ChibiGeo vs Geoapify, LocationIQ & OpenCage
There are plenty of hosted geocoding APIs. This page is an honest look at where ChibiGeo fits among the well-known ones — and, just as importantly, where it doesn't. If you need routing, isochrones, or a places database, the bigger platforms below do more than ChibiGeo does. If you're a self-hoster who wants a flat-rate, Photon-compatible, EU-hosted reverse geocoder that drops in with no code changes, that's ChibiGeo's lane.
Pricing below is as observed in 2026 and drifts — check each vendor's current page before deciding.
At a glance
| ChibiGeo | Geoapify | LocationIQ | OpenCage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine / data | Photon (OSM) | Own OSM-based stack | OSM / Nominatim-based | Aggregator (many sources) |
| Photon drop-in | ✅ Native | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Free tier | 2,500/day (non-commercial) | 3,000/day (limited commercial) | 5,000/day (with backlink) | Trial only |
| Entry paid | €9.99/mo Self-Hoster · €29/mo Builder | $59/mo (10k/day) | Paid tiers | ~€0.15 / 1,000 |
| Billing model | Flat rate, hard cap, no overage | Per-day credits | Per day | Per day, usage-billed |
| HQ / hosting | EU-only | Germany (EU) | Unwired Labs (global) | UK |
| Beyond geocoding | POIs, routing, transit | Routing, isochrones, places, tiles | Routing, maps, balance | Geocoding only, ethical stance |
Where ChibiGeo is the right choice
- You run a Photon client. Traccar, Dawarich, Reitti and others already speak Photon. With ChibiGeo you change a base URL and add a key — no adapter, no response reshaping. None of the others are Photon-compatible; you'd rewrite your integration.
- You want a predictable bill. ChibiGeo is flat-rate with a hard cap and no
overage charges — hit the cap and requests pause (
429), they don't quietly run up an invoice. Per-request and per-credit models can surprise you. - EU data residency is non-negotiable. ChibiGeo is EU-only and treats coordinates as transient query data, not a stored profile.
Where the others win
- Geoapify is a full location platform — routing, isochrones, places, map tiles — with a credit model and dedicated-server options. If you need more than geocoding, it's a strong one-stop shop.
- LocationIQ has the most generous free tier (5,000/day) if you're fine adding a "Search by LocationIQ" backlink, plus routing and maps.
- OpenCage aggregates many geocoders behind one API and has a well-earned reputation for privacy and ethics. If you want broad worldwide coverage from mixed sources rather than pure OSM, it's excellent.
The honest summary
ChibiGeo isn't trying to out-feature Geoapify or out-free LocationIQ. It's the flat-rate, Photon-compatible, EU-hosted option — the one that turns an existing Photon integration into a reliable hosted endpoint without touching your code or risking an overage bill. If that's your situation, it's the cleanest swap. If you need a broad location platform, one of the others will serve you better, and that's fine.