https://openplacesapi.com/blog Guides and engineering notes on Overture Places data and server-side place search. Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT en https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-api-pricing https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-api-pricing A worked breakdown of Google Places API pricing in 2026: the tiers, per-SKU free thresholds, the dead $200 credit, and what a place search really costs. Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z https://openplacesapi.com/blog/overture-release-digest-june-2026 https://openplacesapi.com/blog/overture-release-digest-june-2026 The 2026-06-17 Overture release filters places outside their country-code boundaries, keeps Places on schema v1.17.0, and continues the category transition. Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/nearby-search-api-build-or-buy https://openplacesapi.com/blog/nearby-search-api-build-or-buy A pragmatic framework for deciding whether to self-host open POI data or use a hosted nearby search API. Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/mapbox-search-box-vs-places-api https://openplacesapi.com/blog/mapbox-search-box-vs-places-api Mapbox Search Box is built for interactive address, place, and POI search. A nearby search API is simpler when you already have a coordinate and need nearby JSON. Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/overture-maps-places-explained https://openplacesapi.com/blog/overture-maps-places-explained Overture Places is open POI data with sources, schema, releases, and cloud distribution. Here is what it gives you and what you still have to build. Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/openstreetmap-poi-api https://openplacesapi.com/blog/openstreetmap-poi-api OpenStreetMap is open map data, not a production POI search API. Here is how Overpass, Nominatim, Overture, and hosted place search fit together. Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/places-api-vs-geocoding-api https://openplacesapi.com/blog/places-api-vs-geocoding-api Geocoding turns addresses into coordinates. Place search finds businesses, venues, and POIs near a point. Mixing them up creates bad UX and bad bills. Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/cap-google-maps-api-spending https://openplacesapi.com/blog/cap-google-maps-api-spending Google Cloud budgets alert you, quotas limit API volume, and Pub/Sub automation can disable billing. Here is what each control does and does not do. Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-field-mask-pricing https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-field-mask-pricing Places API field masks control response shape and billing tier. One extra field can reprice the whole call. Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-api-key-setup https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-api-key-setup A practical guide to Places API key setup, restrictions, and why server-side place search should not leak keys into the browser. Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-api-free-tier https://openplacesapi.com/blog/google-places-api-free-tier Google Places has free monthly usage, but not one simple free tier. Here is how the 2026 per-SKU thresholds work and where place search starts billing. Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/fsq-os-places-free-place-search https://openplacesapi.com/blog/fsq-os-places-free-place-search Foursquare open-sourced 100M+ places under Apache 2.0. The license cost went to zero, but the serving cost moved to you. Three real options, compared. Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/store-locator-without-google-maps https://openplacesapi.com/blog/store-locator-without-google-maps A store locator is two problems: knowing where the user is, and finding what's near them. Here's how to solve both with one GET request and no maps platform. Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://openplacesapi.com/blog/give-your-ai-agent-local-search https://openplacesapi.com/blog/give-your-ai-agent-local-search AI agents are bad at knowing what's nearby and great at calling tools. Three ways to hand your agent real-world place search: MCP, a tool definition, or plain HTTP. Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT