14 Best Geocoding APIs for Your Applications

A geocoding API turns an address into latitude and longitude (forward geocoding), turns a pair of coordinates back into an address (reverse geocoding), or completes an address as someone types it (autocomplete). You call it from a signup form, a checkout, a store locator, a delivery route, or a batch job that cleans a spreadsheet of customer addresses.

Three questions decide which provider fits, and the headline price is not one of them.

1. What may you do with the result? Some APIs let you store a geocode forever, some let you cache it for only a day, and some charge a higher rate the moment you want to keep it.
2. Where does the data come from? OpenStreetMap-derived services are cheap and usually let you store results, but they ask for attribution and lean on community coverage. Proprietary datasets from Google, HERE, and TomTom cost more and carry tighter terms.
3. How precise do you need to be? A rooftop pin and a street-interpolated guess are both a geocode, and only one of them lands on the right building.

Google’s March 2025 pricing change reset the math for this category. The flat $200 monthly credit is gone, replaced by a smaller free allowance on each API, so the old advice to switch away from Google on cost alone needs a second look. In this guide, I have compared the top geocoding APIs on what they return, how they license it, and what they charge customers in the US.

Geocoding APIs at a glance

Google Maps Platform

The Google Geocoding API converts an address, a Plus Code, or a Place ID into coordinates and back again. Every result is tagged with an accuracy level, from a rooftop hit to a position interpolated along the street to a district centroid. Version 4 of the API is now generally available alongside the established v3, and it draws on Google’s own map data, refreshed continuously.

Key Features

• Results carry the formatted address, split address components, a Place ID, and a viewport box for framing a map.
• The location_type field spells out how the point was derived: ROOFTOP, RANGE_INTERPOLATED, GEOMETRIC_CENTER, or APPROXIMATE.
• Region biasing and component filtering constrain a search to a country or postal area.
• A separate address validation API checks and corrects a postal address before you save it.
• Client libraries for Python, Node, Go, Java, and .NET, with a Places Autocomplete service for type-ahead entry.

Mapbox

Mapbox Geocoding, now on v6, is the search half of a platform whose other half is maps, navigation, and vector tiles, so a team building a store locator or a delivery app can put everything on one invoice. The v6 API takes free-form or structured input, does forward and reverse lookups, and returns address components ready to drop into a form. One licensing rule shapes how you use it: standard temporary responses cannot be cached, and keeping results means moving to the paid Permanent Geocoding tier.

Key Features

• Structured input in v6: pass street, city, region, and postcode as separate fields for a cleaner match.
• Batch geocoding of up to 50 queries per request.
• Address Autofill and a session-based Search Box API for type-ahead address entry.
• Downloadable Boundaries and Movement datasets for teams that also need polygons or mobility data.

HERE

HERE Geocoding & Search draws on one of the two large proprietary map datasets that predate OpenStreetMap, the other being TomTom’s. The v7 API handles forward and reverse geocoding, structured queries, autosuggest, and autocomplete, and it can search along a route, not only around a point. HERE fits teams that also need routing, matrix calculations, or fleet planning, since HERE offers all of them on one platform behind a single key.

Key Features

• Search along a polyline, useful for a next-gas-station-on-my-route query.
• Autosuggest and autocomplete endpoints for progressive address entry.
• Structured geocoding with separate house-number, street, and postal-code fields.
• Daily data updates, with POI attributes and third-party content such as EV charge points.

TomTom

TomTom’s Places APIs cover forward geocoding, structured geocoding, reverse geocoding, and place search, and new work now targets the TomTom Orbis Maps platform, which blends TomTom’s own data with OpenStreetMap and other open sources. A US-only Premium Geocoding option adds building entrances and parking points for last-meter delivery accuracy. TomTom is best when a project already uses its maps or navigation SDKs.

Key Features

• Free-form and structured forward geocoding, with a separate reverse endpoint.
• Batch geocoding for bulk address files.
• One key across geocoding, map display, routing, and traffic APIs.

