OpenStreetMap

Open Geospatial Data Platformopenstreetmap.org

OpenStreetMap, operated by the UK-registered OpenStreetMap Foundation, is a community-built, open-license world map. It serves developers, humanitarian organisations, routing services and national mapping agencies via free geospatial data, public APIs and editor tooling, funded by donations and corporate memberships.

Company typePrivate
Founded2004
HeadquartersDenver, United States
Headcount1–10
GTM typeB2B
OfferingSoftware

What OpenStreetMap does

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a community-built, open-license map of the world, formally operated by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) — a UK-registered not-for-profit with its registered office in Cambridge and operational ties to University College London's Bartlett Centre. Contributors — including enthusiast mappers, GIS professionals, humanitarian volunteers and engineers — collaboratively maintain the underlying geospatial database, which exposes its three core primitives (nodes, ways, relations) plus GPS traces and map notes. The platform is freely available under the Open Database License (ODbL), meaning anyone can browse, edit, embed, download or build on the data without paying royalties.

The technical stack is a distributed open-source system: a PostgreSQL/PostGIS core database, the RESTful Editing API v0.6 (deployed April 2009, OAuth 2.0, changeset-based CRUD), the Nominatim geocoding service, the Overpass API for advanced queries, vector and raster tile servers fronted by the Fastly CDN, multiple open routing engines (GraphHopper, OSRM, Valhalla), and editor tooling ranging from the in-browser iD editor to the desktop JOSM, Potlatch and Merkaartor clients. Infrastructure is donated across Equinix Amsterdam/Dublin, UCL, OSUOSL, AWS, CloudFerro, Scaleway, Bytemark and others, running Debian 13 / Ubuntu 22.04 on HPE ProLiant, Supermicro and Lenovo hardware, monitored via Prometheus and Grafana.

The OSMF is a non-profit that does not sell map data. Revenue comes from individual donations (average ~€35, with suggested tiers from €20 to €1,000), a tiered corporate membership programme (Supporter at €750/year to Platinum at €30,000/year), free or paid individual/Active Contributor memberships, occasional one-off grants (e.g., Pineapple Fund, American Red Cross), and profits from the annual State of the Map conference series and its regional editions. The Foundation runs 'extremely lean' with a very small paid staff (Pablo Brasero Moreno joined as Core Software Engineer in September 2025) supplemented by a large volunteer community. Downstream consumers include routing services, humanitarian mapping initiatives, and sovereign platforms such as France's IGN cartes.gouv.fr, which integrated the OSM-codeveloped Panoramax street-level imagery platform in June 2026.

OpenStreetMap firmographics

Firmographics

Name: OpenStreetMap
Legal name: OpenStreetMap Foundation
Website: https://openstreetmap.org
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2004
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 1–10 employees
Short description: OpenStreetMap, operated by the UK-registered OpenStreetMap Foundation, is a community-built, open-license world map. It serves developers, humanitarian organisations, routing services and national mapping agencies via free geospatial data, public APIs and editor tooling, funded by donations and corporate memberships.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

OpenStreetMap industry classification

Industry

Product category: Open Geospatial Data Platform
NAICS: Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137)
SIC: Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
akta.pro primary industry: Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs) (BPAMANAB)
akta.pro secondary industry: Open-Source & Developer Communities (BPAMABAM)

Keywords

Open-source mapping
Collaborative cartography
Open geospatial data
Map editing API
Community geodata

Where OpenStreetMap is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Denver
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

OpenStreetMap business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

Individual donations: Donations collected by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (UK-registered not-for-profit) via credit card, European SEPA transfer, PayPal, Bitcoin and other channels. Average donation is about €35; suggested tiers €20, €50, €100, €500, €1,000. Donations cover core operational expenses: hardware and hosting costs, legal fees, administrative assistant and other working group expenses.
Corporate Membership dues: Tiered annual corporate membership programme for organizations: Supporter level starts at €750/year and Platinum level at €30,000/year. Provides recurring funding from companies that build on or benefit from OSM data.
Individual / Active Contributor Memberships: Free Active Contributor Membership (annual, fee-waived for mappers with 42 mapping days/year or other volunteer activity), plus Normal and Associate paid memberships. Provides recurring support from individual community members.
State of the Map conferences: Profits generated by the annual State of the Map conferences (e.g., State of the Map 2025, 2026 in Paris, SotM Africa 2026, SotM Latam, SotM Colombia) contribute to OSMF revenue.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency donations: One-off large crypto donations accepted (e.g., 2 Bitcoin donation received and publicly thanked in 2025).

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Subscription	Annual	Corporate Membership: Supporter tier from €750/year up to Platinum at €30,000/year
Other	Pay-as-you-go	Donations: suggested €20, €50, €100, €500, €1,000 (one-off or organisation-level)
Freemium	Annual	Individual / Active Contributor Membership: free or paid annual membership

Go-to-market motion3 records

OpenStreetMap product offering

Product offering

Core offering

OpenStreetMap is a community-built, editable map of the world released under an open license. The OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) operates the project's data platform, RESTful editing API, geocoding (Nominatim), Overpass query API, vector/raster tile service, routing engine integrations (GraphHopper, OSRM, Valhalla), and editors (iD in-browser; JOSM, Potlatch, Merkaartor desktop). Map data is free to browse, edit, download, embed and build upon, with the Foundation funded by donations, individual memberships and tiered corporate memberships (Supporter to Platinum).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

State of the Map: Annual conference series organized by the OpenStreetMap Foundation; a registered trademark of the OSMF.

