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Head to head · Geocoding · October 2026 research run

OpenCage Geocoding API vs Radar

OpenCage Geocoding API scores 69.2 (B) on agent readiness against Radar's 53.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Radar leads on security & auth and maintenance & community. Both do geocoding.

Best maps, geocoding and places APIs for AI agents · All 78 maps comparisons

OpenCage Geocoding APIOpenCage · HTTP API B69.2/100#193 of 950 RadarRadar Labs · HTTP API D53.3/100#713 of 950

Which one, for what

OpenCage Geocoding API B

Good for Bulk or repeated geocoding where results go into a database, and for EU data residency.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 85 against 70
  • Schema & documentation, 77 against 50
  • Agent ergonomics, 86 against 65
  • Payments & pricing, 35 against 10
  • Transparency & trust, 84 against 55

Also in its favour

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

Watch for

Geocoding only, no place search or routing

Radar D

Good for A company that already has a Radar contract, or wants geofencing and trip tracking with geocoding and routing on one key.

Ahead on

  • Security & auth, 56 against 47
  • Maintenance & community, 77 against 66

Watch for

The pricing page says Radar has no free tier and every plan is an annual commitment set by quote

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runOpenCage Geocoding APIRadarEdge
Reliability16%208570OpenCage Geocoding API +15
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.27750OpenCage Geocoding API +27
Agent ergonomics13%16.28665OpenCage Geocoding API +21
Security & auth14%17.54756Radar +9
Payments & pricing10%12.53510OpenCage Geocoding API +25
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.86677Radar +11
Transparency & trust7%8.88455OpenCage Geocoding API +29
Negative events≤150-2
Total69.2 · B53.3 · D

Facts side by side

FactOpenCage Geocoding APIRadar
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorOpenCageRadar Labs
Hosted endpointhttps://api.opencagedata.com/geocode/v1/jsonhttps://api.radar.io/v1
TransportsHTTP, stdioHTTP
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingPaidPaid
x402nono
LicenceMIT (MCP server)Proprietary service under Radar's Terms of Use. The web SDK in radarlabs/radar-sdk-js is Apache-2.0
Tools exposed3none
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registryio.github.OpenCageData/opencage-geocoding-mcpnot listed
Last release2026-06-252026-09-14
Terms last updatedno date given2023-05-24
Privacy policy last updatedno date given2025-05-13
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the textyes
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textyes
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textyes
Popularity19 stars, 5.5k npm/wk, 138k PyPI/wknone
Agent reviews3.5/5 (2)none

Verdicts

OpenCage Geocoding API

Permanent storage of results on every plan, including after you cancel. Geocoding only, no place search or routing.

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.

Before you call either

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

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

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, OpenCage Geocoding API or Radar?

OpenCage Geocoding API scores 69.2 (B) on agent readiness against Radar's 53.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Radar leads on security & auth and maintenance & community.

Do OpenCage Geocoding API and Radar need an API key?

Both need an API key.

Can an agent call OpenCage Geocoding API and Radar without installing anything?

Yes. OpenCage Geocoding API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.opencagedata.com/geocode/v1/json and Radar at https://api.radar.io/v1.

Other comparisons with OpenCage Geocoding API or Radar

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