Convert Shapefile to FlatGeobuf Online — Free & Instant
FlatGeobuf is a modern, binary vector format designed for cloud-native geospatial workflows. Converting your Shapefile to FlatGeobuf dramatically reduces file size compared to GeoJSON while enabling HTTP range requests for streaming directly from object storage. FlatGeobuf is an OGC Community Standard supported by GDAL, QGIS, and Mapbox.
File converter
When to convert Shapefile to FlatGeobuf
- Migrating Shapefile archives to a compact, cloud-ready format
- Serving Shapefile data from S3 or cloud storage via HTTP range requests
- Speeding up QGIS workflows by replacing large Shapefiles with FlatGeobuf
- Reducing storage and transfer costs for large Shapefile collections
How to convert Shapefile to FlatGeobuf
- 1
Upload your Shapefile
Drop your .shp file or ZIP bundle on the upload zone.
- 2
Select FlatGeobuf
Click FlatGeobuf in the format selector.
- 3
Download the .fgb file
Open in QGIS, use as a cloud data source, or serve directly from object storage.
About Shapefile
Shapefile (SHP) is the de-facto standard vector format developed by Esri. A shapefile is actually a collection of at least three files: .shp (geometry), .dbf (attributes), and .shx (index). Despite its age, it remains the most widely-supported format across GIS desktop software including ArcGIS and QGIS. Shapefiles support points, lines, and polygons but are limited to 2 GB in size and 10-character field names. When sharing shapefiles, always bundle them into a .zip archive.
Strengths
- +Universal compatibility with all GIS software
- +Stable, well-documented format
- +Supported natively by QGIS, ArcGIS, GRASS
About FlatGeobuf
FlatGeobuf is a modern, high-performance binary format for geospatial vector data, designed for efficient streaming and cloud-native workflows. Based on FlatBuffers, it supports random access via HTTP range requests, making it ideal for serving large datasets directly from object storage like S3 without a tile server. FlatGeobuf is an OGC Community Standard and is supported by GDAL 3.1+, QGIS, Mapbox, and the GeoJSON ecosystem. Its compact binary encoding is significantly faster to parse than GeoJSON for large datasets.
Strengths
- +Extremely fast read/write — binary encoding
- +Supports HTTP range requests for cloud-native access
- +OGC Community Standard
- +Compact — much smaller than equivalent GeoJSON
Frequently asked questions
Q.What is FlatGeobuf?
FlatGeobuf is a binary OGC Community Standard format based on FlatBuffers. It supports random access, making it ideal for streaming from cloud storage without a tile server.
Q.Can QGIS open FlatGeobuf files?
Yes. QGIS 3.16+ supports FlatGeobuf natively via GDAL.
Q.Is FlatGeobuf smaller than Shapefile?
Generally yes, especially for complex geometries. FlatGeobuf's binary encoding is more compact than Shapefile's fixed-record format.