QGIS Planet

Which version of QGIS should I use?

With the release of QGIS 4, the question of the QGIS release cycle is arising again for many users.

Among the most common:

• what is the roadmap?
• how long will this version be maintained?
• is it a stable version?

The official QGIS roadmap page shows the current versions, along with a countdown to the next one.

I have attempted to simplify the QGIS release cycle, which can be unclear if you go too much into detail. Here is my perspective as a core QGIS developer, simplified to present the release cycle in a schematic way.

There are 3 types of QGIS versions:

• the development version (dev/nightly)
  • with a lifespan of 24 hours
  • unstable
  • used to test a newly added feature
  • installable via the dedicated OSGeo4W installer (OSGeo for Windows), or the Linux development repository
• the latest version (latest)
  • with a lifespan of 4 months
  • relatively stable
  • used to test new features and report bugs (issues to be created on GitHub)
  • installable via the download page
• the long-term LTR version (long term release)
  • with a lifespan of 1 year
  • the most stable version
  • used in production environments
  • installable via the download page

A picture is worth a thousand words

The diagram below illustrates how these different versions are built and highlights their end-of-life.

A few additional details:

• QGIS uses SemVer versioning, where X.Y.Z correspond to the major, minor, and patch versions
• each point represents the release of a new version, spaced one month apart
• a patch version change does not introduce any new features

Conclusion

For each new release, feel free to check out the visual changelog in video form, for example the one for QGIS 4.0.
The visual and video changelog for each version is available on the dedicated page.

If you would like to contribute to QGIS, or if you have any other questions about QGIS, feel free to contact us at [email protected]

You can stay informed of Oslandia news through our newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn.

What is the QGIS Sustainability Initiative?

At OPENGIS.ch, we believe that the long-term health of the QGIS ecosystem depends on more than just adding new features. Critical work like bugfixing, code reviews, codebase maintenance, and quality assurance often goes unnoticed, yet it is essential to delivering the stable, reliable software that thousands of organisations depend on every day. That is why we launched the QGIS Sustainability Initiative (#sustainQGIS). For every support contract of more than 10 days, we donate development time to the initiative. In addition, all unused hours at the end of the year of each contract are also donated. This ensures that buying an OPENGIS.ch support contract directly helps enable the long-term, sustainable development of the QGIS and QField ecosystem.

2025 at a glance

In 2025, our team invested a total of 168 hours into the QGIS Sustainability Initiative, spread across five key areas of work. On the wider QGIS project, we contributed 553 comments and 294 merged pull requests throughout the year.

_{*In addition to these sustainability hours, OPENGIS.ch dedicated 105 hours to QGIS bugfixing funded by QGIS.org.}

Sustainability work by category – 168 hours

Our team

OPENGIS.ch on QGIS in 2025

Beyond the sustainability initiative, OPENGIS.ch had a significant presence in the QGIS codebase throughout 2025. In total, our team contributed 773 commits, 221 merged pull requests, 384 PR reviews, and helped close 122 bugs, plus 126 hours of dedicated bugfixing (21h from the sustainability initiative + 105h funded by QGIS.org).

Why It Matters

Every hour invested in the QGIS Sustainability Initiative strengthens the foundation that thousands of organisations rely on. By choosing an OPENGIS.ch support contract, you are not only getting expert support for your projects, you are directly contributing to a healthier, more sustainable open-source GIS ecosystem.

Thank you for being part of this journey.