diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b22754438
--- /dev/null
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+environment:
+  msvs_toolset: 14
+  BOOST_VERSION: 58
+  FASTBUILD: 1
+  matrix:
+    - platform: x64
+      configuration: Release
+
+os: Visual Studio 2015
+
+shallow_clone: true
+
+install:
+  - scripts\build-appveyor.bat
+
+artifacts:
+  - path: mapnik-gyp\msbuild-summary.txt
+    name: msbuild-summary.txt
+  - path: mapnik-gyp\msbuild-errors.txt
+    name: msbuild-errors.txt
+  - path: mapnik-gyp\msbuild-warnings.txt
+    name: msbuild-warnings.txt
+
+build: off
+test: off
+deploy: off
diff --git a/scripts/build-appveyor.bat b/scripts/build-appveyor.bat
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a61c31410
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-appveyor.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+SETLOCAL
+SET EL=0
+
+ECHO =========== %~f0 ===========
+
+ECHO NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS^: %NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS%
+ECHO RAM [MB]^:
+powershell "get-ciminstance -class 'cim_physicalmemory' | %% { $_.Capacity/1024/1024}"
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+
+::only build on AppVeyor, if explicitly stated
+ECHO APPVEYOR_REPO_COMMIT_MESSAGE^: %APPVEYOR_REPO_COMMIT_MESSAGE%
+SET BUILD_ON_APPVEYOR=0
+for /F "tokens=1 usebackq" %%i in (`powershell .\scripts\parse-commit-message.ps1 '[build appveyor]'`) DO SET BUILD_ON_APPVEYOR=%%i
+IF %BUILD_ON_APPVEYOR% EQU 0 ECHO not building, commit with [build appveyor] && GOTO DONE
+
+ECHO configuration^: %configuration%
+ECHO platform^: %platform%
+ECHO msvs_toolset^: %msvs_toolset%
+SET BUILD_TYPE=%configuration%
+SET BUILDPLATFORM=%platform%
+SET TOOLS_VERSION=%msvs_toolset%.0
+IF DEFINED APPVEYOR (ECHO on AppVeyor) ELSE (ECHO NOT on AppVeyor)
+ECHO ========
+
+SET PATH=C:\Python27;%PATH%
+SET PATH=C:\Program Files\7-Zip;%PATH%
+:: *nix style find command:
+SET PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin;%PATH%
+
+::cloning mapnik-gyp
+if EXIST mapnik-gyp ECHO mapnik-gyp already cloned && GOTO MAPNIK_GYP_ALREADY_HERE
+CALL git clone https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik-gyp.git
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+:MAPNIK_GYP_ALREADY_HERE
+CD mapnik-gyp
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+git checkout windows-performance
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+git pull
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+
+
+SET DEPS_URL=https://mapbox.s3.amazonaws.com/windows-builds/windows-build-deps/mapnik-win-sdk-binary-deps-%msvs_toolset%.0-%platform%.7z
+ECHO fetching binary deps^: %DEPS_URL%
+IF EXIST deps.7z (ECHO already downloaded) ELSE (powershell Invoke-WebRequest "${env:DEPS_URL}" -OutFile deps.7z)
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+ECHO extracting binary deps
+IF EXIST mapnik-sdk (ECHO already extracted) ELSE (7z -y x deps.7z | %windir%\system32\FIND "ing archive")
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+
+CALL "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat" amd64
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+
+SET AV_MAPNIK_GYP_STARTTIME=%TIME%
+ECHO calling build.bat of mapnik-gyp && CALL build.bat
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+ECHO %AV_MAPNIK_GYP_STARTTIME% started mapnik-gyp build.bat
+ECHO %TIME% finished mapnik-gyp build.bat
+
+GOTO DONE
+
+:ERROR
+ECHO =========== ERROR %~f0 ===========
+ECHO ERRORLEVEL^: %ERRORLEVEL%
+SET EL=%ERRORLEVEL%
+
+:DONE
+ECHO =========== DONE %~f0 ===========
+
+EXIT /b %EL%
diff --git a/scripts/build-local.bat b/scripts/build-local.bat
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6732665b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-local.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+@ECHO OFF
+SETLOCAL
+SET EL=0
+
+ECHO =========== %~f0 ===========
+
+SET APPVEYOR_REPO_COMMIT_MESSAGE=this is a [build appveyor] test
+SET APPVEYOR=true
+
+SET MAPNIK_GIT=3.0.5
+SET BOOST_VERSION=58
+SET FASTBUILD=1
+SET configuration=Release
+SET msvs_toolset=14
+SET platform=x64
+SET APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER=%CD%
+CALL scripts\build-appveyor.bat
+IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 GOTO ERROR
+
+GOTO DONE
+
+:ERROR
+ECHO =========== ERROR %~f0 ===========
+ECHO ERRORLEVEL^: %ERRORLEVEL%
+SET EL=%ERRORLEVEL%
+
+:DONE
+ECHO =========== DONE %~f0 ===========
+
+EXIT /b %EL%
diff --git a/scripts/parse-commit-message.ps1 b/scripts/parse-commit-message.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a22c10d96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/parse-commit-message.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+if($env:APPVEYOR_REPO_COMMIT_MESSAGE.ToLower().Contains($args[0].ToLower())) {
+    Write-Host '1';
+} else {
+    Write-Host '0';
+}