MapQuest vs Radar

MapQuest

One account reaches geocoding, routing, place search and traffic through a REST API or a hosted MCP server with OAuth, at a published $0.0045 a transaction. No API terms, status page, changelog or product OpenAPI spec was found, and REST keys travel in the query string.

Radar

Radar documents 36 REST operations in Markdown with a rate limit on each, and its status feed shows two short API incidents in 90 days. Access is sales-led. The pricing page says there is no free tier, every plan is an annual commitment, and no OpenAPI description or API changelog was found.

MapQuest

1. Register an account and create an API key before connecting the MCP server. Every tool needs an active key, chosen by nickname on first use
2. Send REST calls to https://www.mapquestapi.com with key in the query string, and redact it from logged URLs
3. Read info.statuscode in geocoding and directions responses. 0 is success, and errors such as 610 (ambiguous location) arrive in the body
4. Set thumbMaps=false and maxResults on geocoding, and pageSize (1 to 50) on place search, to keep responses small
5. Do not store or cache geocodes on a monthly or pay-as-you-go plan

Radar

1. Send the key in the Authorization header with no Bearer prefix, and call https://api.radar.io/v1, not radar.com
2. Use a publishable key for geocoding, search and routing. Keep the secret key for users, trips, geofences and beacons
3. Call /v1/search/autocomplete for partial addresses and place names. /v1/geocode/forward is documented as best for complete addresses
4. Set units=metric on routing calls. The default is imperial, with distances in feet
5. Treat 429 as one of three things (rate limit, no state change or selective throttling) and 402 as usage exceeded. No Retry-After header is documented
6. Do not keep geocoding, autocomplete or place results for more than 30 days