Curvature
Curvature is a free, open-source web mapping tool built by solo developer Adam Franco since 2012 that analyzes OpenStreetMap road geometry to identify and highlight the world's twistiest roads for motorcycle and driving enthusiasts.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- Headquarters—
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Curvature does
Curvature is an open-source web-based mapping tool that identifies and highlights the world's twistiest roads for motorcycle and driving enthusiasts. Built and maintained since 2012 by solo developer Adam Franco, it analyzes OpenStreetMap road geometry using circumcircle calculations on latitude/longitude coordinate sequences to compute a curvature value for each road segment — weighting tight corners four times, medium turns twice, and broad curves once, while filtering out unpaved roads and urban conflict zones such as intersections, roundabouts, and traffic signals. The resulting database covers over 10 million road segments worldwide and powers two product surfaces: an in-browser interactive map at roadcurvature.com and downloadable KML/KMZ files organized by continent, country, and state for use in Google Earth.
The product serves two primary user segments — motorcycle enthusiasts and sports-car driving enthusiasts — who use Curvature to plan recreational rides and weekend drives that maximize time spent cornering rather than traveling efficiently. Standard navigation tools optimize for shortest or fastest routes and do not surface roads with engaging geometry, while paper maps lack resolution to identify tight curves. Curvature addresses this gap with a color-coded visualization (yellow to pink spectrum) and a worldwide database that spans all countries and continents with seamless cross-border coverage. The underlying algorithm and code are published on GitHub under GPLv3, and the OpenStreetMap road data is open under the ODbL license.
Curvature operates as an individual proprietorship with no employees, no investors, no corporate entity, and no monetization. The service is free to all users worldwide, with annual operational costs of approximately $700 for servers and hosting, funded by voluntary PayPal and Venmo donations. Go-to-market is entirely organic: earned media coverage in automotive publications (Car and Driver, WCAX, Todo Circuito, Xataka Magnet), word-of-mouth within enthusiast communities, and a low-volume email newsletter. The project has no API, no mobile app, no paid tiers, no advertising, and no data sales.
Curvature firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Curvature
- Legal name
- RoadCurvature.com (owned by Adam Franco)
- Website
- https://roadcurvature.com/
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Curvature is a free, open-source web mapping tool built by solo developer Adam Franco since 2012 that analyzes OpenStreetMap road geometry to identify and highlight the world's twistiest roads for motorcycle and driving enthusiasts.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Curvature industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mapping & Route Planning Software
- NAICS
- Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs) (BPAMANAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Consumer Navigation & Turn-by-Turn Apps (BPAMANAA)
Keywords
Curvature business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Free Service with Voluntary Donations: The core product is completely free to users worldwide. Revenue comes from voluntary PayPal and Venmo donations from users who find value in the service. The founder self-funded operational costs of approximately $700 per year for servers and hosting before donations began.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free access to all features |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Curvature product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Curvature analyzes OpenStreetMap road geometry data using a proprietary circumcircle-based algorithm to calculate and quantify road twistiness worldwide. It delivers the results through a free, in-browser interactive map and downloadable KML/KMZ files for Google Earth, helping motorcyclists and driving enthusiasts discover and plan routes on fun, twisty roads. The service is fully open-source and free to users, with no paid tiers.
Product overview
Curvature is a single unified product centered on identifying and mapping twisty roads for motorcyclists and driving enthusiasts. The core offering consists of an in-browser interactive map (Curvature Web Map) with worldwide coverage, supplemented by downloadable KML/KMZ files for Google Earth. Both are powered by the Curvature Algorithm which analyzes OpenStreetMap road geometry to calculate curvature values representing time spent cornering. The Curvature Database (10+ million segments) backs all outputs. The product is open-source (GPLv3) and open-data (ODbL), built by individual developer Adam Franco since 2012. All offerings are free to use.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Curvature Web Map An in-browser interactive map with worldwide coverage that highlights the most twisty roads. Users can browse roads without downloading files, view various background layers (satellite, terrain, street maps), zoom to see road details, and access settings for filtering curvature thresholds. Mobile-friendly and supports full-screen mode. Aimed at motorcyclists and driving enthusiasts.
