🗺

PMTiles

Open Beta

.pmtiles · application/vnd.pmtiles

PMTiles is a serverless vector tile archive for web maps. A single file contains all tiles accessible via HTTP range requests. Ideal for hosting on S3, CloudFlare R2, GitHub Pages without a tile server.

Export PMTiles now ✨ Open Beta — free, no limits

Key Features

✓Single file -- all tiles

✓HTTP range requests

✓No server -- static hosting only

Example PMTiles export (central Moscow, 1x0.5 km) — Example: central Moscow, ~1×0.5 km, medium detail

About PMTiles Format

PMTiles is an archive format in which a whole set of tiles sits in one file with an internal index. The browser does not download it as a whole: it requests the pieces it needs with HTTP range requests, which any static hosting can serve — S3, Cloudflare R2, GitHub Pages, plain Nginx.

Hence the main benefit: the map works without a tile server. There is no service to set up, watch over and pay for — the file simply sits next to the site. For a prototype, an internal dashboard or a project that has to outlive the shutdown of a third-party map service, that makes life noticeably easier.

Inside the archive are MVT vector tiles, that is geometry with attributes, and the appearance is set by a style on the client side. The export builds the pyramid up to zoom 12: beyond that encoding the tiles becomes too expensive, and if you asked for more, we honestly report the limitation and suggest MBTiles. For the same reason the exporter rejects very dense areas straight away rather than after a long wait: a short, clear refusal is better than a stuck job.

What Program Opens PMTiles Files

The following programs and applications can open, edit, and work with PMTiles (.pmtiles) files exported from OSM2CDR:

💻MapLibre GL JS 💻Leaflet 💻PMTiles Viewer 🌎QGIS 💻Felt

Format specifications

Open standard
2D only
Lossless (no quality loss)
Stores feature attributes
Output: 1 file
PMTiles single-file vector tile archive. Serverless deployment: drop on S3/CloudFront, range-request playback in MapLibre.

Who Uses PMTiles Maps

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Serverless Web Maps

A web map with no tile server: one file on hosting, no service to maintain.

💻

Static Tile Hosting

Serving tiles from static storage — S3, Cloudflare R2 or GitHub Pages hand the file over as an ordinary resource.

📊

CDN Maps

A map through a CDN: it is cached as a whole, while the client fetches only the pieces it needs.

🎨

Offline Web Maps

A self-contained web map that can be placed next to the application and opened without external services.

🗺

Prototyping

A quick prototype: the map is up in minutes, with no infrastructure and no contracts with tile providers.

How to Export PMTiles

Select area

Draw a rectangle or polygon on the interactive map at osm2cdr

Choose PMTiles

Select PMTiles from the list of 127 available export formats

Export

Click Export and receive your .pmtiles file in 1-5 minutes

Download

Download the ready PMTiles file and open it in MapLibre GL JS

How to Open After Export

PMTiles Viewer (pmtiles.io) — drag the file into the browser and see the contents right away: bounds, zooms, layers inside the tiles. The file is not uploaded anywhere in the process.
MapLibre GL JS — add the pmtiles library, register the protocol and point at a source of the form pmtiles://https://your-domain/map.pmtiles, then describe the layers in style.json.
Static hosting (S3, Cloudflare R2, GitHub Pages, Nginx) — put the file next to the site; make sure the server serves range requests (Accept-Ranges) and CORS headers if the domain is different.
go-pmtiles — a command-line utility: pmtiles show displays the metadata and zooms, pmtiles convert turns the archive into MBTiles and back.
QGIS — recent versions open PMTiles as a vector tile source through GDAL; convenient for a quick check that the data is in place.

Popular maps in PMTiles

Free

Get PMTiles map exports

Download professional PMTiles maps from OpenStreetMap. Instant generation, any area.

Free / export

Export PMTiles now →

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a tile server for PMTiles? ▼

Which libraries support PMTiles? ▼

Up to which zoom is the pyramid built? ▼

Why was the export refused for a large dense area? ▼

Why is the map empty after I connect it? ▼

Compare with Other Formats

⚖ PMTILES vs MBTILES ⚖ TILES vs PMTILES

Related Formats

Frequently Exported Together

PMTiles+📦MBTiles Vector 📦MBTiles 💻GeoJSON

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