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Honest Architecture Comparison · Geocodio (geocod.io) vs PlacesData API · Updated 2026-11-10 ·

$0.20 vs $0.50
per 1,000 lookups (Global 195-Country Business POI & Reviews vs US/CA Street Geocoding).

Honest upfront verdict: if your workflow only needs US or Canadian bulk street-address-to-coordinate (lat/lng) geocoding, residential rooftop interpolation, or Census FIPS / Congressional district appends, use Geocodio (geocod.io) directly—it is purpose-built and cheaper for pure US/CA street lists (2,500 free lookups/day, then $0.50/1,000). Choose PlacesData API ($0.20–$0.50/1,000 records) when you need global 195-country coverage, commercial business POI search, verified phone numbers, opening hours, customer reviews, website B2B email enrichment, or canonical Google Maps Place IDs (ChIJ...).

Primary-Source Pricing & Scope Citation

“Pay-As-You-Go: First 2,500 lookups per day are free. $0.50 per 1,000 lookups after that... Geocodio supports street addresses, intersections, and postal codes in the United States and Canada.”

— Geocodio Official Pricing & Coverage Documentation (retrieved 2026-11-10 · Archive.org snapshot)

When to use which API: For pure US/Canada street address normalization or Census/FIPS enrichment, stay on Geocodio ($0.50/1K after 2,500 free/day). When your application requires international addresses outside the US/Canada, commercial POI discovery, business phone numbers, websites, opening hours, customer reviews, or Google Place IDs (ChIJ...), PlacesData API delivers full business & geospatial payloads at 5 Credits ($0.20–$0.50/1K) with 39ms p50 cached latency. Read the 2026 Geocodio Pricing Breakdown (10K, 100K & 1M lookups) →

Instant API key in 5s · No credit card required (+20,000 Sandbox Streak Credits) · Top up anytime via 0%-fee Multi-Chain Crypto (+5% bonus credits, never-expiring PAYG)

Cost per 1,000 Google Maps Business Records (with Phone, Website & Hours)

PlacesData API (Business $0.20 · Base $0.50)$0.20 – $0.50
Official Google Places API (Text Search Pro + Contact SKU)$32.00

$1.00 = 10,000 Credits (5 Credits / place). Empty search results (0 matches) cost 0 Credits. Crypto top-ups automatically include +5% Bonus Credits.

Side-by-side comparison.

PlacesData API compared with Geocodio, Google Geocoding ($5/1K), and Mapbox Geocoding
CapabilityPlacesData APIgeocod.ioGoogle Geocoding ($5/1K)Mapbox Geocoding
Best-fit engineering workloadGlobal Business POIs, Reviews, Phones & 195-Country GeocodingUS & Canada Bulk Street Rooftop Geocoding + Census/FIPSGlobal Street & Place ID Geocoding (No DB Caching)Map Rendering & Navigation Autocomplete
Geographic country coverage195 countries worldwideUS & Canada only195 countries worldwideGlobal coverage
Effective cost per 1,000 lookups$0.20 – $0.50 / 1,000 records$0.50 / 1,000 (after 2,500 free/day)$5.00 / 1,000 requests$0.75 – $5.00 / 1,000 (permanent)
Canonical Google place_id (ChIJ...) & CIDIncluded on every resultNot availableIncluded ($5.00/1K)Not available (Mapbox IDs only)
Commercial POI phone, website, hours & reviewsIncluded in /v1/places/search & /v1/places/reviewsStreet rooftop / parcel only (no business POI data)Requires separate $32/1K Places API callLimited commercial POI fields
US Census FIPS, Congressional & State Legislative appendsNot included (focuses on commercial POI & Google Maps schema)Native add-on appends (Geocodio's core strength)Not availableNot available
Permanent database & CRM cachingYes (100% cacheable JSON)Yes (US/CA addresses only)Prohibited beyond 30 daysRequires $5.00/1K Permanent API

Competitor pricing verified from public pricing pages as of November 2026. Actual costs may vary based on plan tier, concurrency add-ons, and overage rates. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. PlacesData API rates: $0.20 / 1K places (Business), $0.25 / 1K places (Pro), $0.50 / 1K places (Base PAYG).

Tier-by-tier volume & minimum commitment breakdown.

