Collaborative maps or collaborative mapping are the development of web maps and content generated by a user, a group of people or entities, and can take different forms. With the advancement of map storage and sharing technology, collaborative maps have become competitors to commercial services, such as OpenStreetMap, or part of them, such as Google Map Maker and Yandex Map Editor.

Collaborative mapping applications vary depending on the point where said collaboration occurs: on the map itself (shared surface), or on overlays. A simple collaborative mapping application could show the location of users (social maps or geosocial network), or the location of Wikipedia articles (Placeopedia). In this sense, “collaborative” implies the possibility of editing by several different individuals, so the term usually excludes applications where maps cannot be modified by the general user.

In this type of application, the map itself is created collaboratively by sharing a common surface. For example, both OpenStreetMap and WikiMapia allow the creation of particular “points of interest,” as well as linear areas and features. But collaborative mapping and, especially, sharing surfaces, causes revision problems, that is, it complicates version control and simultaneous access. Furthermore, accumulation is common in collaborative maps due to the geometric constraints of the medium. One way to minimize these drawbacks is to use overlays.

Overlays group elements on the map, allowing the user to toggle the visibility of these overlays and with it the visibility of the elements they contain. The application uses third-party templates (for example, mapping APIs) to which collaborative overlays are added, sometimes wiki-style. If each overlay includes its user's revisions, the buildup and version control problem is significantly reduced.

According to Edward Mac Gillavry, a consultant and collaborative mapping specialist, there is a dichotomy between business and user-driven projects. The flow of information in corporate initiatives is usually unidirectional from the service provider, while user initiatives are characterized by a bidirectional flow.[1]​.

Large internet companies have developed mapping applications with collaborative features, such as Google Maps with Google Map Maker, closed in March 2017.[2] Although Google allows mashups for flexible use of raster images, the Map Maker system was unidirectional when it came to raw map data.