# MapQuest vs Stadia Maps

> Stadia Maps scores 65.2 (B) on agent readiness against MapQuest's 35.1 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do geo geocode. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapquest-vs-stadia-maps
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapquest-vs-stadia-maps.md (~2,150 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapquest-vs-stadia-maps.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapquest-vs-stadia-maps.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Stadia Maps scores 65.2 (B) on agent readiness against MapQuest's 35.1 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do geo geocode.

- MapQuest: grade F, 35.1/100, rank #710 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mapquest.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mapquest.json
- Stadia Maps: grade B, 65.2/100, rank #261 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stadia-maps.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stadia-maps.json

## Which one, for what

### MapQuest (F)

Good for: An agent that needs US-centred geocoding, routing with truck profiles, traffic and place search behind one account, with an MCP server ready to connect.

Watch for: No API terms of service found. The legal link leads to System1's 2021 website terms, which allow personal, non-commercial use only

### Stadia Maps (B)

Good for: Cost-sensitive geocoding, routing and tiles on OpenStreetMap data, with traffic-influenced routing since April 2026.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 63 against 23
- Schema & documentation, 86 against 47
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 60
- Security & auth, 40 against 28
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 23
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 28

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Free plan is for development, testing and demos only


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | MapQuest | Stadia Maps | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 23 | 63 | Stadia Maps +40 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 47 | 86 | Stadia Maps +39 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 80 | Stadia Maps +20 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 28 | 40 | Stadia Maps +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 40 | Stadia Maps +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 23 | 80 | Stadia Maps +57 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 28 | 76 | Stadia Maps +48 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **35.1 · F** | **65.2 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | MapQuest | Stadia Maps |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | MapQuest (System1) | Stadia Maps |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://www.mapquestapi.com` | `https://api.stadiamaps.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Price for geo geocode | not published | $0.40 per 1,000 requests |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service. No API terms were found published without a login | BSD-3-Clause (MCP server) |
| Tools exposed | none | 6 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-07-16 | 2026-09-30 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-03-18 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 23 stars, 6.1k npm/wk, 192 PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Stadia Maps.** Public OpenAPI spec (11.1.0) with generated TypeScript and Python SDKs. Free plan is for development, testing and demos only.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Stadia Maps

1. Send the key as `Authorization: Stadia-Auth <key>` rather than in the URL
2. Try Autocomplete v2 (1 credit) before a full geocode (20 credits) when a name is enough
3. Check the dashboard's credit balance before retrying a 429, since it may mean the month is spent
4. Don't write geocodes to a database on Free or Starter
5. Use bulk-geocode for addresses only, not POI names

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, MapQuest or Stadia Maps?

Stadia Maps scores 65.2 (B) on agent readiness against MapQuest's 35.1 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Do MapQuest and Stadia Maps need an API key?

MapQuest takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Stadia Maps needs an API key.

### Can an agent call MapQuest and Stadia Maps without installing anything?

Yes. MapQuest has a hosted endpoint at https://www.mapquestapi.com and Stadia Maps at https://api.stadiamaps.com.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapquest-vs-stadia-maps.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapquest-vs-stadia-maps.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "mapquest", "b": "stadia-maps"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare mapquest stadia-maps`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/mapquest.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stadia-maps.json

## Other comparisons with MapQuest or Stadia Maps

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