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Pelias vs Nominatim: catalog facts
Pelias	Nominatim
Best for: Running your own geocoder that combines several open data sources	Best for: Adding address search and reverse geocoding backed by OpenStreetMap
Free Free and open source to self-host; a separate cloud webservice is also offered.	Free Free and open source; the public API is free for occasional use under a usage policy.
Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Imports OpenStreetMap, OpenAddresses, Who's On First, GeoNames and CSV data Forward and reverse geocoding All 3 strengths for Pelias Imports OpenStreetMap, OpenAddresses, Who's On First, GeoNames and CSV data Forward and reverse geocoding Docker setup for local installation	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
Several services and Elasticsearch to run and maintain Aimed at developers rather than end users	Public API is limited to occasional use A full planet import needs a large server
Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Hosted service
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Pelias pelias.io 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.