- KML/KMZ Download Files Downloadable compressed KML map files for viewing in Google Earth. Three tiers available: c_1000 (most twisty roads only), c_300 (includes moderately twisty roads), and curves files showing individual segment analysis. Files are organized by continent, country, and state/province. Aimed at motorcyclists and driving enthusiasts who prefer offline use in Google Earth.
Quantifiable outcome
- Database of over 10 million analyzed road segments with curvature values
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Curvature
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Curvature technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability1 record
Feature4 records
Curvature partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- OpenStreetMap ContributorscoreOpenStreetMap is the foundational data source for Curvature. The entire project depends on OSM's community-contributed road network data covering the entire world. OSM data is open-source under Open Database License (ODBL). Over 2 million people have contributed to OpenStreetMap. Curvature reads raw OSM data to analyze road geometry and curvature.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Curvature competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Kurviger: Kurviger is a motorcycle route planning app that explicitly optimizes routes for curvy, fun-to-ride roads rather than fastest/shortest paths. It is the closest direct competitor to Curvature for the motorcycle enthusiast use case.
- Rever (Motorcycle & Off-Road): Rever is a motorcycle trip-planning and tracking app with a community-shared library of curated scenic and twisty rides. It competes directly with Curvature for the same motorcycle touring and route-discovery audience.
- Scenic App: Scenic is a turn-by-turn navigation app specifically for motorcycle and driving enthusiasts that prioritizes scenic, curvy roads. It targets the same niche as Curvature with a more commercialized mobile product.
- Roadtrippers: Roadtrippers is a road-trip planning platform that helps users discover scenic routes, attractions, and quirky stops. It overlaps with Curvature's scenic-driving use case, though it focuses on points-of-interest rather than geometric twistiness.
Broad incumbents
- Waze: Waze is a community-driven navigation app owned by Google with a much broader audience and dataset than Curvature. It competes for routing mindshare and could trivially add 'fun road' overlays.
- Google Maps: Google Maps is the dominant consumer mapping and navigation platform with comprehensive global road data. It is the most likely incumbent to absorb or replicate Curvature's curvature-routing niche.
- HERE Technologies: HERE is a leading commercial mapping and location platform serving automotive OEMs and enterprises. It holds the underlying road network and could develop a curvature-optimized routing layer for automotive clients similar to Curvature's.
- Mapbox: Mapbox is a developer platform for custom maps and location services, already powering Curvature's base layers. It overlaps with Curvature's geospatial/mapping infrastructure category at a much larger scale.
- Garmin: Garmin makes dedicated motorcycle and automotive GPS devices with curated scenic routing features. It serves the same enthusiast driving/motorcycling use case as Curvature but via hardware rather than software.
Emerging players
- OsmAnd: OsmAnd is an open-source mobile maps and navigation app built on OpenStreetMap data. It serves the same OSM-based mapping community and could easily incorporate curvature-weighted routing for its enthusiast users.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Curvature social profiles
Digital presenceCurvature financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Curvature leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Curvature funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Curvature 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 Curvature
What does Curvature do?
Curvature analyzes OpenStreetMap road geometry data using a proprietary circumcircle-based algorithm to calculate and quantify road twistiness worldwide. It delivers the results through a free, in-browser interactive map and downloadable KML/KMZ files for Google Earth, helping motorcyclists and driving enthusiasts discover and plan routes on fun, twisty roads. The service is fully open-source and free to users, with no paid tiers.
Is Curvature a public or private company?
Curvature is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Curvature founded?
Curvature was founded in 2012.
How does Curvature make money?
One revenue line is on record: free Service with Voluntary Donations.
Who are Curvature's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Kurviger, Rever (Motorcycle & Off-Road), Scenic App and Roadtrippers. Broad incumbents are Waze, Google Maps, HERE Technologies, Mapbox and Garmin. OsmAnd is listed as an emerging player.
Does Curvature have an API?
No public API is recorded for Curvature.
What industry is Curvature in?
Curvature's product category is Mapping & Route Planning Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMANAB, Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs), with a secondary code of BPAMANAA, Consumer Navigation & Turn-by-Turn Apps. Its NAICS code is 541370.