# 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. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-04

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.

- LocationIQ: grade C, 60.6/100, rank #243 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/locationiq.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/locationiq.json
- OpenCage Geocoding API: grade B, 69.5/100, rank #113 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opencage.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/opencage.json

## 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 | LocationIQ | OpenCage Geocoding API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 85 | OpenCage Geocoding API +2 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 77 | LocationIQ +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 86 | OpenCage Geocoding API +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 55 | 47 | LocationIQ +8 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | OpenCage Geocoding API +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 3 | 66 | OpenCage Geocoding API +63 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 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

1. Use eu1.locationiq.com for European users or data
2. Add format=json and limit=1 to keep responses small
3. On 429 Rate Limited Second wait a second, on Rate Limited Day stop until the next day
4. Call /balance before a large batch to see what's left of the day's quota
5. Redact the key parameter before logging request URLs

### 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

## Other comparisons with LocationIQ or OpenCage Geocoding API

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