Geocodio vs PlacesData API and Official Google Geocoding API workload & volume cost comparison
Geocoding / POI WorkloadPlacesData APIGeocodio (geocod.io)Google Geocoding / Places API
Pure US/CA Street List (<2,500/day)12,000 Free Credits ($1.20 · 2,400 lookups, global)Free (2,500 lookups/day, US & Canada street addresses)$200/mo credit (card required; no DB caching)
100,000 Lookups (PAYG)$50 PAYG (550k Credits · 110,000 global POI/geocode records)~$48.75 PAYG (US & Canada street coordinates only)$500.00 Geocoding ($5/1K) or $3,200 Places ($32/1K)
2,500,000 Lookups / mo$499/mo Business ($0.20/1K · 195 countries + phones, hours, reviews)$1,000/mo Unlimited (single-instance, US/CA street addresses only)$11,200/mo Geocoding or $50,000+/mo Places Pro
Global (UK, EU, LATAM, APAC) + Business LeadsSupported natively ($0.20–$0.50/1K + /v1/leads/enrich emails)Unsupported (returns error outside US/CA; 0 business POI fields)$5.00–$32.00 / 1,000 requests

PlacesData API transparent per-endpoint rate card ($1 = 10,000 Credits).

PlacesData API per-endpoint credit and USD rate card
CapabilityEndpointCredit RateEffective USD / 1K
Google Maps Text Search (Places, Ratings, Phone, Website, Hours, Coordinates)GET /v1/places/search5 Credits / place returned (min 10 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.20 – $0.50 / 1,000 places
Bounding-Box & Radius Viewport Search (Polygon / Grid Scanning)GET /v1/places/nearby5 Credits / place returned (min 10 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.20 – $0.50 / 1,000 places
Full Business Profile & Enriched Contacts (Place ID / CID / Google ID)GET /v1/places/details, GET /v1/places/{place_id}20 Credits / business profile$0.80 – $2.00 / 1,000 profiles
Verified Customer Reviews, Owner Replies & Reviewer MetadataGET /v1/places/reviews, GET /v1/places/{place_id}/reviews2 Credits / review returned (min 10 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.08 – $0.20 / 1,000 reviews
High-Res Business & StreetPhotos MetadataGET /v1/places/photos, GET /v1/places/{place_id}/photos2 Credits / photo returned (min 6 Credits; 0 if empty)$0.08 – $0.20 / 1,000 photos
Website Email, Phone & Social Media Lead Enrichment (8 Social Platforms)GET /v1/leads/enrich, GET /v1/domains/{domain}/contacts20 Credits / enriched domain (0 Credits if no emails/socials found)$0.80 – $2.00 / 1,000 enriched domains
Typeahead Place Autocomplete & Reverse Geocoding (Lat/Lng to Address)GET /v1/places/autocomplete, GET /v1/geocode/reverse5 Credits / request$0.20 – $0.50 / 1,000 calls

Why engineering teams switch from Geocodio.

When to Stay on Geocodio vs When to Use PlacesData API

If you are geocoding a CSV of US or Canadian residential street addresses and need Census tract, FIPS code, or Congressional district appends, Geocodio is the right tool—keep using it. Switch to or pair it with PlacesData API when you need commercial business POIs, verified phone numbers, websites, opening hours, customer reviews, or international addresses across 195 countries.

Global 195-Country Coverage + Canonical Google Place IDs (ChIJ...)

Geocodio relies on US TIGER/Line and Canadian parcel datasets, so lookups in the UK, EU, LATAM, APAC, or MENA fail immediately, and responses never include Google Maps Place IDs (ChIJ...) or numeric CIDs. PlacesData API resolves both street addresses and commercial businesses worldwide with canonical Place IDs included.

Full Business Lead Enrichment (Phones, Reviews, Hours & B2B Emails)

Instead of chaining a street geocoder with an expensive $32/1K Google Places call and a separate email scraper, a single 5-Credit call to GET /v1/places/search returns verified coordinates, phone number, website domain, rating, review count, opening hours, and Place ID—plus optional /v1/leads/enrich website email & social profile extraction.

