Protomaps

Best for: Prototypes and side projects - free to start, no sales call; Teams needing broad API coverage out of the box; Cost-sensitive teams - low, transparent entry price

Avoid if: You have strict compliance requirements

• ██░░░░░░░░
  20 / 100
  Agent friendliness
• ██████████
  100 / 100
  Pricing transparency
• ████████▒░
  85 / 100
  Setup speed
• █▒░░░░░░░░
  15 / 100
  Docs quality
• ██████████
  100 / 100
  Procurement ease
• ░░░░░░░░░░
  0 / 100
  Trust readiness

Scores are computed deterministically from this profile's published, sourced fields (pricing, compliance, capabilities, docs and developer-surface signals) - not from reviews or paid placement. Each axis is 0-100; an unknown signal scores 0 for that axis. Procurement ease is the inverse of buying friction (higher = easier to adopt).

Pricing model

Subscription [2]github.com/sponsors/protomaps“$14/month — Commercial use of api.protomaps.com - up to 1 million tile requests per month”github.com/sponsors/protomaps“For contracts and other payment methods, email support@protomaps.com — no overage fees, pay-as-you-go billing, or additional charges beyond the stated monthly fees are mentioned”

Published pricing

✓ Yes

Free tier

✓ Yes

Free tier details

Non-commercial use of the hosted API (api.protomaps.com) is free with a soft cap of 1,000,000 tile requests per month. All open-source tools, PMTiles CLI, and daily planet basemap builds at maps.protomaps.com/builds are free without restriction. Self-hosting is always free (user pays own cloud storage/bandwidth costs only). OSM/ODbL attribution required.

Self-serve signup

✓ Yes [3]protomaps.com/api“Sign up for an account to issue API keys.”

Requires sales call

✗ No

Enterprise plan

✓ Yes [4]github.com/sponsors/protomaps“Protomaps Access — $2,000/month — Project author joins your organization's Slack or Teams; Protomaps Access+ — $4,000/month — Prioritized development of features on the open source roadmap”protomaps.com/blog/open-core-to-open-source/“The Access tier provides companies with direct communications with the project lead developer, via your company's Slack or Teams, including infrastructure evaluation and geospatial guidance.”

• Vector tiles
• Custom styling

Supported actions

vector_tiles, raster_tiles, pmtiles_archive_format, hosted_tile_api, self_hosted_deployment_aws, self_hosted_deployment_cloudflare, basemap_downloads, maplibre_gl_js_integration, leaflet_integration, openlayers_integration, cli_tool, custom_styles, basemap_localization

Regions

global (OpenStreetMap-based basemap coverage)

Languages

Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, 41 languages total following OpenStreetMap name conventions [5]docs.protomaps.com/basemaps/localization“Protomaps supports name translations for 41 languages”

Input types

PMTiles archive file, tile z/x/y coordinates, HTTP Range Requests, GeoJSON data, OpenStreetMap source data, bounding box for area exports, API key

Output types

vector tiles (MVT/PBF via PMTiles), raster tiles (JPEG/PNG via PMTiles), PMTiles archive, ZXY tile API endpoint, TileJSON metadata, Style JSON

Webhooks

✗ No

Sandbox / test mode

✗ No [6]protomaps.com/api“Requests made from localhost with a valid API key are not subject to CORS restrictions — no separate sandbox environment; localhost access is via the live API”

SDK languages

JavaScript (pmtiles core), JavaScript (MapLibre basemaps), JavaScript (Leaflet), JavaScript (OpenLayers), Go (CLI / server proxy) [7]docs.protomaps.com/pmtiles/“Python: Beta-status package via PyPI and GitHub. Dart: Community package on pub.dev. Rust: Maintained by Stadia Maps on GitHub.”

MCP server

✗ No

SOC 2

– Unknown

HIPAA

– Unknown

GDPR

– Unknown

ISO 27001

– Unknown

PCI DSS

– Unknown

Published SLA

✗ No [8]protomaps.com/about“Protomaps is maintained by an individual developer with no external investors. Infrastructure costs are covered through GitHub Sponsors.”protomaps.com/api“The basemap updates at an irregular, less-than-weekly frequency to improve the cache hit rate.”

