positionstack
positionstack operates a forward and reverse geocoding REST API that converts global addresses and coordinates for software developers and B2B applications through freemium, monthly subscription, and enterprise pricing plans.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersVienna, Austria
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What positionstack does
positionstack is operated by apilayer Data Products GmbH, an Austrian private company, and forms part of the apilayer API ecosystem, which is owned by Idera, Inc. It provides a REST API for forward and reverse geocoding, converting street addresses to geographic coordinates and coordinates to location information. The service reports coverage of more than 2 billion global addresses, more than 1 billion geocode lookups per day, 99.9% uptime, and response times of 10-100 ms.
positionstack draws its underlying data from Nominatim, GeoNames, Pelias, and OpenStreetMap. It monetizes usage through a 100-request-per-month free tier, subscription plans priced at $9.99, $49.99, and $99.99 per month, and custom enterprise pricing; its stated go-to-market combines product-led freemium acquisition with enterprise sales. The broader apilayer ecosystem reports more than 1 million B2B customers and 20+ microservice APIs, but the supplied data do not provide positionstack-specific customer, revenue, headcount, or management information.
positionstack firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- positionstack
- Legal name
- apilayer Data Products GmbH
- Website
- https://positionstack.com
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- positionstack operates a forward and reverse geocoding REST API that converts global addresses and coordinates for software developers and B2B applications through freemium, monthly subscription, and enterprise pricing plans.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
positionstack industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Geocoding API
- NAICS
- Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Geocoding, Search & Place Data Platforms (BPAMANAC)
Keywords
Where positionstack is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vienna
- HQ country
- Austria
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
positionstack business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- API Subscription Plans: Tiered subscription model offering different levels of monthly API requests. Plans include Free (100 requests), Basic ($9.99/mo for 100K requests), Professional ($49.99/mo for 1M requests), Business ($99.99/mo for 3M requests), and Enterprise (custom pricing). Annual billing provides up to 15% savings.
- Overage Fees: Usage-based overage charges when customers exceed their monthly API quota. Overage pricing varies by plan: Basic $0.0003996/call, Professional $0.00019996/call, Business $0.00013332/call.
- Platinum Support: Premium support tier offered as add-on to subscription plans. Pricing: Standard Plan $479.88/yr, Professional $599.88/yr, Professional Plus $719.88/yr, Enterprise custom pricing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free - Personal use with 100 requests/month |
| Subscription | Monthly | Basic - Commercial use with 100,000 requests and advanced features |
| Subscription | Monthly | Professional - Most popular plan with batch requests and 1,000,000 requests |
| Subscription | Monthly | Business - Full suite with 3,000,000 requests for business level |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise - Custom volume and solutions for high-volume needs |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
positionstack product offering
Product offeringCore offering
positionstack provides a global geocoding REST API that performs forward geocoding (converting plain-text addresses and place names into geographic coordinates) and reverse geocoding (converting latitude and longitude coordinates back into address information). The API covers 2+ billion global addresses and places, supports JSON, XML, and GeoJSON output formats, and includes enrichment modules for country data, timezones, and sunrise/sunset times. It is offered via tiered subscriptions with a free 100-request-per-month tier and premium plans starting at $9.99 per month, targeting developers, businesses, and enterprises that need scalable address-to-coordinate conversion for web and mobile applications.
Product overview
Positionstack is a single-product company offering the Positionstack Geocoding API, a REST-based geocoding service that provides forward geocoding, reverse geocoding, batch requests, and embeddable maps. The product is part of the apilayer ecosystem of microservice APIs, which includes 20+ other APIs such as currencylayer, serpstack, and ipapi. Positionstack processes over 1 billion geocode lookups per day across its global address database of 2+ billion places.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Positionstack Geocoding API A global REST-based geocoding API that converts plain-text addresses and place names to geographic coordinates (forward geocoding) and converts latitude/longitude coordinates back to address components (reverse geocoding). Covers 2+ billion global addresses and places, supports batch requests on Professional plan and higher, returns JSON/XML/GeoJSON output, and includes enrichment modules for country data, timezones, and sunrise/sunset times. Data is aggregated from Nominatim, GeoNames, Pelias, and OpenStreetMap and updated multiple times per day. Sold to developers, SMBs, mid-market businesses, and large enterprises worldwide via tiered subscriptions.
Quantifiable outcome
- 99.9% average uptime over 12 months
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use positionstack
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
positionstack technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature9 records
positionstack partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- NominatimcorePrimary geocoding data source providing address lookup and geocoding functionality. Data is sourced from OpenStreetMap project and integrated into positionstack API responses.
- GeoNamescoreGeographical database used as a trusted data source for geocoding information. Provides comprehensive global geographic data integrated into positionstack responses.
