# OpenTrafficMap

9 Hacker News commenters recommended OpenTrafficMap and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a free live traffic map that shows what ESP32 microcontrollers can do. Caveats: slow in Chrome and reportedly doesn't work in the USA.

## Why people recommend it

- Shows what ESP32 hardware can do (2 comments): "This project in particular got me excited about what could be accomplished with these microcontrollers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49931221)) "That's the most interesting thing about this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47958889))
- Interesting idea, demo keeps improving (2 comments): "Huge performance issues for me trying to use it on Chrome. But I like the idea." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47959447)) "The demo just kept getting better and better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47958892))

## 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

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "OpenTrafficMap", https://hackerapproved.com/p/opentrafficmap/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).