Call Geocodio for US/CA Street Lists or PlacesData API for Global Business POIs

Replace or complement api.geocod.io/v1.7/geocode with synchronous GET /v1/places/search (forward address & business POI lookup) and GET /v1/geocode/reverse (reverse coordinate lookup):

Geocodio (api.geocod.io · Great for US/CA Street Coordinates, No Business POI Data)
import requests

# Ideal for US/CA street addresses, but returns 0 Place IDs, phones, hours, or reviews
fwd = requests.get(
    "https://api.geocod.io/v1.7/geocode",
    params={"q": "1109 N Highland St, Arlington VA", "api_key": "YOUR_GEOCODIO_KEY"},
).json()
loc = fwd["results"][0]["location"]  # {"lat": 38.886672, "lng": -77.094735}
PlacesData API ($0.20–$0.50/1K · 195 Countries + Business Phone, Hours, Reviews & Place ID)
import requests

HEADERS = {"x-api-key": "pd_live_your_api_key"}

# 1) Search or forward-geocode any global business or street address (5 Credits)
place = requests.get(
    "https://api.placesdataapi.com/v1/places/search",
    headers=HEADERS,
    params={"q": "Specialty coffee shops in SoHo, New York", "limit": 1},
).json()["data"][0]
print(place["name"], place["phone"], place["website"], place["place_id"], place["latitude"], place["longitude"])

# 2) Reverse geocode GPS coordinates -> formatted address + ChIJ Place ID (5 Credits)
rev = requests.get(
    "https://api.placesdataapi.com/v1/geocode/reverse",
    headers=HEADERS,
    params={"lat": place["latitude"], "lng": place["longitude"]},
).json()["data"]
print(rev["formatted_address"], rev["place_id"])

Live Global POI & Geocoding Quickstart (5 Credits = $0.0002–$0.0005 / record)

Query commercial business POIs (/v1/places/search), customer reviews (/v1/places/reviews), and reverse lat/lng-to-address (/v1/geocode/reverse) with a single API key.

# 1) Business POI & forward coordinate search (returns phone, website, hours, lat/lng, place_id)
curl -sS "https://api.placesdataapi.com/v1/places/search?q=coffee+shops+in+SoHo+New+York&limit=1" \
  -H "x-api-key: pd_live_your_api_key"

# 2) Reverse geocoding (lat/lng -> structured street address + place_id)
curl -sS "https://api.placesdataapi.com/v1/geocode/reverse?lat=40.723301&lng=-74.002988" \
  -H "x-api-key: pd_live_your_api_key"

Interactive Engineering Workbench · Benchmark vs Geocodio

Verify real-time latency, credit math & JSON schema

5,000 places/day
5,000 reviews/day
500 domains/day
HTTP Calls / Day
600
Up to 100 items/call
Credit Unit
$1 = 10,000
Unified across 8 routes
Empty Result Fee
0 Credits
$0.00 for 0 matches
Estimated Monthly Pipeline Cost (30 Days)
$54.00/ mo on Business ($76.95 on Pro)
Monthly consumption: 1,350,000 Credits (45,000 Credits/day)
PlacesData API (Business $0.20/1K):$54.00 / mo
Official Google Places API ($32/1K):$5175.00 / mo
Empty search / unfound email fee:$0.00 (0 Credits)

Frequently asked questions

When should I use Geocodio instead of PlacesData API?
Use Geocodio (geocod.io) when you have a bulk list of US or Canadian street addresses and only need latitude/longitude coordinates, residential rooftop accuracy, or US Census FIPS / Congressional district / time-zone appends. Geocodio's 2,500 free lookups/day and $0.50/1,000 PAYG rate are purpose-built for US/CA street normalization.
When should I use PlacesData API instead of Geocodio?
Use PlacesData API ($0.20–$0.50 per 1,000 records) when you need: (1) international coverage across 195 countries outside the US and Canada, (2) commercial business POI search by category or keyword, (3) verified business phone numbers, websites, opening hours, and customer reviews, (4) canonical Google Maps Place IDs (ChIJ...) and numeric CIDs, or (5) website B2B email & social link enrichment via /v1/leads/enrich.
Can I store PlacesData API coordinates, Place IDs, and business leads permanently in my database?
Yes. Unlike the official $5.00/1K Google Geocoding API and $32.00/1K Google Places API—which restrict caching data beyond 30 days and forbid CRM storage—PlacesData API returns clean JSON that you can store permanently in PostgreSQL, PostGIS, Snowflake, or your CRM, with 0 Credits charged on empty or failed queries.
How do I test PlacesData API for free?
Sign up at /signup in 5 seconds with no credit card required to receive $1.20 (12,000 Free Credits = 2,400 place or geocoding records immediately), plus up to +$2.00 (+20,000 Credits = +4,000 records) via the Developer Sandbox Streak. See our full Geocodio pricing breakdown at /guides/geocodio-pricing.

Test it against Geocodio for free.

Every new account receives 12,000 free Credits immediately — no card required.