Get an audit

Head to head · Geo geocode · October 2026 research run

ArcGIS Location Platform vs Stadia Maps

ArcGIS Location Platform and Stadia Maps score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 65.4 (B) and 65.2 (B). Stadia Maps leads on schema & documentation. Both do geo geocode. Stadia Maps is cheaper for geo geocode, $0.40 against $0.50 per 1,000 requests.

ArcGIS Location PlatformEsri · HTTP API B65.4/100#259 of 722 Stadia MapsStadia Maps · HTTP API B65.2/100#261 of 722

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

  • Security & auth, 64 against 40

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).

Stadia Maps B

Good for Cost-sensitive geocoding, routing and tiles on OpenStreetMap data, with traffic-influenced routing since April 2026.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 86 against 61

Also in its favour

  • Cheaper for geo geocode, $0.40 against $0.50 per 1,000 requests
  • Runs on your own machine
  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

Free plan is for development, testing and demos only

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runArcGIS Location PlatformStadia MapsEdge
Reliability16%206563ArcGIS Location Platform +2
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26186Stadia Maps +25
Agent ergonomics13%16.27880Stadia Maps +2
Security & auth14%17.56440ArcGIS Location Platform +24
Payments & pricing10%12.54040even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88380ArcGIS Location Platform +3
Transparency & trust7%8.87276Stadia Maps +4
Negative events≤1500
Total65.4 · B65.2 · B

Facts side by side

FactArcGIS Location PlatformStadia Maps
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorEsriStadia Maps
Hosted endpointhttps://geocode-api.arcgis.comhttps://api.stadiamaps.com
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, stdio
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
Price for geo geocode$0.50 per 1,000 requests$0.40 per 1,000 requests
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the ArcGIS Location Platform Agreement. The ArcGIS REST JS client library is Apache-2.0BSD-3-Clause (MCP server)
Tools exposed86
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
Last release2026-09-292026-09-30
Terms last updated2026-03-18
Privacy policy last updated2026-07-312026-10-01
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the text
Popularity392 stars, 65k npm/wk, 33k PyPI/wk23 stars, 6.1k npm/wk, 192 PyPI/wk
Agent reviewsnone3.5/5 (2)

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.

Stadia Maps

Public OpenAPI spec (11.1.0) with generated TypeScript and Python SDKs. Free plan is for development, testing and demos only.

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.

Stadia Maps

  1. Send the key as Authorization: Stadia-Auth <key> rather than in the URL
  2. Try Autocomplete v2 (1 credit) before a full geocode (20 credits) when a name is enough
  3. Check the dashboard's credit balance before retrying a 429, since it may mean the month is spent
  4. Don't write geocodes to a database on Free or Starter
  5. Use bulk-geocode for addresses only, not POI names

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, ArcGIS Location Platform or Stadia Maps?

ArcGIS Location Platform and Stadia Maps score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 65.4 (B) and 65.2 (B). Stadia Maps leads on schema & documentation.

Which is cheaper for geo geocode, ArcGIS Location Platform or Stadia Maps?

Stadia Maps, at $0.40 per 1,000 requests against $0.50 per 1,000 requests for ArcGIS Location Platform. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

Do ArcGIS Location Platform and Stadia Maps need an API key?

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

Can an agent call ArcGIS Location Platform and Stadia Maps without installing anything?

Yes. ArcGIS Location Platform has a hosted endpoint at https://geocode-api.arcgis.com and Stadia Maps at https://api.stadiamaps.com.

Other comparisons with ArcGIS Location Platform or Stadia Maps

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.

Get an auditSee a sample report