# OpenCage Geocoding API vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP

> OpenCage Geocoding API has a score of 69.5 (B) against TomTom Maps APIs + MCP's 55.1 (C). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is reliability, 55 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencage-vs-tomtom
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- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencage-vs-tomtom.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencage-vs-tomtom.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: 2026-10-05

OpenCage Geocoding API has a score of 69.5 (B) against TomTom Maps APIs + MCP's 55.1 (C). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is reliability, 55 points.

- OpenCage Geocoding API: grade B, 69.5/100, rank #113 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opencage.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/opencage.json
- TomTom Maps APIs + MCP: grade C, 55.1/100, rank #318 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/tomtom.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/tomtom.json

## Which one, for what

Pick OpenCage Geocoding API for reliability (+55), schema & documentation (+6), agent ergonomics (+8), payments & pricing (+10), transparency & trust (+26).

Pick TomTom Maps APIs + MCP for maintenance & community (+20).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenCage Geocoding API | TomTom Maps APIs + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 30 | OpenCage Geocoding API +55 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 71 | OpenCage Geocoding API +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 86 | 78 | OpenCage Geocoding API +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 47 | 51 | TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 25 | OpenCage Geocoding API +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 86 | TomTom Maps APIs + MCP +20 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 61 | OpenCage Geocoding API +26 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **69.5 · B** | **55.1 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenCage Geocoding API | TomTom Maps APIs + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | OpenCage | TomTom |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.opencagedata.com/geocode/v1/json` | `https://api.tomtom.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (MCP server) | Apache-2.0 (MCP server) |
| Tools exposed | 3 | 15 |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.OpenCageData/opencage-geocoding-mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-06-25 | 2026-09-23 |
| Popularity | 19 stars, 5.5k npm/wk, 138k PyPI/wk | 55 stars, 996 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

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

**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

### 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

### 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

## Other comparisons with OpenCage Geocoding API or TomTom Maps APIs + MCP

- [Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs OpenCage Geocoding API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/geoapify-vs-opencage.md)
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