Radar

Radar Maps is pitched directly at teams leaving Google: one platform for geocoding, address autocomplete, address validation, search, routing, and base maps. Its Core Maps tier covers forward, reverse, and IP geocoding plus autocomplete at a single flat rate, which makes cost forecasting simple. The catch for small projects is that Radar no longer offers a self-serve free tier: every account starts with a sales quote and an annual commitment.

Key Features

• Core Maps covers geocoding, reverse, IP geocoding, autocomplete, distance, and directions from one set of endpoints.
• Address validation, places search, and route optimization form a second Premium Maps group.
• SDKs for web, iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter, developed alongside Radar’s geofencing product.
• SOC 2 and GDPR compliance, with the company reporting a billion API calls a day.

Geoapify

Geoapify is a German provider that builds its geocoding on OpenStreetMap, OpenAddresses, and GeoNames, and sells it on a plain daily-credit plan. A free online tool and an in-browser playground let you test address lookups and batch a spreadsheet before writing any code. It is a good pick when the budget is tight and you want a simple, per-request bill.

Key Features

• One credit per request, whether it is a geocode, a reverse lookup, or a places query, with a batch mode for bulk files.
• Free downloadable datasets for cities, postcodes, and timezone boundaries.
• An address autocomplete endpoint and a hosted map-tile service on the same key.

OpenCage

OpenCage aggregates OpenStreetMap and a stack of other open datasets into a single worldwide geocoding API. There are no per-request overage fees and no hard cut-offs: go over your daily limit occasionally and requests keep working, with a nudge to move up a tier only if it becomes a habit. Results can be stored permanently, even after you stop paying.

Key Features

• Forward and reverse geocoding with annotations such as timezone, currency, and calling code on every result.
• Client libraries and examples for more than 40 languages and frameworks.
• A spreadsheet upload tool and a separate Geosearch autosuggest product for form fields.

LocationIQ

LocationIQ, run by Unwired Labs since 2013, is an OpenStreetMap-based API that positions itself as a low-cost swap for Google Maps, with a choice of US or EU datacenters. It covers forward and reverse geocoding, autocomplete, static and dynamic map tiles, and routing, all metered from a single request-credit pool. Coverage and accuracy track OpenStreetMap and OpenAddresses.

Key Features

• One request credit covers a geocode, a reverse lookup, an autocomplete call, or a map view.
• IP and HTTP referrer restrictions on each access token, plus multiple tokens on paid plans.
• A startup program offering up to half off for companies under two years old.

Nominatim

Nominatim powers the search box on openstreetmap.org, and the same open-source software is free to use on a public server or to run yourself. It does forward and reverse geocoding from OpenStreetMap data only, and the public server comes with a strict usage policy: one request per second, a genuine User-Agent, visible attribution, and results cached on your side. For anything past light, user-triggered lookups, the intended path is your own instance.

Key Features

• Forward and reverse geocoding, plus a structured query mode, straight from OpenStreetMap.
• Fully self-hostable, with Docker images and ready-made regional extracts.

Geocodio

Geocodio covers the US, Canada, Mexico, and, as of 2026, the UK, and it is made for bulk work and data enrichment, not global reach. One call can geocode an address and, in the same response, attach census tracts, congressional and state legislative districts, school districts, time zones, or ZIP+4. That turns five separate data joins into a single request. It has been a favorite of analysts and civic-data teams since 2014.

Key Features

• Address parsing, standardization, and correction of typoed or partial input.
• An accuracy score and an accuracy type on every result, so weak matches can be filtered in code.
• Single, batch, and spreadsheet-upload interfaces, the last with no code.
• Distance and drive-time matrices that handle far larger grids than most providers.
• Results are yours to store and reuse.

Smarty

Smarty, formerly SmartyStreets, is a US address-verification specialist, and its US Rooftop Geocoding puts the pin on the actual building, not the center of the parcel or the street segment. It also handles sub-parcel cases such as shopping malls and mobile-home parks. Because it is delivered through the same US Street API that validates the address, you clean and locate in one call. NASA, Uber, and CarMax are among the names on its customer page.

