OpenRouteService vs OSRM demo server
Free API comparison
| OpenRouteService | OSRM demo server | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Location Information | Location Information |
| API key | Needed, free | Not needed |
| Pricing | Free plan with a free API key and daily limits per service; open source, so you can also host it yourself. | Free for reasonable non-commercial use, no key needed, at most one request per second. |
| Commercial use | Not stated | Not on the free plan |
| From the browser | Not stated | Yes (CORS) |
| Formats | JSON | JSON |
| Interface | REST, HTTP-GET | REST, HTTP-GET |
| Provider | giscience.github.io | project-osrm.org |
| MCP server | No | No |
Which one to choose
Both plan routes on OpenStreetMap roads and are open source. OpenRouteService needs a free key and offers profiles for car, truck, bicycle, walking and wheelchair, plus travel-time areas and route optimisation. The OSRM demo server needs no key but is for light, non-commercial use at one request per second. Use OSRM for a quick test, OpenRouteService for an app.
Each service's own page has its full description, a code example and what visitors report: OpenRouteService, OSRM demo server.