Basemaps (Plugin for QGIS)

A QGIS plugin with 12 providers and 1500+ basemaps — XYZ tiles, vector tiles, WMS, and WMTS — in 12 languages. Just click and load.

Features

• 12 providers with 1500+ basemaps — XYZ tiles, Vector tiles, WMS, and WMTS, including Esri, Google Maps, Bing Maps, OpenStreetMap, OpenFreeMap, Sentinel-2 Cloudless, NASA, USGS, and more.
• QGIS Browser panel integration — browse and load basemaps directly from the Browser panel with preview thumbnails in tooltips.
• Vector tile style cache — vector tile styles are cached locally with automatic ETag-based freshness validation. First load downloads and caches the style; subsequent loads read from cache instantly with background refresh.
• Detail panel — toggleable side panel showing rich metadata for each basemap layer (copyright, terms of use, tile source URL, etc.).
• QGIS 3.x and 4.x compatible.
• 12 languages: English, 中文, 日本語, 한국어, Français, Deutsch, Русский, العربية, Español, Português, हिन्दी, বাংলা.
• Add, edit, remove, and import/export custom basemaps — share configs with colleagues or back up your settings.
• Clean and fast — carefully crafted to keep the interface intuitive and loading responsive for a seamless experience.

Installation

Via QGIS Plugin Manager (Recommended)

1. Open QGIS.
2. Go to Plugins -> Manage and Install Plugins....
3. Select the All tab.
4. Search for Basemaps.
5. Click Install Plugin.

Manual Installation

1. Download the source code.
2. Extract the folder to your QGIS plugins directory:
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\QGIS\QGIS3\profiles\default\python\plugins\
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/
   • Linux: ~/.local/share/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/

Usage

1. Open the Plugin either by:
   • Click the Basemaps icon in the toolbar
   • or go to Plugins -> Basemap Management -> Load Basemaps.
   • or expand Basemaps in the QGIS Browser panel to browse and drag-and-drop layers directly.
2. Load Basemaps:
   1. Browse and select a provider in XYZ Tiles or WMS/WMTS tab
   2. Select the desired Basemaps or Layers (hold Shift or Ctrl/Command to select multiple), then click Load to add them to your project.
   3. Alternatively, double-click any basemap or layer to load it directly.
3. View Layer Details: Click the Detail button to toggle the side panel showing metadata for the selected layer (copyright, terms of use, tile URL, etc.).
4. Manage Providers:
   • Add: Click the Add button to add a new custom provider.
   • Edit: Right-click on a user-defined provider to edit it.
   • Remove: Click the Remove button to remove it.
   • Duplicated as user provider: Right-click on a default provider, then click Duplicated as user provider to duplicate it as a user provider. Then, you can edit the duplicated provider.
5. Import/Export:
   • Import: Click the Import button to import a custom provider.
   • Export: Click the Export button to export a custom provider.

Screenshots

• XYZ/Vector Services:

• WMS/WMTS Services:

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to:

• open issues
• submit pull requests
• share other basemap services on Discussions