Key Features

• USPS CASS-certified validation, rooftop coordinates, and a persistent Smarty Key identifier for each address.
• Up to 55 points of address metadata, including residential-or-commercial and vacancy flags.
• Access to more than 20 million non-postal addresses that the USPS database does not carry.

Esri ArcGIS

Many city governments, utilities, and logistics firms already run ArcGIS, and the ArcGIS geocoding service comes bundled in. It does forward and reverse geocoding, candidate matching, suggestions, and batch jobs, and it makes the storage question explicit: there is one price if you use a geocode and discard it, and a higher price if you save it. That split maps cleanly onto how Esri licenses the rest of its platform.

Key Features

• Forward, reverse, candidate-match, suggestion, and batch endpoints from one service.
• A location-attributes option that returns front-door, rooftop, and roadside points for a place.
• Ties into ArcGIS mapping, routing, spatial analysis, and demographic enrichment on the same key.
• Coverage from Esri’s commercial dataset and its data partners, not OpenStreetMap.

Amazon Location Service

Amazon Location Service is the geocoder to reach for when the rest of the stack already lives in AWS, because it uses the same IAM roles, billing, and SDKs as everything else. Its Places API does forward and reverse geocoding, search, and autocomplete, priced in buckets: a cheaper Core rate for results you use and discard, and a Stored rate for results you keep. Map tiles come from OpenStreetMap and similar open sources, while the place data comes from commercial partners.

Key Features

• Places, Routes, Maps, Trackers, and Geofences under one service and one API key.
• A separate Address Validation feature for the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.
• Native integration with IAM, CloudWatch, and the AWS SDKs.

Azure Maps

Azure Maps is Microsoft’s location platform, and it is the one Microsoft is investing in: Bing Maps for Enterprise is being retired, and its data and features are folding into Azure Maps. The Search service handles geocoding, reverse geocoding, and POI search, billed as transactions on the current Gen2 plan. As with AWS Location Service, it makes the most sense for teams already inside the Azure ecosystem.

Key Features

• Geocoding, reverse geocoding, address autocomplete, and POI search under one Search service.
• Batch geocoding and structured address input alongside free-form search.
• Integrates with Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Functions, and Power BI.

How to choose a geocoding API

Start with what you are allowed to do with the result. If you need to store geocodes, read the license first. Google allows it with a cache limit. OpenCage, Geoapify, Geocodio, and LocationIQ on paid plans let you keep results indefinitely. Mapbox, HERE, Esri, and AWS Location Service put storage behind a separate tier or a contract. Nominatim’s public server forbids reselling geocodes and expects you to cache, and Smarty ties stored rooftop coordinates to an active subscription.

OpenStreetMap-derived APIs, which include OpenCage, LocationIQ, Geoapify, and Nominatim, are inexpensive and permissive but inherit OpenStreetMap’s uneven global coverage and ask for attribution. Proprietary datasets from Google, HERE, TomTom, and Smarty cost more and carry stricter terms, but they fill in the addresses that community mapping misses, especially outside Europe and North America. Mapbox, Radar, Esri, AWS, and Azure blend commercial and open data.

Match the provider to your geography and your infrastructure. For a US-heavy product, Geocodio and Smarty go deeper on domestic addressing than any global option, and Smarty is the one to pick when a wrong building is expensive. If your app already lives on AWS or Azure, their in-house geocoders save you a vendor without a large accuracy penalty. For a genuinely global consumer product, Google and HERE remain the safe defaults, with Mapbox and Radar as the cost-conscious alternatives.

Set expectations before you design around the data. Check whether each candidate returns an accuracy indicator, and use it: Google’s location_type, Esri’s match score, and Geocodio’s accuracy score all tell you when a result is a rooftop hit versus a street-level guess. Treat interpolated and centroid results as approximate, fall back to a wider area when confidence is low, and test every shortlisted API on a sample of your own messy addresses before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions