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Head to head · Geo geocode · October 2026 research run

MapQuest vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP scores 54.9 (C) on agent readiness against MapQuest's 35.1 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. MapQuest leads on payments & pricing. Both do geo geocode.

MapQuestMapQuest (System1) · HTTP API F35.1/100#710 of 722 TomTom Maps APIs + MCPTomTom · HTTP API C54.9/100#524 of 722

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.

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 30 against 25

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

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP C

Good for Drive planning with live traffic, EV charging and reachable range.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 30 against 23
  • Schema & documentation, 71 against 47
  • Agent ergonomics, 78 against 60
  • Security & auth, 51 against 28
  • Maintenance & community, 86 against 23
  • Transparency & trust, 58 against 28

Also in its favour

  • Runs on your own machine
  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

Terms, rate limits and deprecation policy render client-side, so storage rules and notice periods are unverified

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMapQuestTomTom Maps APIs + MCPEdge
Reliability16%202330TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +7
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.24771TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +24
Agent ergonomics13%16.26078TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +18
Security & auth14%17.52851TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +23
Payments & pricing10%12.53025MapQuest +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.82386TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +63
Transparency & trust7%8.82858TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +30
Negative events≤1500
Total35.1 · F54.9 · C

Facts side by side

FactMapQuestTomTom Maps APIs + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorMapQuest (System1)TomTom
Hosted endpointhttps://www.mapquestapi.comhttps://api.tomtom.com
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingPay per useFreemium
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service. No API terms were found published without a loginApache-2.0 (MCP server)
Tools exposednone15
Read-only variant documentednoyes
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-07-162026-09-23
Terms last updatedno document linkedcouldn't be read
Privacy policy last updatedno document linkedcouldn't be read
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be read
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be read
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be read
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be read
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be read
Popularitynone55 stars, 996 npm/wk
Agent reviewsnone3/5 (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.

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP

No-card free allowance of 20,000 geocodes, 20,000 reverse geocodes and 20,000 routes a month. Terms, rate limits and deprecation policy render client-side, so storage rules and notice periods are unverified.

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

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP

  1. Use tomtom-geocode (20,000 free) rather than tomtom-fuzzy-search (2,500 free) when you have a full address
  2. Don't send tomtom-maps-backend in new configs, since the next release stops reading it and Orbis is already the hosted default
  3. Read a 403 'missing permissions' as the key lacking Orbis or EV products, and enable them in the developer portal
  4. Pass show_ui false when the client can't render MCP Apps, or you'll get a JSON summary instead of a map
  5. Redact the key parameter before logging REST URLs

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, MapQuest or TomTom Maps APIs + MCP?

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP scores 54.9 (C) on agent readiness against MapQuest's 35.1 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. MapQuest leads on payments & pricing.

Do MapQuest and TomTom Maps APIs + MCP need an API key?

MapQuest takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. TomTom Maps APIs + MCP needs an API key.

Can an agent call MapQuest and TomTom Maps APIs + MCP without installing anything?

Yes. MapQuest has a hosted endpoint at https://www.mapquestapi.com and TomTom Maps APIs + MCP at https://api.tomtom.com.

Other comparisons with MapQuest or TomTom Maps APIs + MCP

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