Is Atlas.co or Nominatim better?

Neither clearly leads. Atlas.co starts at Free and Nominatim at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Atlas.co or Nominatim?

Atlas.co has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Atlas.co and On request for Nominatim.

Does Atlas.co or Nominatim run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Atlas.co for free?

Yes. Atlas.co has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Nominatim starts at On request.

What is Atlas.co best used for?

Atlas.co is most often used for a renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no gis analyst available, a planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only gis licences, a consultancy producing client-facing maps and embeds without maintaining desktop gis installs across a distributed team, an analyst with an address spreadsheet who needs geocoding, buffering and a shareable map without learning a desktop gis. Of those, a renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no gis analyst available and a planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only gis licences are not what Nominatim is typically brought in for.

What can Atlas.co do that Nominatim cannot?

Atlas.co covers Browser GIS, Workflow builder, Geocoding, Collaboration. Nominatim covers Core Functionality, User Interface.

Maps · head to head

Atlas.co vs Nominatim

Atlas.co

Maps

Browser-based collaborative GIS with published per-seat pricing and a free tier

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Nominatim

Maps

Open-source geocoding tool for OpenStreetMap data, providing address search and reverse geocoding capabilities

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Atlas.co has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Atlas.co analytical depth is a long way short of a mature GIS: there is no serious raster analysis, network analysis, topology editing or geodetic control, so complex work still goes back to QGIS or ArcGIS.; Nominatim the public API allows an absolute maximum of 1 request per second
They diverge on capability: Atlas.co covers Browser GIS, Nominatim covers Core Functionality.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Atlas.co and Nominatim actually diverge.

Attributes where Atlas.co and Nominatim differ
Attribute	Atlas.co	Nominatim
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	Per user per month	freemium
Free tier	Yes	No

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Maps).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Atlas.co

Browser GIS
Workflow builder
Geocoding
Collaboration
Data import
Cheap viewer seats
Export and embed
AI credits

Only in Nominatim

Core Functionality
User Interface

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Atlas.co

A renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no GIS analyst availablenot Nominatim
A planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only GIS licencesnot Nominatim
A consultancy producing client-facing maps and embeds without maintaining desktop GIS installs across a distributed teamnot Nominatim
An analyst with an address spreadsheet who needs geocoding, buffering and a shareable map without learning a desktop GISnot Nominatim

Nominatim

Geocoding and reverse geocoding servicesnot Atlas.co
Address lookup and location searchnot Atlas.co
OpenStreetMap-based geolocation datanot Atlas.co

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Atlas.co

Analytical depth is a long way short of a mature GIS: there is no serious raster analysis, network analysis, topology editing or geodetic control, so complex work still goes back to QGIS or ArcGIS.
Geocoding and workflow runs are metered per tier, and a single large address batch can exhaust a month’s Pro allowance in one afternoon, forcing an upgrade for a one-off job.
The company is at pre-seed stage with roughly $2m raised and a small team, so buyers embedding it in a business process carry meaningful continuity risk.
Annual billing is required to get the advertised prices, which removes the flexibility that would otherwise make a young vendor a low-risk trial.
There is no offline or field capability at all, so any organisation whose spatial work includes data collection needs a second tool alongside it.

Nominatim

The public API allows an absolute maximum of 1 request per second
Bulk geocoding must run in a single thread and cannot be distributed across machines
Scripts running longer than a day or on a schedule are limited to 4 requests per minute
Autocomplete search against the public API is explicitly prohibited
Systematic queries such as grid based reverse lookups and complete data downloads are prohibited
Reselling geocoding results or acting as an API intermediary is prohibited
Every request must send a valid HTTP Referer or User-Agent identifying the application, and default library headers are rejected
Results must be cached client side, and repeated identical queries can lead to blocking
Attribution to OpenStreetMap under ODbL must be displayed

Pricing, plan by plan

Atlas.co

Free

StarterFree
- 3 projects
- 3 editors
- 1 GB storage
Pro$23/month
- 10 projects
- 10 GB storage
- 10,000 geocoding runs
Team$72/month
- Unlimited projects
- Viewer seats at $7 per month
- 25,000 geocoding runs
Enterprise$undefined/year
- Unlimited storage and workflows
- 100,000 geocoding runs
- White-labelled embeds

Nominatim

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Nominatim review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Atlas.co if

You need browser gis.
You want to start without paying.
You also want workflow builder.

Atlas.co review

Choose Nominatim if

You need core functionality.
You also want user interface.

Nominatim review

Questions people ask

Is Atlas.co or Nominatim better?: Neither clearly leads. Atlas.co starts at Free and Nominatim at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Atlas.co or Nominatim?: Atlas.co has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Atlas.co and On request for Nominatim.
Does Atlas.co or Nominatim run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Atlas.co for free?: Yes. Atlas.co has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Nominatim starts at On request.
What is Atlas.co best used for?: Atlas.co is most often used for a renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no gis analyst available, a planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only gis licences, a consultancy producing client-facing maps and embeds without maintaining desktop gis installs across a distributed team, an analyst with an address spreadsheet who needs geocoding, buffering and a shareable map without learning a desktop gis. Of those, a renewables developer screening sites against constraint layers who needs an answer this afternoon and has no gis analyst available and a planning or property team that mainly needs colleagues to view and comment on maps, where $7 viewer seats replace expensive read-only gis licences are not what Nominatim is typically brought in for.
What can Atlas.co do that Nominatim cannot?: Atlas.co covers Browser GIS, Workflow builder, Geocoding, Collaboration. Nominatim covers Core Functionality, User Interface.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Atlas.co: How much does Atlas.co cost?

Starter is free, Pro is $23 per user per month and Team is $72 per editor per month with viewers at $7, all billed annually. Enterprise is quoted.

Nominatim: Is Nominatim free?

Nominatim is open source software built on OpenStreetMap data. It appears to be free to use, though commercial usage may require separate licensing or terms. Check the project repository or contact support for clarity on licensing.

Source

Atlas.co: Can it replace ArcGIS or QGIS?

For visualisation, light analysis and sharing, often yes. For raster, network or geodetic work, no.

Nominatim: What is Nominatim's pricing model?

Nominatim does not publish a standard pricing model on its website. As open source software, it is available for free, but commercial or large-scale deployments may require reviewing their licensing terms or contacting project maintainers.

Source

Atlas.co: What is the viewer seat?

A read-only seat at $7 per month on the Team plan, intended for stakeholders who consume maps rather than build them.

Atlas.co: Where is the company based?

Oslo, Norway. It was founded in 2021 and has raised around $2m in pre-seed funding.

Atlas.co: Is there a free tier?

Yes, Starter gives three projects, three editors and 1 GB of storage with metered geocoding and workflow runs.

Atlas.co vs Nominatim

Atlas.co

Nominatim

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Atlas.co

Only in Nominatim

What people use each for

Atlas.co

Nominatim

Where each one falls short

Atlas.co

Nominatim

Pricing, plan by plan

Atlas.co

Nominatim

Which should you pick?

Choose Atlas.co if

Choose Nominatim if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Atlas.co

More on Nominatim

Keep looking

Other head to heads