# ArcGIS Location Platform vs Radar

> ArcGIS Location Platform scores 65.4 (B) to Radar's 53.3 (D) for geocoding. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

ArcGIS Location Platform scores 65.4 (B) on agent readiness against Radar's 53.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Radar leads on reliability. Both do geocoding.

- ArcGIS Location Platform: grade B, 65.4/100, rank #320 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/arcgis.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/arcgis.json
- Radar: grade D, 53.3/100, rank #713 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/radar.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/radar.json
- Best maps, geocoding and places APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/maps/index.md
- All 78 maps comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/maps/index.md

## Which one, for what

### ArcGIS Location Platform (B)

Good for: Organisations already on Esri software, and work that needs demographic enrichment, service areas or fleet routing beside geocoding.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 61 against 50
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 65
- Security & auth, 64 against 56
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 83 against 77
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 55

Watch for: The agreement bars benchmarking availability, performance or functionality, and publishing benchmark results, without prior written permission from Esri and its licensors (sections 3.1.b.6 and 3.1.c.6.F).

### Radar (D)

Good for: A company that already has a Radar contract, or wants geofencing and trip tracking with geocoding and routing on one key.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 65

Watch for: The pricing page says Radar has no free tier and every plan is an annual commitment set by quote


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ArcGIS Location Platform | Radar | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 70 | Radar +5 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 61 | 50 | ArcGIS Location Platform +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 65 | ArcGIS Location Platform +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 64 | 56 | ArcGIS Location Platform +8 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 10 | ArcGIS Location Platform +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 77 | ArcGIS Location Platform +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 55 | ArcGIS Location Platform +17 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **65.4 · B** | **53.3 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ArcGIS Location Platform | Radar |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Esri | Radar Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://geocode-api.arcgis.com` | `https://api.radar.io/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Price for geocoding | $0.50 per 1,000 requests | not published |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the ArcGIS Location Platform Agreement. The ArcGIS REST JS client library is Apache-2.0 | Proprietary service under Radar's Terms of Use. The web SDK in radarlabs/radar-sdk-js is Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 8 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-14 |
| Terms last updated |  | 2023-05-24 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-07-31 | 2025-05-13 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 392 stars, 65k npm/wk, 33k PyPI/wk | none |

## Verdicts

**ArcGIS Location Platform.** Per-unit prices are public for every service, with a monthly free tier of 20,000 geocodes and 20,000 routes, keys limited to chosen privileges and a 99.9 per cent SLA. No rate limits or OpenAPI description were found, results may not be stored unless the dearer stored geocode is bought, and the agreement bars benchmarking without written permission.

**Radar.** Radar documents 36 REST operations in Markdown with a rate limit on each, and its status feed shows two short API incidents in 90 days. Access is sales-led. The pricing page says there is no free tier, every plan is an annual commitment, and no OpenAPI description or API changelog was found.

## Before you call either

### ArcGIS Location Platform

1. Send the token in an `X-Esri-Authorization: Bearer` or `Authorization` header. The docs' examples put it in a `token` parameter, which Esri's own best-practice page calls less secure.
2. Set `forStorage=true` on `findAddressCandidates` or `reverseGeocode` only when results will be kept. It needs pay-as-you-go and the Geocode (stored) privilege, and costs eight times the unstored rate.
3. Cap geocoding output with `maxLocations` (default and maximum 50) and `outFields`, because billing counts results returned and the default returns every field.
4. Page place searches with `pageSize` (maximum 20) and `offset`. A nearby or extent search costs $8 per 1,000 requests after 500 free a month.
5. Check the JSON body for an `error` object with `code`, `message` and `details`. Code 499 means the token is missing and 403 means it lacks the privilege.

### Radar

1. Send the key in the `Authorization` header with no `Bearer` prefix, and call `https://api.radar.io/v1`, not radar.com
2. Use a publishable key for geocoding, search and routing. Keep the secret key for users, trips, geofences and beacons
3. Call `/v1/search/autocomplete` for partial addresses and place names. `/v1/geocode/forward` is documented as best for complete addresses
4. Set `units=metric` on routing calls. The default is imperial, with distances in feet
5. Treat 429 as one of three things (rate limit, no state change or selective throttling) and 402 as usage exceeded. No Retry-After header is documented
6. Do not keep geocoding, autocomplete or place results for more than 30 days

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ArcGIS Location Platform or Radar?

ArcGIS Location Platform scores 65.4 (B) on agent readiness against Radar's 53.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Radar leads on reliability.

### Do ArcGIS Location Platform and Radar need an API key?

ArcGIS Location Platform takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Radar needs an API key.

### Can an agent call ArcGIS Location Platform and Radar without installing anything?

Yes. ArcGIS Location Platform has a hosted endpoint at https://geocode-api.arcgis.com and Radar at https://api.radar.io/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcgis-vs-radar.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arcgis-vs-radar.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "arcgis", "b": "radar"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare arcgis radar`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/arcgis.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/radar.json

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