LocationIQ
OpenStreetMap-based geocoding and map tiles from Unwired Labs (India), sold as daily request plans with US and EU data centres.
Paid customers may store geocoding responses indefinitely, which Google's terms, HERE's Base plan and Mapbox's temporary API do not allow, so LocationIQ suits budget geocoding that needs to keep results. Plans are request quotas shared between geocoding and map views, from $100 a month for 25k a day on Developer to $950 for 30M a month on Business Plus. Soft limits allow up to 100% over the daily quota before HTTP 429, with no overage billing. Commercial use of the free tier requires a prominent link back.
- Headquarters
- 🇮🇳 India
- Parent jurisdiction
- 🇮🇳 India (parent: Unwired Labs)
- EU self-serve plan
- Available; check eligible plans and regions
- GDPR DPA
- Yes
- Billing
- subscription
- Free tier
- 5,000 requests/day (2 req/s); commercial use requires a prominent link back.
- Open source
- No
- Website
- locationiq.com
- Source last checked
- 2026-10-06
- Pricing evidence
- Modeled rates
Pricing
Published rates converted using workload assumptions. Read the notes. Assumes 15 vector tiles per map load. Daily caps and actual session activity also matter. How to read these estimates.
| Plan | Base fee / month |
|---|---|
| Free | $0 |
| Maps Lite | $45 |
| Developer | $100 |
| Startup | $200 |
| Growth Plus | $500 |
| Business Plus | $950 |
Allowances, plan limits & calculation details
Rates are shown at their recorded precision. A zero means no charge in this calculation; the vendor may charge for things we leave out. See the notes for usage assumptions and currency conversions.
Free
- Base fee / month
- $0
- Included map loads / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional map loads
- $0
- Included geocodes / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional geocodes
- $0
- Modeled plan limits
- ≤ 40 map loads / month (thousands); ≤ 150 geocoding requests / month (thousands)
Maps Lite
- Base fee / month
- $45
- Included map loads / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional map loads
- $0
- Included geocodes / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional geocodes
- $0
- Modeled plan limits
- ≤ 80 map loads / month (thousands); no geocoding requests
Developer
- Base fee / month
- $100
- Included map loads / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional map loads
- $0
- Included geocodes / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional geocodes
- $0
- Modeled plan limits
- ≤ 200 map loads / month (thousands); ≤ 750 geocoding requests / month (thousands)
Startup
- Base fee / month
- $200
- Included map loads / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional map loads
- $0
- Included geocodes / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional geocodes
- $0
- Modeled plan limits
- ≤ 480 map loads / month (thousands); ≤ 1,800 geocoding requests / month (thousands)
Growth Plus
- Base fee / month
- $500
- Included map loads / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional map loads
- $0
- Included geocodes / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional geocodes
- $0
- Modeled plan limits
- ≤ 2,000 map loads / month (thousands); ≤ 7,500 geocoding requests / month (thousands)
Business Plus
- Base fee / month
- $950
- Included map loads / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional map loads
- $0
- Included geocodes / month (thousands)
- 0
- 1k additional geocodes
- $0
- Modeled plan limits
- ≤ 8,000 map loads / month (thousands); ≤ 30,000 geocoding requests / month (thousands)
Plans: Free 5k requests/day, Maps Lite $45/month 10k/day (maps APIs only), Developer $100 25k/day, Startup $200 60k/day, Growth Plus $500 7.5M/month, Business Plus $950 30M/month; annual billing is roughly two months free (e.g. Developer $990/yr). Limits use 30 × daily requests. A geocoding call is 1 request; one billed "map view" = 4 vector tiles (or 16 raster tiles). Assumes ~15 vector tiles per map load, so 3.75 requests per load. Requests are a shared pool, so combined use needs a bigger plan than the per-input limits suggest. Soft limits allow up to 100% over the daily quota before HTTP 429; no overage billing. Paid customers may store geocoding responses indefinitely (free accounts: 48-hour cache); server-side caching of map tiles is not allowed. US and EU data centres; DPA accepted on sign-up. Unwired Labs (India) Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad; terms governed by Telangana law.
Managed alternatives
At 500K map loads / month, 100K geocoding requests / month. Adjust usage and requirements.
LocationIQ: $6,000/yr estimated.
- Stadia Maps: $1,440/yr estimated · $4,560/yr bill differenceModeled ratesAssumes 15 vector tiles per map load. Panning and zooming increase the credit count.
- Geoapify: $3,588/yr estimated · $2,412/yr bill differenceModeled ratesAssumes 15 vector tiles per map load. Longer sessions and panning consume more credits.
- Amazon Location Service: $4,200/yr estimated · $1,800/yr bill differenceModeled ratesAssumes 15 tiles per map load. Panning, zooming and actual tile sizes can change cost.
No cheaper managed estimate matches your filters. Adjust your usage or compare with your actual contract bill.
The price difference leaves out migration costs, operating costs and any features you’d need to replace.
Self-hosted options
Operating cost is not estimated. These options are not counted as savings against managed services.
Other maps & geocoding comparisons
- Google Maps Platform vs Mapbox
- Mapbox vs MapTiler Cloud
- Google Maps Platform vs HERE Location Services
- Google Maps Platform vs Stadia Maps
Found a wrong rate or plan restriction? Report a correction with a current source.