How to cancel a geocode without Google?

Question

Are there any web services (paid or free) besides the Google Maps API that allow you to change the geocode?

My specific application will have access to latitude and longitude, and I need to be able to get a zip code or US state.

The reason I can't use Google is because the Terms of Service seem to indicate that if you use the Google Maps API, you need to use the data to display the Google map.

I use the C # .Net framework in case this is relevant.

Answer 1

I use http://nominatim.openstreetmap.org for the reverse search, it is very easy to use:

http://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse?format=json&lat=54.9824031826&lon=9.2833114795&zoom=18&addressdetails=1

Answer 2

Geonames can give you either a file name:

http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPlaceName?lat=40.65&lng=-73.78

or zip code:

http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPostalCodes?lat=40.65&lng=-73.78

It's free if you loan them and you need less than 15,000 searches per day. You can pay if you need more.

Answer 3

I am not a fan of MS. But check this out: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff859477.aspx

The RESTful Location Service API does not seem to have any restrictions.

You can use the point-by-location API: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff701710.aspx

I tried a sample for geoNames, the result is not good enough for me, since I need county information, and the response time is slow.

Answer 4

OpenStreetMap:

$.getJSON('https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse', { lat: position.coords.latitude, lon: position.coords.longitude, format: 'json', }, function (result) { console.log(result); }); 

GeoNames:

 $.getJSON('https://secure.geonames.org/countryCode', { lat: position.coords.latitude, lng: position.coords.longitude, type: 'JSON', username: 'demo' }, function (result) { console.log(result); }); 

Answer 5

ArcGIS provides a free (and paid) API:

https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/geocode/api-reference/geocoding-reverse-geocode.htm

It provides an address for a given location (lat / lon). It does not even require an API key, but they suggest you get a free one to avoid speed limits.

Here is an example API call with a JSON response:

http://geocode.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeocodeServer/reverseGeocode?location=4.366281%2C50.851994&langCode=fr&outSR=&forStorage=false&f=pjson

Answer 6

The Nominatim Search service from the MapQuest Open API is free and has no query limit (soft limit 1 / sec).

http://open.mapquestapi.com/nominatim/v1/reverse.php?format=json&lat=44.0776182&lon=-92.5296981

TOS can be found here

Answer 7

Take a look at Geocoda - for free, up to 1K of direct or geocoding callbacks per month, at a reasonable price and more.

February 2019 update - Geocoda is closed.