Mapbox API vs Nominatim API

Two free Geocoding APIs compared on access, reliability and developer ratings, using data from our daily health checks.

The verdict

Choose Mapbox API for its data: Create/customize beautiful digital maps. A free geocoding API by Mapbox.
Choose Nominatim API if you want to start without an API key, to call it from browser JavaScript.

	Mapbox API	Nominatim API
What it does	Create/customize beautiful digital maps. A free geocoding API by Mapbox.	Provides worldwide forward / reverse geocoding.
Provider	Mapbox	Nominatim 5.3.3 Manual
API key	Required	Not needed
HTTPS	Yes	Yes
CORS (browser calls)	Unknown	Yes
Status today	Online · 532 ms	Online · 637 ms
Uptime (30 days)	Up	Up
Developer rating	Not rated yet	Not rated yet
Price	Free / free tier	Free / free tier

Create/customize beautiful digital maps. A free geocoding API by Mapbox.

Strengths

Provides worldwide forward / reverse geocoding.

Strengths

Prototyping or a tutorial? Pick the one that needs no API key.
Calling from a web page? You need CORS. Otherwise route requests through your own server or a serverless function.
Going to production? Favour HTTPS, a strong uptime record and a provider with clear rate limits and terms. Check each API's docs before you commit.
Still unsure? Both are free to try: send one request to each and compare the data you get back.

Mapbox API requires an API key; Nominatim API doesn't, so Nominatim API is quicker to try.

Nominatim API supports CORS, so front-end JavaScript can call it directly. Call the other from a server.