# Open Infrastructure Map

10 Hacker News commenters recommended Open Infrastructure Map and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A free, browsable map of power lines, plants, pipelines and other infrastructure built from OpenStreetMap data, praised for its scale and detail.

## Why people recommend it

- Shows global power grid at scale (2 comments): "This planet-scale map of the global electricity network is incredible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46630796)) "Not something you think about when you imagine those seas looking at a regular map." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538721))
- Layers reveal data centers and mega projects (2 comments): "ahh cool, that layer was hidden by default... and now I see all the data centers I mapped in OSM show up!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46592187)) "Also worth checking out some of the mega projects on Open Infrastructure Maps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46630729))
- Covers most of what people want (2 comments): "it seems like this map has (almost) all that I wanted to do in that respect" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538796)) "I love this site. I just wish it was more complete." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46545900))

## What people warn about

- Data may be outdated (1 comments): "This plant was decommissioned 6 years ago. How up to date is this data?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543015))
- Coverage is incomplete (1 comments): "I love this site. I just wish it was more complete." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46545900))
- Possible misuse for attacks (1 comments): "It is a great tool for terrorist attacks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46544357))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [isometric.nyc](https://hackerapproved.com/p/isometric-nyc.md): 52 recommend
- [Map of Metal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/map-of-metal.md): 34 recommend
- [CheapFoodMap](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cheapfoodmap.md): 29 recommend
- [Isopolis](https://hackerapproved.com/p/isopolis.md): 27 recommend
- [Shipmap.org](https://hackerapproved.com/p/shipmap-org.md): 23 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://openinframap.org/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Open Infrastructure Map", https://hackerapproved.com/p/open-infrastructure-map/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).