Head to head · Geo geocode · October 2026 research run
LocationIQ vs OpenCage Geocoding API
OpenCage Geocoding API has a score of 69.5 (B) against LocationIQ's 60.6 (C). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is maintenance & community, 63 points.
LocationIQLocationIQ (Unwired Labs) · HTTP API
C60.6/100#243 of 452
OpenCage Geocoding APIOpenCage · HTTP API
B69.5/100#113 of 452
Which one, for what
Pick LocationIQ for
- security & auth (+8)
Pick OpenCage Geocoding API for
- agent ergonomics (+12)
- payments & pricing (+5)
- maintenance & community (+63)
- transparency & trust (+22)
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | LocationIQ | OpenCage Geocoding API | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 83 | 85 | OpenCage Geocoding API +2 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 78 | 77 | LocationIQ +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 74 | 86 | OpenCage Geocoding API +12 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 55 | 47 | LocationIQ +8 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 30 | 35 | OpenCage Geocoding API +5 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 3 | 66 | OpenCage Geocoding API +63 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 65 | 87 | OpenCage Geocoding API +22 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 60.6 · C | 69.5 · B |
Facts side by side
| Fact | LocationIQ | OpenCage Geocoding API |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | LocationIQ (Unwired Labs) | OpenCage |
| Hosted endpoint | https://us1.locationiq.com/v1 | https://api.opencagedata.com/geocode/v1/json |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | MIT (MCP server) |
| Tools exposed | none | 3 |
| 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 | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | io.github.OpenCageData/opencage-geocoding-mcp |
| Last release | none | 2026-06-25 |
| Popularity | none | 19 stars, 5.5k npm/wk, 138k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 4.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |
Verdicts
LocationIQ
5,000 free requests a day with no card, commercial use allowed with a link back. No changelog, release notes or blog.
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
LocationIQ
- Use eu1.locationiq.com for European users or data
- Add format=json and limit=1 to keep responses small
- On 429 Rate Limited Second wait a second, on Rate Limited Day stop until the next day
- Call /balance before a large batch to see what's left of the day's quota
- Redact the key parameter before logging request URLs
OpenCage Geocoding API
- Add no_annotations=1 and limit=1 when you only need coordinates
- Stop on 402, which means the day's quota is gone, and back off on 429
- Add no_record=1 when the query holds personal data
- Redact the key parameter before logging request URLs
- Credit OpenStreetMap wherever you show results
Other comparisons with LocationIQ or OpenCage Geocoding API
- Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs LocationIQ
- Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs OpenCage Geocoding API
- Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs LocationIQ
- Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs OpenCage Geocoding API
- LocationIQ vs Mapbox APIs + MCP
- LocationIQ vs Stadia Maps
- LocationIQ vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP
- Mapbox APIs + MCP vs OpenCage Geocoding API
- OpenCage Geocoding API vs Stadia Maps
- OpenCage Geocoding API vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP
Machine-readable
/api/v1/tools/locationiq.json·/api/v1/tools/opencage.json- This page as Markdown,
/compare/locationiq-vs-opencage.md