- PeliascoreOpen-source geocoding project used as a data source for positionstack geocoding operations. Contributes to global coverage and address accuracy.
- OpenStreetMapcoreCollaborative mapping project providing map tiles for embeddable maps feature and contributing to global geocoding dataset. OpenStreetMap data license applies.
Scale indicators6 records
Expansion highlights3 records
positionstack competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Google Maps Platform (Geocoding API): Google's enterprise geocoding API offering global address and coordinate lookups as part of the broader Google Maps Platform. Most direct functional comparison to positionstack but bundled with much wider mapping, Places, and routing services at hyperscale.
- Mapbox: Provides forward and reverse geocoding APIs alongside maps, navigation, and location services. Targets developers building location-aware applications, directly overlapping positionstack's core use cases but with a much broader platform footprint.
- HERE Technologies: Enterprise-grade geocoding and mapping APIs serving logistics, automotive, and enterprise customers globally. Comparable to positionstack in core geocoding functionality but with proprietary map data assets and a focus on high-volume B2B contracts.
- TomTom: Provides geocoding APIs and location data products based on proprietary map assets. Competes with positionstack for developer and enterprise customers needing forward/reverse geocoding, particularly across automotive and mobility verticals.
- ESRI ArcGIS World Geocoding: Enterprise geocoding service within the ArcGIS platform, serving government, utilities, and large enterprises. Competes with positionstack for high-volume, accuracy-critical use cases but with a much broader GIS portfolio.
Direct peers
- LocationIQ: Geocoding, reverse geocoding, and map tile API provider built on OpenStreetMap data, targeting developers and SMBs with freemium pricing. Closest direct peer to positionstack in product, pricing model, and data sources.
- OpenCage Geocoding: Forward and reverse geocoding API aggregating multiple open data sources (OpenStreetMap and others). Targets developers and enterprises with similar API-first, usage-based pricing to positionstack.
- Geoapify: Provides geocoding, reverse geocoding, and location APIs built on OpenStreetMap with freemium plans and developer-focused documentation. Direct competitor in the affordable geocoding API segment.
Emerging players
- What3words: Provides an alternative addressing system (3-word coordinates) with API access. Adjacent to positionstack's geocoding offering rather than a direct replacement, but increasingly integrated as a complementary location identifier.
- Geocode Earth (formerly OpenMapTiles geocoding): Hosted geocoding service powered by Pelias and OpenStreetMap data, offering global forward and reverse geocoding via API. Closely comparable to positionstack in dataset lineage and developer-first delivery.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
positionstack social profiles
Digital presencepositionstack financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
positionstack leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
positionstack funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
positionstack 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 positionstack
What does positionstack do?
positionstack provides a global geocoding REST API that performs forward geocoding (converting plain-text addresses and place names into geographic coordinates) and reverse geocoding (converting latitude and longitude coordinates back into address information). The API covers 2+ billion global addresses and places, supports JSON, XML, and GeoJSON output formats, and includes enrichment modules for country data, timezones, and sunrise/sunset times. It is offered via tiered subscriptions with a free 100-request-per-month tier and premium plans starting at $9.99 per month, targeting developers, businesses, and enterprises that need scalable address-to-coordinate conversion for web and mobile applications.
Is positionstack a public or private company?
positionstack is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was positionstack founded?
positionstack was founded in -1.
Where is positionstack based?
positionstack is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, in the Europe region.
How does positionstack make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. API Subscription Plans are the primary driver. The others are overage Fees and platinum Support.
Who are positionstack's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Google Maps Platform (Geocoding API), Mapbox, HERE Technologies, TomTom and ESRI ArcGIS World Geocoding. Direct peers are LocationIQ, OpenCage Geocoding and Geoapify. Emerging players are What3words and Geocode Earth (formerly OpenMapTiles geocoding).
Does positionstack have an API?
Yes. REST API for global forward and reverse geocoding supporting over 2 billion global addresses. Available formats include JSON, XML, and GeoJSON. Response times range from 10-100ms. The API supports forward geocoding (address-to-coordinate conversion), reverse geocoding (coordinates-to-address), batch requests (on Professional Plan and higher), and embeddable maps. Data is sourced from multiple providers including Nominatim, GeoNames, Pelias, and OpenStreetMap, with updates multiple times per day. Response includes location components, country data, timezone data, sun rise/set times, and confidence scores. Developer documentation is at docs.apilayer.com/positionstack/docs/api-documentation.
What industry is positionstack in?
positionstack's product category is Geocoding API. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMANAC, Geocoding, Search & Place Data Platforms. Its NAICS code is 54137 and its SIC code is 7374.