Nominatim (OpenStreetMap) vs Geoapify
Free API comparison
| Nominatim (OpenStreetMap) | Geoapify | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Location Information | Location Information |
| API key | Not needed | Needed, free |
| Pricing | The public server is free to use but has a strict usage policy: at most one request per second, a User-Agent or Referer that identifies your app, no bulk geocoding, and attribution to OpenStreetMap. | Free with a free API key, for 3,000 credits a day, also for commercial use; attribution to Geoapify and the data sources is required. |
| Commercial use | Not stated | Allowed on the free plan |
| From the browser | Yes (CORS) | Yes (CORS) |
| Formats | JSON | JSON |
| Interface | REST, HTTP-GET | REST, HTTP-GET, MCP |
| Provider | nominatim.org | apidocs.geoapify.com |
| Last checked | Working on November 1st, 2026 | Working on November 1st, 2026 |
| MCP server | No | Yes, official |
Which one to choose
Nominatim is free without a key but strict: one request per second, no bulk geocoding. Geoapify, also built on OpenStreetMap, needs a free key and gives 3,000 credits a day, also for commercial use, with autocomplete, routing and places search in the same account. For more than a handful of lookups, or a commercial app, Geoapify is the easier free choice.
Each service's own page has its full description, a code example and what visitors report: Nominatim (OpenStreetMap), Geoapify.