Quick answer
It depends - Geoapify wins for most builders who want a no-card free tier with broader mapping and routing coverage, while Geocodify is the better fit if your main need is straightforward geocoding with a simpler monthly-call cap.
How the free tiers compare
Geoapify and Geocodify both sit in the geocoding/search space, but their free tiers are shaped differently. Geoapify is broader: it covers maps, routing, places, autocomplete, isolines, geometry analysis, and elevation, so it works better when location features might expand beyond geocoding. Its free tier is also clearly no-card and gives a daily credit budget plus a 5 rps cap. Geocodify is narrower but simpler to reason about for pure geocoding workloads: 30,000 calls per month, 1 rps, commercial use allowed, and attribution required. The tradeoff is that Geocodify’s paid entry point is cheaper than Geoapify’s first paid plan, but Geoapify’s free tier is more capable and has much more room on request rate. If you need richer map and routing primitives, Geoapify is the freer starting point. If you only need a basic geocoding API and care about a low-cost upgrade path, Geocodify is cleaner.
Geoapify Location Platform vs Geocodify free tier, side by side
| Geoapify Location PlatformFTV 71 | GeocodifyFTV 60 | |
|---|---|---|
| Free allowanceGeoapify counts credits by day, while Geocodify counts calls by month. | 3,000 credits/day | 30,000 calls/month |
| Request rateGeoapify is more forgiving for bursty usage. | Up to 5 requests/second | 1 request/second |
| Commercial use on free tierGeocodify states commercial use is allowed on the free tier. | Limited commercial use | Commercial use allowed |
| Credit card required for free tierOnly Geoapify explicitly says no credit card is required. | No | Not stated |
| Attribution on free tierGeocodify’s free tier requires attribution. | Not stated | Attribution required |
After you outgrow the free tier
Geoapify uses flat monthly plans that start at $59/month, then step up through higher fixed tiers, with a custom contact-sales option from $860/month for unmetered usage. Geocodify also uses flat monthly plans, starting lower at $49/month, then $150/month, with Enterprise listed at $4,000/year and no monthly price. For small-team usage, Geocodify is cheaper at the entry point, while Geoapify is easier to justify if you need multiple location features beyond geocoding. There is no usage-based rate table here, so exact cost scaling beyond the listed tiers is limited to the quoted plan prices.
Cost at real usage
| Usage | Geoapify Location Platform | Geocodify |
|---|---|---|
| Low-volume production geocoding, under the free limitsGeoapify’s free tier is daily-credit based; Geocodify’s is monthly-call based. | Free (within tier) | Free (within tier) |
| Need the first paid step with commercial terms and supportGeoapify includes multiple API keys and email support on API 10; Geocodify’s Starter removes attribution and adds email support. | $59/mo | $49/mo |
| Need 700k calls/month and a higher request-rate ceilingGeoapify has a 250k credits/day tier at $609/mo, but no direct call-equivalent is provided. | No matching monthly tier listed; contact sales / varies by usage | $150/mo |
| Need enterprise-scale usage with custom supportGeocodify’s Enterprise is listed as unavailable on monthly plans. | from $860/mo | $4,000/year |
Estimates, not quotes. Usage-based rates change - verify with the vendor's pricing page before committing.
When to pick each one
Pick Geoapify Location Platform when…
- You need geocoding plus other location tools like routing, places, or autocomplete in the same stack.
- You want a free tier with no credit card required and a daily allowance you can burn across multiple endpoints.
- You are testing a map-heavy prototype and may later need isolines, route matrices, or elevation.
- You need a higher request-rate ceiling than 1 request per second for bursty development use.
Pick Geocodify when…
- You mainly need forward, reverse, or batch geocoding and do not care about broader map APIs.
- You want a simple monthly call limit that is easy to forecast for a small app or internal tool.
- You can live with attribution on the free tier while you validate the product.
- You expect to upgrade into a low-cost starter plan with a small jump in monthly spend.
Bottom line
For the most common builder choice, Geoapify is the better free-tier pick because it is no-card and gives you more than just geocoding: maps, routing, places, and other location APIs are already there when the project grows. Geocodify is the cleaner choice if your app is mostly geocoding and you want the lowest-priced first paid step. If you expect the product to widen into broader location features, start with Geoapify. If you only need address lookup and can live with attribution, Geocodify is simpler and cheaper to upgrade.
Read the full listings: Geoapify Location Platform and Geocodify. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.