Products and services

OpenStreetMap Map Data
OpenStreetMap API v0.6
Nominatim Geocoding Service Forward and reverse geocoding service built on OSM data, operated across multiple Nominatim servers (dulcy, vhagar, longma, poldi, stormfly-04) hosted on Equinix Amsterdam, Equinix Dublin and OSUOSL infrastructure.
OpenStreetMap Tile Service Distributed global vector and raster tile-serving fleet (dribble, odin, culebre, ysera, piasa, wawel, cmok, nidhogg, orm, azure-01, azure-02, palulukon) running on HPE ProLiant/Supermicro/Lenovo hardware and Debian 13, fronted by Fastly CDN for embedded and consumer map rendering.
iD In-Browser Editor Default in-browser OpenStreetMap editor that allows new users to start mapping without installing any software, lowering the barrier to community contribution.

Companies that use OpenStreetMap

Customer profile

Ideal customer profiles1 record

OpenStreetMap technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: Yes
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Feature6 records

OpenStreetMap partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

OpenStreetMap competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Emerging players

GraphHopper: Open-source routing engine built on OSM data, with both open-source and commercial offerings; it is integrated directly into the OSM site but also competes as a standalone routing API.
MapTiler: OSM-derived commercial map-tile and hosting service with self-hosting and cloud products; overlapping customer base with OSM consumers, focused on premium map-rendering and aerial-imagery layers.

Direct peers

CARTO: Location intelligence and GIS-as-a-service platform serving enterprise and developer customers with map visualisation, spatial analytics and data layers, many of which are powered by OSM-derived data.
Mapbox: Commercial mapping platform that builds heavily on OSM data and competes for the same developer and enterprise customers with proprietary APIs, vector tiles and SDKs. Most direct commercial analogue to OSM's platform offering.
Felt: Collaborative cloud-based mapping platform competing for team-based GIS and mapping workflows, offering a modern, product-led alternative to OSM's editor-centric experience.
Stadia Maps: Commercial OSM-based map-tile and routing service that targets developers and enterprises wanting OSM-quality data with commercial SLAs — a direct monetisation play on top of the OSM dataset.
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT): Non-profit that organises volunteer mapping within the OSM ecosystem for humanitarian and development use cases; shares OSM's community-led, open-data model and a meaningful overlap in contributor base and tooling.

Others

Wikimedia Foundation (OpenStreetMap's open-knowledge peer): Operates Wikipedia and Wikidata on a similar open-content, community-driven, donation-funded model; the most structurally analogous open-knowledge non-profit, with shared SSO integration and contributor-mindshare overlap.

Broad incumbents

HERE Technologies: Large commercial location platform serving automotive, logistics and enterprise customers; competes with OSM-derived services in routing, geocoding and fleet management, with a proprietary data backbone.
Google Maps Platform: Dominant commercial mapping platform with proprietary basemap, Places API, and developer tooling; competes for the same end-user and developer mindshare but at much larger scale and with a closed-data model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

OpenStreetMap financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

OpenStreetMap leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

OpenStreetMap funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

OpenStreetMap M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OpenStreetMap

What does OpenStreetMap do?

Is OpenStreetMap a public or private company?

OpenStreetMap is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was OpenStreetMap founded?

OpenStreetMap was founded in 2004. It employs 1 to 10 people.

Where is OpenStreetMap based?

OpenStreetMap is headquartered in Denver, United States, in the North America region.

How does OpenStreetMap make money?

Five revenue lines are on record. Individual donations are the primary driver. The others are corporate Membership dues, individual / Active Contributor Memberships, state of the Map conferences and bitcoin and cryptocurrency donations.

Who are OpenStreetMap's main competitors?

Emerging players on record are GraphHopper and MapTiler. Direct peers are CARTO, Mapbox, Felt, Stadia Maps and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT). Wikimedia Foundation (OpenStreetMap's open-knowledge peer) is listed as an others. Broad incumbents are HERE Technologies and Google Maps Platform.

Does OpenStreetMap have an API?

Yes. OpenStreetMap exposes API v0.6, the current RESTful Editing API deployed 17-21 April 2009, accessible at https://api.openstreetmap.org/. The API supports XML and JSON formats, with authentication via OAuth 2.0 (OAuth 1.0a and HTTP Basic Auth were shut down in June 2024). It provides endpoints for creating, reading, updating and deleting the three core map elements (nodes, ways, relations), managing changesets (with limits of 10,000 elements per changeset, 2,000 nodes per way, 32,000 members per relation), uploading GPS traces (GPX), interacting with map notes, changeset discussions, user blocks, preferences, and user details. Read requests do not require authorization. The Overpass API (linked from API documentation) provides read-only access for downloading data for purposes other than editing. A test environment is available at https://master.apis.dev.openstreetmap.org/. Developer documentation is at wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/API_v0.6.

What industry is OpenStreetMap in?

OpenStreetMap's product category is Open Geospatial Data Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMANAB, Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs), with a secondary code of BPAMABAM, Open-Source & Developer Communities. Its NAICS code is 54137 and its SIC code is 7370.