An OSRM alternative you don't have to host
OSRM, the Open Source Routing Machine, is a fast open-source routing engine for OpenStreetMap data. Its public demo servers are for light use, at most one request a second. Mapricot is a hosted routing API on OpenStreetMap, with driving, cycling, and walking under one key, for $0.10 per 1,000 requests after 250,000 free every 30 days.
Equivalent APIs
Each Mapricot API next to the OSRM 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.
OSRM products, from its documentation, checked October 22, 2026.
When to choose each
Where Mapricot is stronger
- Nothing to run: no server holding the planet's roads in memory, and no rebuilds to keep the data fresh.
- Driving, cycling, and walking from one API, where each OSRM profile is its own dataset and server.
- Geocoding, places, IP geolocation, and map tiles, to find the stops and draw the route.
- No one-request-a-second limit, as on the public demo servers.
Where OSRM is stronger
- Turn-by-turn instructions in each route.
- The Table, Match, Trip, and Nearest services: travel time matrices, map matching, stop ordering, and snapping to roads.
- Your own server, with no per-request cost and routing profiles you can change in Lua.
OSRM pricing
OSRM is free, open-source software. The public demo servers, run by FOSSGIS, allow at most one request a second and no heavy use. Running your own costs only the server, but OSRM keeps its routing data in memory: about 123 GB for the whole planet with the car profile, and each profile, such as car, bike, or foot, is built and served on its own.
Routing
The memory figure is from OSRM's wiki, measured on a 2021 planet; it grows with the map. Source: FOSSGIS routing server 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: OSRM takes the stops in the URL as
longitude,latitudepairs, and the travel mode depends on which server you call. Mapricot'sPOST /v1/routetakes a JSON body withwaypointsas{"lat": …, "lon": …}and amodeofdrive,walk, orbicycle. - Polylines: OSRM's default geometry is a polyline with five decimal places. Mapricot's has six, the same as OSRM's
polyline6, so decode with precision 6. - Routes: Mapricot returns the distance, travel time, and a line for the route, and the distance and time of each leg, through up to 20 stops. It doesn't return turn-by-turn steps, alternative routes, or matrices.
- Engine: Mapricot's routing runs on Valhalla, another open-source engine, so routes and travel times on the same roads can differ a little from OSRM's.
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