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MapServer vs pg_featureserv: catalog facts
MapServer	pg_featureserv

Best for: Organisations publishing their own spatial data as web maps	Best for: Publishing PostGIS data as a standard web feature API
Free Free and open source; commercial support is available from third-party providers.	Free Free and open source from Crunchy Data.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Command line
Long-established OSGeo project with regular releases Runs on Windows, Linux and macOS Permissive MIT-style license Suite includes MapCache and TinyOWS	Implements the OGC API - Features standard Lightweight Go binary with a Dockerfile Publishes PostGIS tables and functions directly
Not a full GIS for editing or analysis Requires server setup and configuration	Requires a PostGIS database Serves vector features only, not map tiles
Self-hosted	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: Apache-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for MapServer mapserver.org Catalog checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for pg_featureserv github.com/CrunchyData/pg_featureserv Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.