Head to head
HERE vs OpenCage
As a maps & geocoding API, HERE rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 81.5 to 74.8, a 6.7-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | HERE | OpenCage |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 81.5 | 74.8 |
Specifications
| HERE | OpenCage | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Automotive & enterprise location data | Pure forward/reverse geocoding |
| Free tier | 30k req/mo (Base Plan, card required) | 2,500 req/day (free trial) |
| Pricing | Per 1k req / transactions | Per day req tier (subscription) |
| Official SDKs | 6 languages | 12 languages |
Is HERE better than OpenCage?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, HERE rates higher (81.5 vs 74.8). 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
HERE leads by 6.7 points (81.5 vs 74.8) and wins 2 of 4 criteria; OpenCage wins 2.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 78 | 80 | |
| Reliability | 90 | 65 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 80 | 62 | |
| Accessibility | 78 | 95 |
Choose HERE if… / choose OpenCage if…
- →reliability matters most to you (90 vs 65)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (80 vs 62)
- →your use case matches its focus: automotive & enterprise location data
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (80 vs 78)
- →accessibility matters most to you (95 vs 78)
- →you need broad SDK coverage (12 official SDKs vs 6)
- →your use case matches its focus: pure forward/reverse geocoding
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Per 1k req / transactions
- Free tier
- 30k req/mo (Base Plan, card required)
- Freemium / Base$0/mo
- Pay-as-you-grow$1 per 1,000 transactions
- Pro$449/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
- Model
- Per day req tier (subscription)
- Free tier
- 2,500 req/day (free trial)
- Free Trial€0
- X-Small€45/mo
- Small€110/mo
- Medium€450/mo
- Large€900/mo
- Enterprise€1,800+/mo
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (HERE) and 2026-06-27 (OpenCage).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 0
None
Only HERE · 6
iOS (native)Android (native)Flutter (Explore Edition)Flutter (Navigate Edition)JavaScript (Maps API)REST API
Only OpenCage · 12
PythonNode.js / JavaScriptJavaPHPRubyPerlMATLABCommand-line (CLI)Leaflet pluginMCP serverGo (community)Rust (community)
Strengths and weaknesses
- +Generous free tier: 250,000 transactions/month, roughly 25x Google Maps' free geocoding allowance
- +Overage pricing (~$1 per 1,000) is far cheaper than Google's $5 per 1,000 at production volume
- +Built on HERE's own automotive-grade map database (~400M addresses, ~120M places, 100+ countries), high accuracy
- –Pricing model is complex and hard to forecast at scale, usage is product- and tier-specific
- –Standard plans prohibit permanent storage/caching of geocoding results without a costly enterprise license
- –Freemium rate limit of ~5 requests/second constrains high-concurrency real-time applications
- +Permissive open-data license: store and reuse geocoding results forever, even after cancelling, unlike Google/Mapbox
- +Predictable flat-rate pricing with soft daily limits (no surge charges or hard cut-offs for subscribers)
- +Single endpoint returns rich annotations: timezone, currency, calling code, sunrise/sunset, what3words, MGRS, confidence score
- –Pure geocoding only, no routing, distance matrix, map tiles, or rich place search
- –Coverage and accuracy thin in developing regions where OpenStreetMap data is sparse
- –Fixed subscription tiers rather than true granular pay-as-you-go billing
HERE vs OpenCage: questions
- Which has better documentation, HERE or OpenCage?
- OpenCage scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 80 vs 78 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, HERE or OpenCage?
- HERE scores higher on reliability: 90 vs 65 out of 100.
- Do HERE and OpenCage have a free tier?
- HERE: yes (30k req/mo (Base Plan, card required)). OpenCage: yes (2,500 req/day (free trial)).
- How are HERE and OpenCage priced?
- HERE: Per 1k req / transactions. OpenCage: Per day req tier (subscription).
- Which has more official SDKs?
- OpenCage lists 12 official SDKs, HERE lists 6.