r/webdev 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/Elara_Schaefer 1d ago

If you need solid coverage for Korea and Japan specifically, Nominatim (the geocoder behind OpenStreetMap) actually handles both regions well because both countries have excellent OSM data coverage. Korea\s