Numbeo
Numbeo is a privately held, bootstrapped crowdsourced database of 9.8 million cost-of-living prices across 12,775 cities, serving individuals, researchers, and 100+ enterprise API customers in fintech, HR, real estate, and consulting via subscription and data licensing.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersBelgrade
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Numbeo does
Numbeo is a privately held, bootstrapped data company founded in April 2009 by Mladen Adamovic and headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia (Numbeo doo). It operates the world's largest crowdsourced cost-of-living and quality-of-life database, aggregating 9,856,327 price points across 12,775 cities from 882,254 contributors, supplemented by automated market-data collection with statistical validation including outlier filtering and recency weighting. The platform produces headline indices — Cost of Living Index, Local Purchasing Power, Property Price Index, Crime Index, Health Care Index, Pollution Index, Traffic Index, and Quality of Life Index — used by individuals, researchers, journalists, and corporations worldwide. Its data is repeatedly cited by major international media including BBC, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist, and The Washington Post.
The core technology is a crowdsourced web platform covering cost of living, housing, crime, healthcare, transport, and pollution indicators, with the website localized in six languages (English, German, Portuguese, Italian, French, Spanish). Product surface includes consumer-facing tools (Cost of Living Database, Indices, Calculators, Salary Calculator, Property Prices, Taxi Fare Calculator, Gas Prices Calculator) and commercial offerings (Cost of Living API, Data License, Bulk Data Download, Historical Data Explorer, Data Quality Reports, plus a suite of premium compensation calculators).
Numbeo operates a hybrid freemium/product-led growth model: individuals and academic users access the platform for free, while commercial revenue is generated through three streams — API subscriptions (Advantage Plan, Premier Plan), commercial Data Licenses sold to businesses, and advertising (banners, sponsored content, newsletter features). The API is reportedly trusted by 100+ companies across 10+ countries spanning fintech, HR/payroll, real estate, travel, consulting, and education. With only 1–10 employees and no external funding, Numbeo runs an exceptionally lean operation, distributing exclusively through its self-serve website and direct enterprise API sales, with no disclosed partnerships beyond a third-party uptime monitoring relationship with Pingdom AB.
Numbeo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Numbeo
- Legal name
- Numbeo doo
- Website
- https://numbeo.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Numbeo is a privately held, bootstrapped crowdsourced database of 9.8 million cost-of-living prices across 12,775 cities, serving individuals, researchers, and 100+ enterprise API customers in fintech, HR, real estate, and consulting via subscription and data licensing.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Numbeo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Belgrade
Offices1 record
Markets served
Numbeo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- API Subscriptions: Commercial API access sold via subscription plans (Advantage Plan, Premier Plan) providing programmatic access to cost-of-living data for integration into third-party applications and services.
- Data License: Commercial data license providing non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide access to Numbeo data for the duration of the subscription agreement. Targets businesses needing bulk data access.
- Advertising: Banner placements, sponsored content, newsletter features, and custom integrations sold to businesses seeking to reach Numbeo's global, data-driven audience.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Access - Personal Use |
| Freemium | Others | Academic/Non-Commercial Use |
| Subscription | Annual | Commercial API |
| Subscription | Annual | Data License / Commercial License |
| Other | Others | Advertising |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Numbeo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Numbeo operates the world's largest crowdsourced cost-of-living and quality-of-life database, combining millions of user-submitted price entries with automated market-data collection and statistical validation to produce indices across 12,775 cities. Its commercial offering centers on a paid Cost of Living API, Data License (Advantage and Premier Plans), and Bulk Data Download subscriptions used by 100+ companies in fintech, HR, real estate, travel, consulting, and education, while individuals access the platform for free via the website.
Product overview
Numbeo is a comprehensive cost-of-living and quality-of-life database platform combining crowdsourced data with automated market-data collection. The platform offers a core Cost of Living Database with related indices (Crime Index, Health Care Index, Pollution Index, Traffic Index) as a unified database product. Premium offerings include the Cost of Living API and Data License for business integration, along with specialized calculators (Salary Calculator, Cost of Living Calculator, Taxi Fare Calculator, Gas Prices Calculator) available to all users. Premium subscribers access advanced tools including Market Basket Comparison, Global Salary Equivalent Calculator, Relocation Salary Calculator, Historical Data Explorer, and Bulk Data Download services. The platform is available in multiple languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese) and covers 12,775 cities with 9.8 million prices from 882,254 contributors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Numbeo Cost of Living and Quality-of-Life Database The flagship Numbeo platform is a crowdsourced cost-of-living and quality-of-life database available free for personal and academic use. It combines millions of user-contributed price entries with automated market-data collection and statistical validation (outlier filtering, recency weighting) to deliver city-level price data, headline indices (Cost of Living Index, Local Purchasing Power, Crime Index, Health Care Index, Pollution Index, Traffic Index, Quality of Life Index), property price data, and free calculators covering 12,775 cities worldwide.
- Numbeo Cost of Living API A paid programmatic API that lets businesses integrate Numbeo's crowdsourced cost-of-living and quality-of-life data directly into their own applications. The API is documented at numbeo.com/common/api.jsp, comes with a 98% uptime SLA monitored by Pingdom, and is trusted by 100+ companies across 10+ countries in fintech, consulting, HR/payroll, real-estate, travel, and education.
- Numbeo Data License (Commercial License) A paid commercial license that grants businesses non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide rights to use Numbeo's cost-of-living and quality-of-life data for the duration of the subscription agreement. Sold as Advantage Plan and Premier Plan subscriptions and targeted at organizations needing systematic bulk access to Numbeo data for internal use or redistribution within their own products and services.
- Numbeo Bulk Data Download A premium offering that allows commercial customers to bulk-download Numbeo's underlying crowdsourced dataset (city-level prices, indices, and related fields) for research, analytics, and business intelligence use cases.
Quantifiable outcome
- 9,856,327 prices in 12,775 cities entered by 882,254 contributors
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Numbeo
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Numbeo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Numbeo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- GoogleminorFounder Mladen Adamovic previously worked as a software engineer at Google from 2007-2009, developing internal applications. Not a current commercial partnership.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Numbeo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Glassdoor: Glassdoor offers crowdsourced salary data, company reviews, and job listings. While broader than Numbeo, it overlaps on compensation benchmarking and salary-adjusted cost-of-living comparisons used by HR teams.
- Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU): The EIU publishes the Worldwide Cost of Living index and other quality-of-life rankings used by enterprises and policymakers. It is an established incumbent with paid reports that overlap with Numbeo's indices.
Direct peers
- Expatistan: Expatistan is a crowdsourced cost-of-living comparison platform covering cities worldwide. It directly competes with Numbeo's core offering of comparing living costs, rent, and consumer prices for relocating individuals and expatriates.
- Movehub: Movehub offers cost-of-living comparisons and international relocation services, including property and utility data. It targets the same expatriate and relocation customer segment as Numbeo.
- PayScale: PayScale provides compensation data and salary benchmarking tools, including cost-of-living-adjusted pay comparisons. It competes with Numbeo's salary calculator and HR/payroll customer use cases.
- Mercer: Mercer publishes the well-known Cost of Living City Ranking used by multinational HR teams for expatriate compensation and mobility planning. Mercer is a more established, paid incumbent serving the same enterprise use case Numbeo's API targets.
Emerging players
- Teleport Cities: Teleport provides crowdsourced quality-of-life data and city rankings for people evaluating relocation. It overlaps with Numbeo's Quality of Life Index and target audience of movers and digital nomads.
Others
- World Bank Open Data: World Bank Open Data provides free, authoritative macroeconomic and development indicators used in research and policy. It serves as an alternative reference dataset for academics and policymakers, partly overlapping Numbeo's research audience.
- Zillow: Zillow is a leading U.S. residential property data platform. It overlaps thematically with Numbeo's Property Prices Index and real-estate platform use cases, though focused on a different geographic depth and broader transactional offering.
- Numbeo cited travel platforms (e.g., Booking, Tripadvisor): Major travel and tourism platforms integrate cost-of-living data into destination content. They are not direct competitors but adjacent ecosystem participants that may consume Numbeo's data or compete for similar consumer attention.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Numbeo social profiles
Digital presenceNumbeo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Numbeo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Numbeo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Numbeo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Numbeo
What does Numbeo do?
Numbeo operates the world's largest crowdsourced cost-of-living and quality-of-life database, combining millions of user-submitted price entries with automated market-data collection and statistical validation to produce indices across 12,775 cities. Its commercial offering centers on a paid Cost of Living API, Data License (Advantage and Premier Plans), and Bulk Data Download subscriptions used by 100+ companies in fintech, HR, real estate, travel, consulting, and education, while individuals access the platform for free via the website.
Is Numbeo a public or private company?
Numbeo is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Numbeo founded?
Numbeo was founded in 2009. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Numbeo based?
Numbeo is headquartered in Belgrade.
How does Numbeo make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. API Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are data License and advertising.
Who are Numbeo's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Glassdoor and Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Direct peers are Expatistan, Movehub, PayScale and Mercer. Teleport Cities is listed as an emerging player. Others are World Bank Open Data, Zillow and Numbeo cited travel platforms (e.g., Booking, Tripadvisor).
Does Numbeo have an API?
Yes. Numbeo provides a Cost of Living API that allows developers to access cost-of-living data for programmatic use. The API is trusted by 100+ companies across 10+ countries including fintech and consulting firms to global HR teams. The company also offers a Data License, Bulk Data Download, Historical Data Explorer, and Data Quality Reports as part of their premium data services. Developer documentation is at www.numbeo.com/common/api.jsp.