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Comparison · DevOps

GraphHopper vs NSD

A side-by-side editorial comparison of GraphHopper and NSD — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

GraphHopper vs NSD: at a glance

FeatureGraphHopperNSD
SectorDevOpsDevOps
Velocity score2.55.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesrouting, openstreetmap, navigation, security-fixesdns, security, open-source, catalog-zones
Last editorial update41m ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is GraphHopper?

GraphHopper 11.1 is a security release, and 12.0 prerelease tags have started.

GraphHopper published 11.1 in October as a security release fixing what it calls critical vulnerabilities, without describing them; the attached change list largely repeats 11.0's OSM tag work, plus items such as trip-based public transit routing, scriptable turn penalties and POST /navigate. Alongside it, 12.0-pre1 and 12.0-pre3 tags and an odd 11.0-alpha1 tag appeared with only commit messages. The roughly yearly major cadence (10.0 in late 2024, 11.0 in October 2025) points at 12.0 as the next major.

Read the full GraphHopper trajectory →

What is NSD?

NSD's 4.15 line is being shaped by outside researchers' bug reports.

NLnet Labs shipped two NSD releases in October. 4.15.3 fixed four CVEs in the simdzone zone-file parser that only crafted zone files can trigger, a risk mainly for multi-tenant setups where third parties feed zone data. 4.15.4 adds a report-channel EDNS option, a catalog-group-pattern setting that limits which patterns catalog member zones may use, and the UNECE and ISO record types, alongside a long list of fixes credited to researchers at Palo Alto Networks and Tsinghua University.

Read the full NSD trajectory →

GraphHopper vs NSD: editorial side-by-side

G2.5

GraphHopper 11.1 is a security release, and 12.0 prerelease tags have started.

◆ Current state

GraphHopper published 11.1 in October as a security release fixing what it calls critical vulnerabilities, without describing them; the attached change list largely repeats 11.0's OSM tag work, plus items such as trip-based public transit routing, scriptable turn penalties and POST /navigate. Alongside it, 12.0-pre1 and 12.0-pre3 tags and an odd 11.0-alpha1 tag appeared with only commit messages. The roughly yearly major cadence (10.0 in late 2024, 11.0 in October 2025) points at 12.0 as the next major.

◆ Where it's heading

The engine's recent work is routing quality, reading OSM tags more faithfully per mode, and that continues in the 11.x list. The 12.0 prereleases suggest the next major is in preparation, but their notes give no content. Security disclosure is thin: 11.1 is labelled critical without naming the issue.

◆ Prediction

A 12.0 release is the next likely major entry given the prerelease tags; its contents can't be read from these entries.

N
NSD
DEVOPS
5.0

NSD's 4.15 line is being shaped by outside researchers' bug reports.

◆ Current state

NLnet Labs shipped two NSD releases in October. 4.15.3 fixed four CVEs in the simdzone zone-file parser that only crafted zone files can trigger, a risk mainly for multi-tenant setups where third parties feed zone data. 4.15.4 adds a report-channel EDNS option, a catalog-group-pattern setting that limits which patterns catalog member zones may use, and the UNECE and ISO record types, alongside a long list of fixes credited to researchers at Palo Alto Networks and Tsinghua University.

◆ Where it's heading

Most of the 4.15 cycle is reactive: four security or bug-fix releases since August, with outside researchers finding parser overflows, crashes on malformed catalog zones and IXFR edge cases. Features still arrive, and at least one, catalog-group-pattern, was suggested by a researcher who also reported bugs. Catalog zones and zone-file parsing are where the attention is concentrated.

◆ Prediction

Expect more fixes in catalog zone and zone-file parsing as outside fuzzing continues, likely in another 4.15 patch. The entries give no sign of a 4.16 feature release.

Alternatives to GraphHopper and NSD

Other DevOps products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either GraphHopper or NSD.

See all GraphHopper alternatives → · See all NSD alternatives →

Recent activity from GraphHopper and NSD

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 11d agoGraphHopper11.1 security release for undisclosed critical vulnerabilities
  2. 12d agoNSDNSD 4.15.4 released
  3. 18d agoNSDNSD 4.15.4rc1 pre-release
  4. 18d agoNSDNSD 4.15.3 security release
  5. 1mo agoGraphHopper12.0-pre3 prerelease tag (no notes)
  6. 1mo agoGraphHopperRelease tag adapting to Sonatype publishing
  7. 1mo agoGraphHopper12.0-pre1 prerelease tag (no notes)
  8. 2mo agoNSDNSD 4.15.2 released
  9. 2mo agoNSDNSD 4.15.2 release candidate
  10. 2mo agoNSDNSD 4.15.1 security release: four CVEs fixed
  11. 1y agoGraphHopper11.0 refines mode-specific OSM tag handling and adds POST /navigate
  12. 1y agoGraphHopper10.2 fixes an import failure on recent OSM turn restriction data

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between GraphHopper and NSD?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. NSD is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is GraphHopper better than NSD?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. NSD is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other DevOps products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to GraphHopper?

Top GraphHopper alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "GraphHopper alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/graphhopper for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to NSD?

Top NSD alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "NSD alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nsd for the full list with editorial commentary on each.