Differences from Mapbox GL JS
Quick answer
This tutorial explains that MapLibre GL JS is the BSD-3 fork of Mapbox GL JS 1.13, then lists what breaks during migration: mapboxgl becomes maplibregl, accessToken is dropped, mapbox:// styles and hosted glyphs stop working, and some Mapbox 2.x APIs have no counterpart. It closes with licensing obligations and selection guidance. You will be able to port a Mapbox project and judge whether MapLibre fits.
Key points
- Replace the mapboxgl global and mapbox-gl.css with maplibregl and maplibre-gl.css.
- Remove the accessToken assignment and point style at a public or self-hosted style URL.
- Keep the BSD-3 license text when redistributing the bundled library.
Example
mapboxgl.accessToken = 'pk.xxxx';
var map = new mapboxgl.Map({
container: 'map',
style: 'mapbox://styles/mapbox/streets-v11',
center: [-74.5, 40], zoom: 9
});
var map = new maplibregl.Map({
container: 'map',
style: 'https://demotiles.maplibre.org/style.json',
center: [116.39, 39.90], zoom: 4
});Notes
- Mapbox-hosted glyphs return 401 in MapLibre, so text layers silently render nothing.
- Third-party plugins that depend on mapbox-gl internals may not work after migration.
English edition written for Atlaslog. Code is taken from the original Chinese page and runs unchanged.
Atlaslog (2026). Differences from Mapbox GL JS. https://www.jingweizhi.com/en/maplibre/tutorials/mapbox-diff.html (accessed 2026-11-03).