Tile server & style picker
Use our public tile server and build your own map styles.
VersaTiles
a complete FLOSS map stack
VersaTiles is a free and open alternative to commercial map services like Google Maps or Mapbox. It is designed for newsrooms, NGOs, developers, and public institutions who need reliable maps without vendor lock-in. VersaTiles is fully self-hostable, requires no API keys, charges no usage fees, and does not track your users.
Try it out
Sponsor us
VersaTiles is free and self-hostable. If your team relies on it, please consider chipping in so we can keep maintaining it.
How it works
Generate
Turn OpenStreetMap data and satellite imagery into optimized tiles — or download ready-made ones.
Serve
Deliver tiles to clients using a lightweight, high-performance tile server.
Render
Show beautiful maps on the web, Android, and iOS using MapLibre with
professionally designed styles.
Tools
Customize styles, set up servers, explore map data, and edit maps — all with our interactive tools.
Explore VersaTiles
Live demos & tools
Aerial imagery
Free, high-resolution orthophotos served as map tiles.
Source3D terrain & elevation
Global elevation data with hillshading and 3D terrain.
Style customizer
A MapLibre control to recolor, switch fonts/language, and export styles.
SourceShowcases
Real-world maps and creative uses of VersaTiles.
SourceMap editor
Drop pins, draw shapes, share editable maps in the browser.
SourcePlayground
Runnable code examples for VersaTiles + MapLibre, right in the browser.
SourceDocumentation
The complete docs hub for the ecosystem.
SourceDownload free map data
Ready-made tile data for the whole world.
Servers & CLIs
Server setup wizard
Answer a few questions, get a copy-pasteable install command.
VersaTiles CLI
Rust CLI to convert, validate, and serve tiles. Install via Homebrew, Cargo, or Docker.
Node tile server
Lightweight Node.js server for .versatiles containers.
Google Cloud server
Serve tiles + assets straight from a GCS bucket on Google Cloud Run. Perfect for newsrooms.
SourceDocker images
Production-ready images: versatiles, versatiles-frontend, versatiles-nginx, and more.
SourceLibraries
Style toolkit
Generate MapLibre styles: Colorful, Graybeard, Eclipse, Neutrino, Shadow, Satellite.
SourceContainer reader
Read .versatiles files in Node and the browser.
Svelte components
BasicMap, BBoxMap, LocatorMap, MapEditor for VersaTiles.
SVG renderer
Render print-quality SVG maps from a style + bbox.
SourceFrontend bundles
Pre-packaged web frontends with MapLibre, fonts, sprites, and styles.
SourceChoropleth pipeline (experimental)
Docker WebUI + CLI for building choropleth maps.
Orthophoto coverage
See the current state of the scrapers fetching high-resolution orthophotos.
SourceFonts & glyphs
SDF glyph generator
Rust tool that produces high-precision SDF glyph PBFs from TTF/OTF fonts.
SourcePre-built fonts
Ready-to-use Fira, Lato, Noto, Roboto glyph archives.
SourceSpec & community
Container spec
Open specification for the .versatiles tile container format.
GitHub org
All repos, issues, discussions.
Mastodon
Project updates and ecosystem news.
Bluesky
Project updates on Bluesky.
Highlights
- 2026-04-05 - We released global elevation data, enabling hillshading and 3D terrain visualization in VersaTiles maps.
- 2026-01-02 - versatiles-rs got has Node.js bindings.
- 2025-10-08 - We published global imagery data, combining free satellite and aerial orthophotos: tiles.versatiles.org
- 2025-08-17 - Michael presented VersaTiles - finally maps for everyone at FrOSCon 2025.
- 2025-03-04 - The documentation moved to its own site: docs.versatiles.org
- 2025-02-01 - We released our free map editor.
- 2024-09-25 - German magazine Heise featured VersaTiles as an open alternative to commercial map providers.
- 2024-07-30 - Our setup-server tool went online.
- 2023-07-16 - versatiles.org officially launched.
Roadmap
Done
- Publish documentation at docs.versatiles.org
- Publish map editor
- Publish Docker container with nginx and TLS
- Add Node.js bindings to the VersaTiles Rust CLI
- Publish satellite and aerial imagery
- Publish style editor plugin for MapLibre GL JS
- Publish interactive server setup tool
- Add SVG export for print-quality maps
- Publish free global elevation and terrain data — enable hillshading and 3D terrain visualization
- Simplify conversion from GeoJSON to vector tiles — easily add your own data layers to VersaTiles maps
Planned
- Find partners and sponsors — ensure long-term sustainability of the project
- Migrate tile generation to Planetiler — faster and better tile generation from OSM data
- Release VersaTiles Studio, an all-in-one app for map creation — create and export custom maps without code
- Integrate global land cover data — add vegetation, urban areas, and other land use information
Exploring funding needed
- Update and extend satellite imagery — improve coverage and resolution worldwide
- Build a new style engine
- Provide new vector tiles for hillshading and contour lines
Funded by
Funded by European Commission's Next Generation Internet programme
through the NGI0 Commons Fund by
NLnet.
MIZ-Babelsberg has funded the development of the "VersaTiles Editorial Tools"