LizPack, the open source geospatial infrastructure that runs your open source software

LizPack in one sentence

LizPack is an open source geospatial infrastructure: it deploys open source geospatial software on servers, connects the pieces so they work together, and updates and monitors them over time, without replacing them. You keep the software built by its communities, with its features, formats and licenses. We take care of everything around it: servers, addresses, certificates, versions, connections, monitoring and backups.

In practice, a map published with LizPack Map is a Lizmap map, served by QGIS Server, from an ordinary QGIS project. A layer published in GeoServer Cloud is a GeoServer layer. A survey collected with LizPack Field is collected with the official QField app. A LizPack Catalogue site runs on GeoNode and GeoServer. What you learn and produce remains valid outside LizPack.

To describe how it works, orchestration is the right word. A web mapping portal in production is not a single piece of software, it is an assembly: a web server, Lizmap, a compatible version of QGIS Server, a PostGIS database, a tile cache, a subdomain, an HTTPS certificate. Each of these components has its own release cycle. LizPack assembles them, makes them talk to each other, and keeps the whole consistent when one of them changes.

The open source software we run

Each piece of software is developed by its own project. LizPack is not its publisher: it hosts it and adds what is missing to use it without administering a server. The table below clearly separates what the software does by itself and what LizPack adds around it.

This software is open source. Using it requires no paid license, and LizPack does not sell one. What you pay for is hosting, maintenance, monitoring and support.

What LizPack actually does

Seven verbs describe the work of the platform. Each one is a task you no longer have to do yourself.

• Deploy. A Lizmap instance is online in about four minutes, on a subdomain in your name, with an HTTPS certificate renewed automatically.
• Connect. Lizmap, QGIS Server and PostGIS are delivered already connected. A PostGIS database connects to GeoServer in one click. With LizPack Field, field surveys land in PostGIS and the Lizmap map that displays them updates at every synchronization.
• Publish without a server. You upload your projects and data from the browser, or directly from QGIS with the free LizPack Publisher plugin. You never open a session on a server.
• Update. Updating Lizmap and QGIS Server takes one click from the customer area. It is included from the Pro plan and costs 10 USD per component on the Free and Basic plans.
• Monitor. The status of each instance's services is checked continuously, and the overall status of the platform is published on a public page. A broken connection between the components of an instance is detected and repaired.
• Protect your data. Alerts warn you before a space is full. A database that exceeds its quota is stopped, never emptied. After a subscription expires, projects, files and database are kept for 60 days. Instance backups are available as an option.
• Support you. Documentation in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, a help assistant in the customer area, and human support.

The life cycle of a LizPack Map instance

The instance is the basic unit of LizPack Map: a Lizmap portal with its QGIS Server, its PostgreSQL/PostGIS database and its tile cache. Here is what happens, and who does what, from its creation to its end.

1. Creation. You choose a name: it becomes your subdomain. LizPack installs Lizmap, QGIS Server in the chosen version, the PostGIS database and the HTTPS certificate. The instance is ready in about four minutes.
2. Project preparation. You configure your project in QGIS Desktop with the Lizmap plugin, as for any Lizmap publication. File layers (GeoPackage, Shapefile, rasters) and PostGIS layers are supported.
3. Publication. You send the project and its data with LizPack Publisher, without leaving QGIS, or from the online file manager, in the browser.
4. Sharing. The map is online. You set access rights in the Lizmap administration and invite your team: up to five collaborators on the Pro plan.
5. Extension. From the instance's Modules tab, you enable modules such as dashboards or MapBuilder, in less than a minute, without interrupting the portal.
6. Update. When a new version of Lizmap or QGIS Server is available, you start the update in one click from the customer area.
7. Expiry. If the subscription is not renewed, the instance stops, but its projects, files and database are kept for 60 days. Three emails warn you before anything is deleted. Renew within that period to get the instance back exactly as it was.

