I'm building a mapping app and need geocoding plus POI data

A solid approach is to use a geocoding provider for addresses/places and a POI data provider or places API for nearby/business data. Here are practical options:

Common choices

• Google Maps Platform

  • Geocoding API for address → coordinates and reverse geocoding
  • Places API for POIs, search, details, nearby, text search
  • Best coverage and quality, but can get expensive at scale

• Mapbox

  • Geocoding API for forward/reverse geocoding
  • Search API / POI-related data depending on plan and region
  • Good developer experience and flexible map stack

• HERE

  • Strong geocoding and POI/search capabilities
  • Good enterprise fit and routing integration

• TomTom

  • Geocoding and Search APIs
  • POI search with decent global support

• OpenStreetMap-based options

  • Nominatim for geocoding
  • Overpass API for POIs
  • Great for open data and low cost, but requires more handling and data quality varies

If you need both geocoding and POIs in one stack

• Google is usually the simplest
• HERE and TomTom are good alternatives
• Mapbox works well if you want maps + geocoding in one ecosystem

What to decide first

1. Coverage: global vs country-specific
2. Accuracy: rooftop/address-level vs approximate
3. POI freshness: business updates, hours, popularity
4. Cost: request-based pricing can change quickly
5. Licensing: can you store/cache results?
6. Rate limits: especially for autocomplete/search-heavy apps

Typical app architecture

• Use geocoding for:
  • address search
  • pin placement
  • reverse geocoding from map clicks
• Use POI search for:
  • nearby restaurants, ATMs, gas stations
  • category filters
  • text search like “coffee near me”

Recommendation

If you want the easiest path:

• Google Geocoding + Google Places for best overall quality If you want an open-data stack:
• Nominatim + Overpass, but expect more engineering work

If you want, I can help you narrow this down by:

• budget
• target countries
• expected monthly requests
• whether you need autocomplete, reverse geocoding, or nearby search