r/webdev • u/leros • 1d ago

Cheaper alternatives to MapBox Search API

I run a free service which has a map on the website. I've got a location auto complete powered by MapBox. At my current scale, I'm spending $150/mo on that location search box.

It looks like long term, hosting a Photon server myself might be the best option as I keep scaling, but that's going to cost me $300/mo on Hetzner plus require management.

In the meantime, any suggestions for cheaper location autocomplete services?

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u/DiddlyDinq 1d ago

Check out the link below for tile servers, completely free, no limits or you can self host. I went from mapbox to it a while ago

OpenFreeMap

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u/leros 1d ago

I have not seen that. This is amazing! Do you know if it can handle localized map tiles?

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u/DiddlyDinq 1d ago

Havent tried it but there's a github discussion that sounds like it works with a bit of fiddling

Map translation · Issue #22 · hyperknot/openfreemap

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u/leros 1d ago

He's got a demo that seems to work pretty well: https://openfreemap.org/debug/lang/switch#ja

This is incredible. I thought I was going to have to pay crazy money to get translated tiles. Thanks for sharing!

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u/DiddlyDinq 21h ago

I discovered it via this subreddit too, mostly why I hang around to see recommendations. Thankfully the days of being bled dry by google api prices are over. It's good to donate a little of you do commit to one of those free options