A Nominatim alternative without the usage limits

Nominatim is the open-source geocoder behind OpenStreetMap's search. Its public server is free for light use, at most one request a second, with no autocomplete. Mapricot geocodes OpenStreetMap and other open data for apps at any volume, with autocomplete, for $0.10 per 1,000 requests after 250,000 free every 30 days.

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Equivalent APIs

Each Mapricot API next to the Nominatim product that does the same job. Mapricot's API isn't compatible with any other provider's, so switching means changing requests and response handling.

What you need
Mapricot
Nominatim

Forward geocoding

Mapricot GET /v1/search
Nominatim Search API, /search

Reverse geocoding

Mapricot GET /v1/reverse
Nominatim Reverse API, /reverse

Autocomplete

Mapricot GET /v1/autocomplete
Nominatim Not listed

Nearby places by category

Mapricot GET /v1/nearby
Nominatim Not listed

Place lookup by ID

Mapricot GET /v1/places/{id}
Nominatim Address Lookup API, /lookup, by OpenStreetMap ID

Driving, cycling, and walking routes

Mapricot POST /v1/route
Nominatim Not listed

IP geolocation

Mapricot GET /v1/ip/{ip}
Nominatim Not listed

Vector map tiles

Mapricot Free, no API key, for MapLibre
Nominatim Not listed

Nominatim products, from its documentation, checked October 22, 2026.

When to choose each

Where Mapricot is stronger

  • Autocomplete, which the public Nominatim server doesn't allow.
  • No per-second limit or usage policy to stay under, so it can serve an app's users directly.
  • Addresses from OpenAddresses and Overture as well as OpenStreetMap, for more house numbers.
  • Nearby places by category, routing, IP geolocation, and map tiles under the same key.

Where Nominatim is stronger

  • Free, with no account, for light use such as a one-off script.
  • Open-source software you can run yourself, if you have a server with 128 GB of memory and 1 TB of fast disk for the whole planet.
  • OpenStreetMap IDs, tags, and outlines in the results.

Nominatim pricing

Nominatim is free. The public server needs no account, but its usage policy allows at most one request a second, forbids autocomplete and heavy use, and discourages regular requests from apps. Running your own costs nothing in licenses, but a whole-planet import needs 128 GB of memory, 1 TB of fast disk, and about two and a half days.

What you pay for
Nominatim

Geocoding

Public server: free, at most 1 request a second, no heavy use. Your own server: free software on hardware you pay for

Places and autocomplete

Autocomplete isn't allowed on the public server

Usage limits apply to an app's traffic from all its users together. Source: Nominatim usage policy, last checked October 22, 2026. Mapricot charges $0.10 per 1,000 requests after 250,000 free every 30 days, shared by every API, and its map tiles are free with no key.

Differences to plan for

  • Requests: Mapricot needs an API key in the Authorization header instead of an identifying User-Agent. Search takes q, as Nominatim's does, and reverse takes lat and lon.
  • Results: Mapricot returns label instead of display_name, coordinates as numbers instead of strings, and the address split into fields such as houseNumber, street, and locality.
  • IDs: Mapricot issues its own IDs, starting with mp_, for every result. Nominatim's place_id can change between imports, so stored OpenStreetMap IDs need matching to Mapricot places.
  • Credit: both need the OpenStreetMap credit shown. Mapricot lists the credit each result needs in its attribution field.

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