This cycle shows how roles are shared. The technical steps (installation, certificate, connecting the components, updates, retention) are handled by LizPack. The business steps (the QGIS project, its layers, styles and access rights) remain yours, with the standard Lizmap tools. For the detail of what an instance contains, read the anatomy of a Lizmap instance.

Product by product: what LizPack adds to each piece of software

[LizPack Map](/hebergement-lizmap) is hosting for Lizmap and QGIS Server. An instance includes Lizmap Web Client on your subdomain over HTTPS, QGIS Server serving your projects as WMS, WFS, WMTS and WCS, a PostgreSQL/PostGIS database and a tile cache. The Free plan is a free trial, with no credit card. Basic costs 10 USD per month for one instance and gives one QGIS Server per instance. Pro costs 20 USD per month for two instances, opens the encrypted connection to the database from QGIS Desktop or pgAdmin, and includes updates. Enterprise is quoted on request. You can also copy a theme from the marketplace to style your maps and follow the activity of your account.

[LizPack Publisher](/lizpack-publisher) is a free QGIS plugin, published in the official QGIS plugin repository, which requires QGIS 3.16 or later. It connects QGIS Desktop to your instances: you sign in with your LizPack account, browse, create, rename and delete the instance's files, open a remote project, send an entire folder while keeping its structure, and publish the open project after validation. From the Pro plan, you add the database tables as layers, import a layer into the database and diagnose it. Every operation is recorded in a log that you copy in one click to attach to a support request.

[Lizmap modules](/modules-lizmap) add features to your portal. Today they are dashboards (indicators, charts, pivot tables and lists composed in QGIS, filterable by one another, recalculated at every display) and MapBuilder, which lets your users compose a map on demand from the published layers. They install on a running instance with Lizmap 3.9. Each module states the Lizmap versions it works with, and the modules you add are part of the instance configuration, backed up and restored with it. Disabling a module removes it without touching your projects or your data.

[LizPack Field](/lizpack-field) is field data collection with the official QField app, free, on Android and iOS. It relies on the same synchronization technology as QFieldCloud. LizPack adds a dashboard in four languages (projects, files, collaborators, processing log, received changes), an account shared with LizPack and, with the Pro plan, surveys written directly to your PostGIS database. The Free plan includes 200 MB and one project; the Pro plan, at 15 USD per month, opens unlimited projects and up to 5 collaborators. An Enterprise plan deploys LizPack Field on your own infrastructure.

[LizPack Viewer](/lizpack-viewer) is included with LizPack Field, on every plan. It starts from an empty map and brings together layers from several projects and from online WMS, WMTS, WFS or GeoJSON services. It offers analysis tools (identify, select, measure, attribute table, statistics, buffer zones, swipe comparison, time slider), printing to PDF or PNG, export to GeoJSON and an embed code. It is the map that is shared, not the data: each person only sees the layers of the projects they have access to.

[GeoServer Cloud](/geoserver-cloud) is an isolated GeoServer 3 workspace, included with your account: 200 MB of data and 10 layers free, then a quote based on your volumes. You upload a Shapefile, a GeoPackage or a GeoTIFF from the dashboard, or connect the PostGIS database of a LizPack instance in one click, then publish as WMS, WFS, WCS and WMTS thanks to the built-in tile cache. The usual GeoServer console remains available. No server, no Java, no updates to manage: GeoServer is installed, secured and monitored by LizPack.

[PostgreSQL/PostGIS databases](/postgresql-postgis-manage) are databases dedicated to your account, running PostgreSQL 17 and PostGIS 3.5, with the hstore, uuid-ossp and pg_trgm extensions already installed. You choose their size at creation, from 1 to 10 GB, and billing follows that volume, per GB and per month. Each database has its own credentials and an SSL connection, usable from QGIS Desktop, pgAdmin, DBeaver or your scripts. An email is sent as soon as the database reaches 60% of its space, then at 75, 80, 90 and 95%. Beyond the quota, you have 24 hours to free up space; after that the database is stopped, without any data being deleted.

[LizPack Catalogue](/lizpack-catalogue) runs on GeoNode and GeoServer. LizPack adds an online store (full dataset download, extraction over a chosen area, WMS and WFS access for a period, map to print as PDF), payment by credit card or Mobile Money into your own merchant accounts, protection of data for sale, which only show their preview, and branding in your colors. Several sellers can publish there, each in their own space. We install it on your servers or host it for you, on quotation.

[LizPack Entreprise](/lizpack-entreprise) is the same LizPack, installed on a server you control. A portal lets you create your Lizmap instances, each with QGIS Server and its PostGIS database, manage accounts and rights with Active Directory, LDAP or OpenID Connect, schedule backups, copy them to your S3 storage and rebuild everything on a new server. GeoServer is built in, and LizPack Field too if your license includes it. You need an x86_64 server running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or 24.04 LTS, on an NVMe or SSD disk, with ports 80 and 443 open. The portal manager, for Windows 10 and 11, installs and updates the portal from your workstation. Pricing is on quotation.

Who does what: the split of responsibilities

Successful hosting means everyone knows what is theirs to do. On the hosted offer, here is how tasks are split between you and LizPack.

With LizPack Entreprise, the split changes: the server is yours, and you decide when to apply updates, which the portal manager downloads with your license and applies without reinstalling, data preserved.

What LizPack does not do

Being clear about our limits matters as much as listing our services.

• We do not replace open source software. Lizmap stays Lizmap, GeoServer stays GeoServer, QField stays QField. We are not their authors and we do not rewrite them. We do not sell software licenses: you pay for hosting, maintenance and service.
• We do not lock you in. Your projects are standard QGIS projects, your databases standard PostgreSQL databases, your services standard OGC services. You can take your data and run it elsewhere, on your premises or with another host.
• We do not give administrator access to shared servers. That is what allows us to guarantee their security and their updates. If you need control of the server, the LizPack Entreprise edition installs on your premises.
• We do not do your GIS work for you. Preparing a QGIS project, its layers and its styles remains your job. If you want help, our services offer it on quotation.
• We do not delete your data without warning. A database over its quota is stopped, not emptied. An expired instance is kept for 60 days, and three emails precede any deletion.

Reversibility: leaving with your data

An orchestrator built on open source software and open formats has no need to hold on to its customers. Everything you produce with LizPack can be read and republished with the same software installed elsewhere.

• Your projects are QGIS projects configured with the Lizmap plugin. They open in QGIS Desktop and can be published with any Lizmap.
• Your files (GeoPackage, Shapefile, rasters) can be retrieved from the online file manager or with LizPack Publisher, which opens a remote project in QGIS.
• Your databases are standard PostgreSQL/PostGIS databases, reachable over an encrypted connection from QGIS, pgAdmin, DBeaver or any PostgreSQL client: you extract the data with your usual tools.
• Your GeoServer services follow OGC standards; your layers and styles stay in the usual GeoServer console.
• Your LizPack Field surveys are in the project files, which you retrieve in QGIS, or in your PostGIS database with the Pro plan.

And if you want to keep LizPack but leave shared hosting, LizPack Entreprise installs the same orchestrator on your own servers: your maps, databases, files and backups then stay on your infrastructure. To weigh both options, hosted or installed on your premises, read our guide host Lizmap or install it yourself.

Three ways to use LizPack

Why use an orchestrator

Installing Lizmap yourself is entirely possible: the software is open source and well documented. But a portal in production requires more than installation: a maintained server, a domain name, a certificate, compatible versions of QGIS Desktop, QGIS Server, Lizmap and its plugin, a backed up database, security fixes applied on time, and someone to take care of it when a map no longer displays.

LizPack pools this work. You save days at launch and hours every month afterwards, and you stay on open source software that you can take back at any time. That is the trade-off we offer: the freedom of open source tools, without the burden of administering them.

Frequently asked questions