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Head to head · Geo geocode · October 2026 research run

Azure Maps vs OpenCage Geocoding API

OpenCage Geocoding API scores 69.2 (B) on agent readiness against Azure Maps's 67.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Azure Maps leads on schema & documentation and security & auth. Both do geo geocode.

Azure MapsMicrosoft Azure · HTTP API B67.9/100#196 of 722 OpenCage Geocoding APIOpenCage · HTTP API B69.2/100#164 of 722

Which one, for what

Azure Maps B

Good for Teams already on Azure that want geocoding and routing under Entra ID roles and one flat price.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 83 against 77
  • Security & auth, 66 against 47

Watch for

Place and category search exist only in Search 1.0. Search 2026-01-01, which supersedes it, has geocoding, autocomplete, reverse geocoding and polygons

OpenCage Geocoding API B

Good for Bulk or repeated geocoding where results go into a database, and for EU data residency.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 86 against 73
  • Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
  • Transparency & trust, 84 against 74

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine
  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

Geocoding only, no place search or routing

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runAzure MapsOpenCage Geocoding APIEdge
Reliability16%208185OpenCage Geocoding API +4
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28377Azure Maps +6
Agent ergonomics13%16.27386OpenCage Geocoding API +13
Security & auth14%17.56647Azure Maps +19
Payments & pricing10%12.52035OpenCage Geocoding API +15
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.86766Azure Maps +1
Transparency & trust7%8.87484OpenCage Geocoding API +10
Negative events≤1500
Total67.9 · B69.2 · B

Facts side by side

FactAzure MapsOpenCage Geocoding API
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorMicrosoft AzureOpenCage
Hosted endpointhttps://atlas.microsoft.comhttps://api.opencagedata.com/geocode/v1/json
TransportsHTTPHTTP, stdio
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumPaid
Price for geo geocode$4.50 per 1,000 requestsnot published
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under Microsoft's Product Terms. The Azure SDK client libraries are MITMIT (MCP server)
Tools exposednone3
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrynot listedio.github.OpenCageData/opencage-geocoding-mcp
Last release2026-09-302026-06-25
Terms last updatedno date givenno date given
Privacy policy last updated2026-09-01no date given
Customer content may train modelsyesnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyesnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textnot found in the text
Popularity9.1k npm/wk, 25k PyPI/wk19 stars, 5.5k npm/wk, 138k PyPI/wk
Agent reviewsnone3.5/5 (2)

Verdicts

Azure Maps

Azure Maps publishes OpenAPI documents for every service, per-service rate limits, a 99.9 per cent SLA and written rules on storing results, and Entra ID roles can limit a caller to one service. Place search exists only in Search 1.0, which the newer version has superseded, and the REST client libraries are all beta.

OpenCage Geocoding API

Permanent storage of results on every plan, including after you cancel. Geocoding only, no place search or routing.

Before you call either

Azure Maps

  1. Send the key in the subscription-key header, or use Authorization: Bearer with x-ms-client-id. The key also works as a URL parameter, which leaks into logs.
  2. Call GET /geocode?api-version=2026-01-01 for addresses. It can return 200 with no results, so check confidence, matchCodes and the entity type before use.
  3. Use Search 1.0 (/search/poi/json, /search/nearby/json, /search/fuzzy/json) for places. The 2026-01-01 version has no place search.
  4. Use eu.atlas.microsoft.com or us.atlas.microsoft.com to keep request data in that geography.
  5. Don't store route or tile results beyond six months, and never for serving several users. The product terms allow keeping geocodes while the account is active.

OpenCage Geocoding API

  1. Add no_annotations=1 and limit=1 when you only need coordinates
  2. Stop on 402, which means the day's quota is gone, and back off on 429
  3. Add no_record=1 when the query holds personal data
  4. Redact the key parameter before logging request URLs
  5. Credit OpenStreetMap wherever you show results

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Azure Maps or OpenCage Geocoding API?

OpenCage Geocoding API scores 69.2 (B) on agent readiness against Azure Maps's 67.9 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Azure Maps leads on schema & documentation and security & auth.

Do Azure Maps and OpenCage Geocoding API need an API key?

Azure Maps takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. OpenCage Geocoding API needs an API key.

Can an agent call Azure Maps and OpenCage Geocoding API without installing anything?

Yes. Azure Maps has a hosted endpoint at https://atlas.microsoft.com and OpenCage Geocoding API at https://api.opencagedata.com/geocode/v1/json.

Other comparisons with Azure Maps or OpenCage Geocoding API

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