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Maps · head to head

Foursquare Spatial Studio vs LocationIQ

Foursquare Spatial Studio logo

Foursquare Spatial Studio

Maps

The product formerly sold as Unfolded, now a Foursquare platform rather than a standalone company

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LocationIQ logo

LocationIQ

Maps

Enterprise-grade location APIs at affordable prices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only LocationIQ has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Foursquare Spatial Studio unfolded no longer exists as a product or a contracting entity, so buyers researching under that name find documentation, pricing discussion and comparison material that no longer applies to what Foursquare sells; LocationIQ smaller ecosystem of integrations compared to Google Maps
  • They diverge on capability: Foursquare Spatial Studio covers Browser rendering at scale, LocationIQ covers Core Functionality.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Foursquare Spatial Studio and LocationIQ actually diverge.

Attributes where Foursquare Spatial Studio and LocationIQ differ
AttributeFoursquare Spatial StudioLocationIQ
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebAPI

Identical on both: 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 Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • Browser rendering at scale
  • H3 spatial indexing
  • Data joins
  • Time animation
  • Map sharing and embedding
  • Cloud data connections
  • Foursquare data access

Only in LocationIQ

  • Core Functionality
  • User Interface

What people use each for

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

Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • A retail property team comparing catchment overlap between candidate sites using hexagonal aggregation rather than drive-time polygonsnot LocationIQ
  • A telecommunications planner visualising a national dataset of measurements in the browser without building a tile pipelinenot LocationIQ
  • An analytics team that already writes deck.gl in-house and wants a hosted environment so non-developers can explore the same datanot LocationIQ
  • A marketing group that wants Foursquare places and movement data joined to its own customer geography in one toolnot LocationIQ

LocationIQ

  • Geocoding and reverse geocoding addresses at scalenot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • Store locators and address autofill in web and mobile appsnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • Asset and vehicle tracking with route optimisationnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • Serving static and dynamic map tilesnot Foursquare Spatial Studio
  • Distance matrix and route planningnot Foursquare Spatial Studio

Where each one falls short

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

Foursquare Spatial Studio

  • Unfolded no longer exists as a product or a contracting entity, so buyers researching under that name find documentation, pricing discussion and comparison material that no longer applies to what Foursquare sells
  • Pricing is not published at all, and because access to Foursquare datasets can be bundled into the same agreement, separating the cost of the software from the cost of the data requires explicitly asking for a split quote
  • Much of the visualisation capability exists in kepler.gl and deck.gl, which are free and open source, so the paid product must justify itself on hosting, collaboration and data rather than on rendering
  • Foursquare's core business is selling location data, which means the analytics roadmap follows what makes that data sell, and a customer using only its own data is not the priority segment
  • It is analysis and visualisation, not a spatial database or an editing environment, so organisations still need PostGIS, a warehouse or a GIS for the authoritative data and its maintenance

LocationIQ

  • Smaller ecosystem of integrations compared to Google Maps
  • Less documentation than industry-leading platforms
  • Less brand recognition than Google or Mapbox

Pricing, plan by plan

Foursquare Spatial Studio

On request
  • Foursquare Spatial Studio$undefined/year
    • Quoted by users, data volume and which Foursquare datasets you take
    • Cloud warehouse connections on the higher tier
    • Not published

LocationIQ

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5,000 requests/day
    • Limited commercial use with attribution
  • Maps Lite$45/month
    • 10,000 map views/day
    • Geocoding APIs
    • No routing
  • Developer$100/month
    • 25,000 requests/day
    • All APIs (geocoding, routing, maps)
  • Startup$200/month
    • 60,000 requests/day
    • Priority email support

Which should you pick?

Choose Foursquare Spatial Studio if

  • You need browser rendering at scale.
  • You also want h3 spatial indexing.
Foursquare Spatial Studio review

Choose LocationIQ if

  • You need core functionality.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on API.
  • You also want user interface.
LocationIQ review

Questions people ask

Is Foursquare Spatial Studio or LocationIQ better?
Neither clearly leads. Foursquare Spatial Studio starts at On request and LocationIQ at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Foursquare Spatial Studio or LocationIQ?
LocationIQ has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Foursquare Spatial Studio and Free for LocationIQ.
Does Foursquare Spatial Studio or LocationIQ run on more platforms?
Foursquare Spatial Studio runs on Web. LocationIQ runs on API.
Can I use LocationIQ for free?
Yes. LocationIQ has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Foursquare Spatial Studio starts at On request.
What is Foursquare Spatial Studio best used for?
Foursquare Spatial Studio is most often used for a retail property team comparing catchment overlap between candidate sites using hexagonal aggregation rather than drive-time polygons, a telecommunications planner visualising a national dataset of measurements in the browser without building a tile pipeline, an analytics team that already writes deck.gl in-house and wants a hosted environment so non-developers can explore the same data, a marketing group that wants foursquare places and movement data joined to its own customer geography in one tool. Of those, a retail property team comparing catchment overlap between candidate sites using hexagonal aggregation rather than drive-time polygons and a telecommunications planner visualising a national dataset of measurements in the browser without building a tile pipeline are not what LocationIQ is typically brought in for.
What can Foursquare Spatial Studio do that LocationIQ cannot?
Foursquare Spatial Studio covers Browser rendering at scale, H3 spatial indexing, Data joins, Time animation. LocationIQ covers Core Functionality, User Interface.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Foursquare Spatial Studio: Can I still buy Unfolded?

No. Foursquare acquired Unfolded in 2021 and sells the product as Foursquare Spatial Studio. There is no Unfolded contract.

LocationIQ: How much does LocationIQ cost?

LocationIQ offers a Free plan with 5,000 requests/day, Maps Lite at $45/month for 10,000 map views/day, Developer at $100/month for 25,000 requests/day, and higher tiers up to Business Plus at $950/month for 30M requests/month. All plans are billed monthly with 2 months free for annual prepayment.

Source
Foursquare Spatial Studio: Is kepler.gl the same thing?

No. kepler.gl is the free open source visualisation library from the same original team. Spatial Studio is the hosted commercial platform built around it.

LocationIQ: Is LocationIQ free?

Yes, LocationIQ offers a free tier with 5,000 requests/day, providing access to geocoding and mapping APIs. Free tier users must include attribution and cannot use for commercial purposes.

Source
Foursquare Spatial Studio: What does it cost?

Foursquare does not publish pricing. Ask for the software and the data licences to be quoted separately.

LocationIQ: What support levels does LocationIQ offer?

Free and early paid tiers receive best-effort email support. The Startup plan ($200/month) includes priority email support. Business Plus ($950/month) includes priority live chat support with dedicated AWS endpoints for improved performance.

Source
Foursquare Spatial Studio: Do I need Foursquare's data to use it?

No, you can load your own, but the commercial proposition is strongest for customers who also want the places and movement datasets.

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