Cartes.io vs Nominatim

Cartes.io is an open-source platform for creating and sharing custom maps with markers, letting anyone plot points, GeoJSON shapes, and metadata without running their own server. Reading public maps and markers needs no signup — write access is optional and controlled per map, either open to anyone or gated behind a token issued when the map or marker is created. The API returns JSON by default and GeoJSON on request, and the project ships official Python and NPM packages alongside its hosted instance at cartes.io.

Nominatim provides worldwide forward and reverse geocoding built entirely on OpenStreetMap data, needing no API key — only a descriptive User-Agent or Referer header identifying the calling application. The public instance at nominatim.openstreetmap.org is a free courtesy service, not a commercial product: its usage policy caps requests at 1 per second, forbids autocomplete-style querying and bulk/parallel scripts, and requires caching results rather than re-fetching them. Heavier users are expected to self-host Nominatim against their own OSM extract instead of relying on the shared instance.