Nominatim vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP

Nominatim 82

Read with the local-software lines, since the listing is the Nominatim server an operator runs. The public instance at nominatim.openstreetmap.org belongs to the OpenStreetMap Foundation and its usage policy caps it at one request a second, so it isn't graded as a hosted service. Official packages nominatim-db and nominatim-api on PyPI (5.3.3 on 14 October 2026, Python 3.9 or later) and installation guides for Ubuntu 22 and 24 (20). A public CI workflow runs unit and BDD tests on every push across Ubuntu 24 and 26 with PostgreSQL 13 to 18, and Windows unit tests. We couldn't see run results (20). Issue counts and reply times couldn't be read because the GitHub API was rate-limited for us; Sarah Hoffmann made 76 of the 106 commits since 8 August (12). A ChangeLog per release and semantic version numbers (15). Version 5.3.3 (15). 20+20+12+15+15 = 82.

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP 15

TomTom's API status page sits on tomtom.service-now.com, whose robots.txt disallows every path on 4 November, so the earlier status readings are struck (0). With no history we may read, the record scores 5. No published QPS limits or 429 guidance were found on the docs pages we read on 1 October; TomTom's acceptable use policy now bars robots from its websites, so they weren't re-read (0). The MCP maps a 429 to a typed rate-limit error with a message, and we found nothing on Retry-After (5, the earlier partial kept). No SLA found (0). Orbis APIs went GA on 8 July 2026, but the remote MCP server is in public preview and the README says some Orbis and EV services may not be enabled on every account (5, kept). 0+5+0+5+0+5 = 15.

Nominatim 60

Self-hosted rule. No payment protocol (0). Free software with nothing to buy (20 + 20 + 20). The public instance is also free and keyless, within its usage policy. 0+20+20+20 = 60.

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP 25

No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Free allowances are public, but the pricing page re-read on 2 October showed no paid rate as a number, only a euro estimator and a contact-sales link (5 of 20, kept). A no-card free allowance of 20,000 geocodes, 20,000 reverse geocodes and 20,000 routes a month, with Search and Matrix at 2,500 (20). Signup is a browser flow (0). The pricing page is on a host whose acceptable use policy now bars robots, so it wasn't re-read on 4 November. 0+5+20+0 = 25.

Nominatim 60

Release 5.3.3 on 14 October 2026, 23 days before this check (30). Only one release in the 90 days from 8 August, against 106 commits on the default branch; commits aren't counted as releases (0). Commits from the lead maintainer and seven or more contributors since August, but we couldn't read issue reply times (12). The nominatim-api Python library is current with the server (10). CI on every push, current PostgreSQL and Python versions (8). 30+0+12+10+8 = 60.

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP 86

MCP v1.6.15 on 2 November 2026 (30). Eight tags since 6 August, v1.6.8 (15 September) to v1.6.15 (2 November) (20). Pull requests from several maintainers merged up to 3 November 2026. We couldn't see issue reply times from git (18, kept). The package is at 1.6.15 in its repository; the 30 September note that it wasn't in the official MCP registry came from the registry's JSON API and is struck (8, kept). CI runs type checks, lint, build, end-to-end tests and a Veracode scan, with dependabot (10). 30+20+18+8+10 = 86.

Nominatim 51

No OpenAPI or machine-readable contract (0). nominatim.org/llms.txt returns 404, and the manual is HTML, though its Markdown sources sit in the repository's docs folder (0). The API reference explains each endpoint and parameter and when not to use one, such as the details endpoint being for debugging (14). Types, enums and limits are documented, such as format, layer and limit (at most 40), but there's no schema to validate against (12). Example queries and outputs per endpoint, with errors described in prose (10). A versioned manual per release, a ChangeLog and a migration guide (15). 0+0+14+12+10+15 = 51.

TomTom Maps APIs + MCP 71

No public OpenAPI that we found. The MCP's tools have Zod schemas with described fields (22). docs.tomtom.com/llms.txt indexes about 180 pages, many as .md, per the 2 October check, not re-read on 4 November (10). Tool descriptions are mostly one line, with little on when not to use a tool (12). Typed fields with constraints, and since 1.6.12 the search, routing and EV tools list their valid values from the maps-sdk (11, kept). We couldn't read the REST error reference. The MCP returns typed errors per status code, and since 1.6.13 tells a 401 from a 403 (8). Versioned REST paths; the MCP CHANGELOG.md has dated entries from 1.6.11 (5 October 2026) to 1.6.14 and says 1.1.1 to 1.6.10 have none (8, kept). 22+10+12+11+8+8 = 71.