really nice project. Thank you for contributing to the OSM community.”
“Checkout https://mapcomplete.org/cycle_infra and https://mapcomplete.org/cyclenodes.html”
“MapComplete has some highly specialized questions.”
“needs a serious UI/UX revamp (easy)”
“having to navigate all those options with terrible design and UI”
“I can't do something I feel like should be super basic.”
“I use this app fairly regularly to locate public toilets”
“I can't even select cycle paths or roads, just edit POIs”
“Either way both are great.”
“Really great way to edit OSM”
“I've been in and out of MapComplete since this arrived on HN and have not had any such problems.”
“I opened this up, and immediately saw a contribution I could make.”
“genuinely one of the best tools to emerge in the OpenStreetMap ecosystem in recent years”
“nice alternative if you care about some part of the map that are not easily filterable by StreetComplet”
“anyone can easily see and update surveillance camera's in OpenStreetMap”
“makes it easy to update data for anyone”
“it's much easier to load info with the option you shared”
“You can use https://mapcomplete.org/surveillance to delete the cameras from OSM”
“you can add them to OSM easily”
“checkout https://mapcomplete.org/ski”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.