Head to head
Foursquare Places vs Geoapify
As a maps & geocoding API, Foursquare Places rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 77.4 to 72.4, a 5-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Foursquare Places | Geoapify |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 77.4 | 72.4 |
Specifications
| Foursquare Places | Geoapify | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Places/POI search & geotagging | Affordable OSM-based geocoding & maps |
| Free tier | $200/mo credit + 500 free Pro calls | 3k credits/day (free plan) |
| Pricing | Per call (volume-based) | Per credit (per req) |
| Official SDKs | 9 languages | 9 languages |
Is Foursquare Places better than Geoapify?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, Foursquare Places rates higher (77.4 vs 72.4). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
Foursquare Places leads by 5 points (77.4 vs 72.4) and wins 3 of 4 criteria; Geoapify wins 1.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 78 | 75 | |
| Reliability | 80 | 68 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 68 | 58 | |
| Accessibility | 85 | 92 |
Choose Foursquare Places if… / choose Geoapify if…
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (78 vs 75)
- →reliability matters most to you (80 vs 68)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (68 vs 58)
- →your use case matches its focus: places/poi search & geotagging
- →accessibility matters most to you (92 vs 85)
- →your use case matches its focus: affordable osm-based geocoding & maps
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Per call (volume-based)
- Free tier
- $200/mo credit + 500 free Pro calls
- Free (Sandbox)$0
- Pro Endpoints (pay-as-you-go)$15.00 CPM (per 1,000)
- Premium Endpoints (pay-as-you-go)$18.75 CPM (per 1,000)
- Ask API$30.00 CPM (Pro) / $36.00 CPM (Premium)
- EnterpriseCustom
- FSQ OS Places (open dataset)Free (Apache 2.0)
- Model
- Per credit (per req)
- Free tier
- 3k credits/day (free plan)
- Free$0/mo
- API 10$59/mo
- API 25$109/mo
- API 50$179/mo
- API 100$299/mo
- API 250 / Custom$609/mo; Custom from $860/mo
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Foursquare Places) and 2026-06-27 (Geoapify).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 1
Python (API samples, bulk harmonization)
Only Foursquare Places · 8
iOS / Swift (Places & Movement SDK)Android (Places & Movement SDK)React NativeJavaScript / web (Address Autofill, Web Place Search samples)REST / HTTP (v3 API)Postman collectionModel Context Protocol (official foursquare-places-mcp server)Apache Spark (FSQ OS Places dataset access)
Only Geoapify · 8
JavaScript / TypeScript (Geocoder Autocomplete library)React (@geoapify component wrappers)Angular (component wrappers)Node.js (Route Planner SDK, code samples)Leaflet integrationMapLibre GL integrationOpenLayers integrationQGIS integration
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Deep, structured venue data: 100M+ POIs with a 1,500+ category taxonomy, stable category IDs, attributes, hours, and user-generated tips/photos
- +Explicitly Google-independent POI source, appeals to companies that compete with Google or want to avoid Maps Platform lock-in
- +Transparent pay-as-you-go CPM pricing with a 10,000-call/month free Pro tier and no card required to start
- –Restrictive, revocable API data license, data generally can't be stored, merged, or redistributed outside your application
- –Coverage and freshness can trail Google outside dense urban / US / Western markets, and tip/photo depth varies
- –Premium endpoints (tips, photos, ratings) have no free tier and start at $18.75 per 1,000 calls
- +Cache-friendly licensing: OSM-based data may be stored/cached, unlike Google Maps which forbids it
- +Unified, predictable credit pricing (1 geocoding request = 1 credit; map tiles = 0.25 credit) across all APIs
- +Generous no-credit-card free tier (3,000 credits/day) usable for prototypes and light production
- –OSM-backed accuracy can trail Google for rooftop precision and some addresses fail to resolve
- –Lower tiers cap rate at 5-15 req/s, which can bottleneck very large dataset processing
- –Modest 99.5% SLA and no prominent public real-time status page for transparent uptime reporting
Foursquare Places vs Geoapify: questions
- Which has better documentation, Foursquare Places or Geoapify?
- Foursquare Places scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 78 vs 75 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Foursquare Places or Geoapify?
- Foursquare Places scores higher on reliability: 80 vs 68 out of 100.
- Do Foursquare Places and Geoapify have a free tier?
- Foursquare Places: yes ($200/mo credit + 500 free Pro calls). Geoapify: yes (3k credits/day (free plan)).
- How are Foursquare Places and Geoapify priced?
- Foursquare Places: Per call (volume-based). Geoapify: Per credit (per req).
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Both list 9 official SDKs.