Compare software

openrouteservice vs Nominatim: catalog facts
openrouteservice	Nominatim
Best for: Routing and reachability analysis on OpenStreetMap data, hosted or on your own server	Best for: Adding address search and reverse geocoding backed by OpenStreetMap
Free Open source to self-host; the public API is free within daily limits.	Free Free and open source; the public API is free for occasional use under a usage policy.
Web, Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Directions, isochrones, matrices and geocoding in one API Self-hostable with Docker Compose or as a JAR All 4 strengths for openrouteservice Directions, isochrones, matrices and geocoding in one API Self-hostable with Docker Compose or as a JAR Free public API and browser map client QGIS plugin and Python, JavaScript and R clients	Forward and reverse geocoding on OpenStreetMap data Scales from one city to the whole planet All 4 strengths for Nominatim Forward and reverse geocoding on OpenStreetMap data Scales from one city to the whole planet Minutely updates keep data current Structured queries for bulk address geocoding
Public API has daily request limits Self-hosting large regions needs significant server resources	Public API is limited to occasional use A full planet import needs a large server
Web application, Self-hosted, Hosted service	Self-hosted, Hosted service
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for openrouteservice openrouteservice.org Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Nominatim nominatim.org Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.