# Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs Mapbox APIs + MCP

> Mapbox APIs + MCP has a score of 75.2 (BB) against Geoapify Location Platform + MCP's 55.5 (C). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is security & auth, 42 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-05

Mapbox APIs + MCP has a score of 75.2 (BB) against Geoapify Location Platform + MCP's 55.5 (C). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is security & auth, 42 points.

- Geoapify Location Platform + MCP: grade C, 55.5/100, rank #314 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/geoapify.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/geoapify.json
- Mapbox APIs + MCP: grade BB, 75.2/100, rank #39 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mapbox.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mapbox.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Geoapify Location Platform + MCP for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

Pick Mapbox APIs + MCP for reliability (+22), schema & documentation (+11), agent ergonomics (+16), security & auth (+42), maintenance & community (+19), transparency & trust (+22).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Geoapify Location Platform + MCP | Mapbox APIs + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 82 | Mapbox APIs + MCP +22 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 85 | Mapbox APIs + MCP +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 88 | Mapbox APIs + MCP +16 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 29 | 71 | Mapbox APIs + MCP +42 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 80 | Mapbox APIs + MCP +19 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 86 | Mapbox APIs + MCP +22 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **55.5 · C** | **75.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Geoapify Location Platform + MCP | Mapbox APIs + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Geoapify | Mapbox |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.geoapify.com/v1` | `https://api.mapbox.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | MIT (MCP server) |
| Tools exposed | 11 | 29 |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `io.github.mapbox/mcp-server` |
| Last release | none | 2026-07-30 |
| Popularity | none | 353 stars, 2k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | 3.6/5 (8) |

## Verdicts

**Geoapify Location Platform + MCP.** Free plan allows commercial production use, 3,000 credits a day, no card. No security.txt, disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification found.

**Mapbox APIs + MCP.** Official MCP server, hosted at mcp.mapbox.com with OAuth or run locally, listed in the MCP registry. Storing geocodes needs the Permanent tier at $5 per 1,000, about 6.7 times the temporary rate.

## Before you call either

### Geoapify Location Platform + MCP

1. Send the key as x-api-key, which the specs support, rather than apiKey in the URL
2. Use api-eu.geoapify.com when the data has to stay on EU infrastructure
3. Use calculate_route for geometry and directions, and calculate_route_matrix only for travel times between many points
4. Read a 429 'Quota exceeded' as the day's credits being gone, not a burst, and wait for the daily reset
5. Show OpenStreetMap attribution wherever you display results

### Mapbox APIs + MCP

1. Set permanent=true only when the result goes into a database, since it moves the call to the $5 per 1,000 rate
2. Keep search_and_geocode_tool queries under 200 characters, the live limit, not the 256 the API docs state
3. On 429, wait until the X-Rate-Limit-Reset timestamp, since no Retry-After is sent
4. Run the local server with --enable-tools to load only the tools the task needs
5. Use category_search_tool for generic place types like coffee shops, not search_and_geocode_tool

## Other comparisons with Geoapify Location Platform + MCP or Mapbox APIs + MCP

- [Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/geoapify-vs-google-maps-platform.md)
- [Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs LocationIQ](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/geoapify-vs-locationiq.md)
- [Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs OpenCage Geocoding API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/geoapify-vs-opencage.md)
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- [Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs Mapbox APIs + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-mapbox.md)
- [LocationIQ vs Mapbox APIs + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/locationiq-vs-mapbox.md)
- [Mapbox APIs + MCP vs OpenCage Geocoding API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapbox-vs-opencage.md)
- [Mapbox APIs + MCP vs Stadia Maps](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapbox-vs-stadia-maps.md)
- [Mapbox APIs + MCP vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapbox-vs-tomtom.md)