How do I authenticate?

Pass your key as ?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY or in an Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY header. Get a key at https://console.geolith.app/signup.

Which countries does the hosted API cover?

Worldwide. The hosted API answers from the planet file: 678,043,458 places from OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps.

Is it better than Google?

We do not claim that. On 194 real India queries, geolith's first result was within 1 km of Google's for 113 (58 %).

Where is the full API reference?

In the Search docs at https://docs.geolith.app/search, with the OpenAPI 3.1 document at https://docs.geolith.app/search/openapi.json.

Product · Search

Geocoding, autocomplete and reverse geocoding in one API

geolith Search finds places and addresses from text, as the user types, and from a point. Call it at https://api.geolith.app with a key, worldwide (678,043,458 places from OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps), or self-host the same API from one .glx file with no database. On a 200-query India benchmark (20 Oct 2026) it put the right address first 95.0 % of the time and the right autocomplete answer first 82.5 % of the time. The Free plan has 100,000 requests a month.

Get a free API key Read the guides

What is geolith Search?

geolith Search is a geocoding API that turns addresses and place names into coordinates, suggests places as the user types and turns coordinates back into addresses, worldwide, from 678,043,458 OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps places. It runs as the hosted API at https://api.geolith.app or as one self-hosted server that answers from a single .glx file.

Detail

Endpoints

Four questions, one key. Every answer is a GeoJSON FeatureCollection with [longitude, latitude] coordinates and a ready-to-show label.

GET /v1/search: forward geocoding from free text (addresses, places, points of interest).
GET /v1/autocomplete: search as you type, with a focus point so nearby places rank first.
GET /v1/reverse: the nearest addresses and places to a point, with distance in km.
GET /v1/place: places by id; with geometry=true, countries, regions, counties and area venues return their outline as a Polygon or MultiPolygon.
GET /v1/search/structured: address fields (street, locality, postalcode, region, country) instead of one string.

curl

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.geolith.app/v1/search?text=eiffel%20tower&size=1"

Detail

Why teams pick it

The parts of a geocoding API that decide whether you can ship with it.

Store results permanently: a single result is an insubstantial extract under the OSMF geocoding guideline.
Publishable keys (gc_pk_…) only answer your allowed origins, so they are safe in a web page; secret keys (gc_sk_…) stay on servers.
A hard monthly quota: over quota, requests stop with HTTP 429 until the month ends or you upgrade. No surprise bill.
Open data only: OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps. Show: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overture Maps Foundation.
Built for agents: an OpenAPI 3.1 spec, llms.txt, an MCP server and stable JSON error codes, so an AI assistant can write working code against it.

Detail

Self-host the same API

The hosted API answers from one static .glx file. The planet file (22 Oct 2026) is 31.63 GB with 678,043,458 places, built in 5 h 28 min; it answered 21/21 world test queries, the slowest in 110 ms on a warm local server. Run the same Rust server on your own machine with no database.

Detail

Measured, not claimed

geolith, Nominatim, Photon and Pelias ran in Docker on the same India data (20 Oct 2026), 200 queries per set. geolith had the best top-1 on 5 of 7 sets; Photon leads on OSM POIs and Nominatim on reverse. It passed 24 of 25 feature probes.

India · top-1 %

Accuracy per query set

India top-1 accuracy by engine
Set	geolith	Nominatim	Photon	Pelias
OSM places	95.0	85.0	80.5	77.0
OSM addresses	95.0	50.5	88.5	61.5
OSM POIs	84.5	68.5	85.5	61.0
Overture POIs	93.0	6.0	12.5	7.0
Autocomplete	82.5	n/a	42.5	32.5
Near a point	96.0	44.5	52.0	39.0
Reverse	99.5	100.0	98.5	98.0
Feature probes (of 25)	24	21	19	16

Top-1 accuracy (%), 200 queries per set. All four engines in Docker on the same India data, 20 Oct 2026. Best per row in teal. Nominatim has no autocomplete endpoint. Method and raw results.

Benchmarks and migration

Benchmarksgeolith, Nominatim, Photon and Pelias on the same India data.Read →Migrate to geolithParameter and response mapping from Google, Mapbox, Nominatim, Pelias and Photon.Read →From Google Geocoding APIMap address=, latlng= and results[] to geolith GeoJSON.Read →From Mapbox Geocoding APIMap q=, proximity= and full_address to geolith.Read →From Nominatim public APILeave the 1 request per second public server for a keyed API with autocomplete.Read →From self-hosted Pelias or PhotonKeep your request code; drop OpenSearch and its services.Read →

Guides

See it in code

How to add address autocomplete to a React appA complete React component that suggests addresses as the user types, using the geolith autocomplete API with a browser-safe publishable key, debouncing, request cancelling and keyboard support.Read →Reverse geocoding in JavaScriptTurn latitude and longitude into an address in the browser and in Node.js with the geolith reverse geocoding API, including the user's current location and error handling.Read →Geocode a CSV of addresses (Python and Node.js)Batch-geocode a spreadsheet of addresses with the geolith API in Python or Node.js, with a few parallel workers, retries on HTTP 429, and a quality column so you can review weak matches. Results may be stored permanently.Read →Build a store locator with MapLibre and geolithA complete store locator in one HTML file. Geocode your stores once with a script, then let shoppers search an address, see the nearest stores sorted by distance, and view them on a MapLibre map.Read →

Questions

Search: questions

How do I authenticate?: Pass your key as ?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY or in an Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY header. Get a key at https://console.geolith.app/signup.
Which countries does the hosted API cover?: Worldwide. The hosted API answers from the planet file: 678,043,458 places from OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps.
Is it better than Google?: We do not claim that. On 194 real India queries, geolith's first result was within 1 km of Google's for 113 (58 %).
Where is the full API reference?: In the Search docs at https://docs.geolith.app/search, with the OpenAPI 3.1 document at https://docs.geolith.app/search/openapi.json.

Sources

Community Guidelines: Geocoding Guideline, OpenStreetMap Foundation (read 2026-10-22)
Open Database License (ODbL) v1.0, Open Data Commons (read 2026-10-22)
geolith search benchmarks: engines, geolith (read 2026-10-22)

Geocode your first address in a minute.

100,000 requests a month free. Commercial use with attribution. No card.

Get a free API key Try the live demo See pricing