Rate limits

Soft cap of 1,000,000 tile requests per month on the free/non-commercial hosted API; Commercial SaaS GitHub Sponsor tier ($14/month) also includes up to 1 million tile requests per month (soft limit, forgiving of occasional traffic spikes). No automated enforcement or overage billing. [9]github.com/sponsors/protomaps“Commercial use of api.protomaps.com - up to 1 million tile requests per month — a soft limit that's forgiving of occasional traffic spikes”protomaps.com/blog/free-tier-maps/“you can use for free up to a soft cap of 1,000,000 requests per month”

Known restrictions

OpenStreetMap attribution required (© OpenStreetMap) when using ZXY protocol URLs from the hosted API, Commercial use of api.protomaps.com requires GitHub Sponsor subscription ($14/month minimum), Non-commercial free API has a soft cap of 1,000,000 requests/month - users consistently exceeding it are encouraged to migrate to self-hosting, Basemap updated at irregular, less-than-weekly frequency, Maximum zoom level 15 supported on hosted API, Basemap data released under ODbL license (OpenStreetMap data terms apply), PMTiles is a read-only format (cannot update in-place without full rewrite), Cloudflare R2 deployment known to have higher latency (500ms or higher)

• Docs

Docs rendering: static

API style

rest

Base URL

https://api.protomaps.com

Version

v4 (tiles), v5 (styles)

Versioning

url

Stability

ga

Auth methods

api_key

Rate limit

1000000 / month

SDKs

• JavaScript (pmtiles core) pmtiles · repo
• JavaScript (MapLibre basemaps) @protomaps/basemaps · repo
• JavaScript (Leaflet) protomaps-leaflet · repo
• JavaScript (OpenLayers) ol-pmtiles · repo
• Go (CLI / server proxy) go-pmtiles · repo

• Auth docs
• Quickstart

Launched

2021-01-01

Notable customers

Felt, Flickr, The Washington Post, OpenInfraMap

• Azure Maps Render (Map Tiles)

  "Azure Maps is a collection of geospatial services and SDKs that use fresh mapping data to provide geographic context to web and mobile applications."

  Usage · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Google Maps Platform (Maps JavaScript API, Static Maps & Map Tiles API)

  "Make the world your platform. Develop AI-powered insights and build with maps in over 250 countries and territories, powered by data updated 100 million times daily."

  Hybrid · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Esri ArcGIS Basemap Styles & Map Tiles

  "A location service that provides basemap styles and data for the world. It returns styles as Mapbox styles and web maps, and data as vector tiles and/or map tiles."

  Usage · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Mapbox Maps (GL JS, Static Images & Vector Tiles)

  "Bring location data to life with beautiful base maps, versatile upload and design tools and cross-platform rendering."

  Usage · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• Jawg Maps

  "Integrate maps and geocoding in your websites and mobile apps" - Jawg Maps is a map design and data geolocation platform offering customizable interactive and static maps, geocoding, routing, and elevation APIs built on OpenStreetMap data.

  Subscription · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

• LocationIQ

  "Affordable Google Maps alternative for your website or app"

  Subscription · free tier · public pricing · self-serve

Protomaps alternatives · Protomaps vs Azure Maps Render (Map Tiles) · All Maps APIs APIs

Each field above carries a numbered source - hover for a preview, click to jump here.

1. ↑Description: protomaps.com · protomaps.com
2. ↑Pricing model: github.com · github.com
3. ↑Self-serve signup: protomaps.com
4. ↑Enterprise plan: github.com · protomaps.com
5. ↑Languages: docs.protomaps.com
6. ↑Sandbox: protomaps.com
7. ↑SDK languages: docs.protomaps.com
8. ↑Published SLA: protomaps.com · protomaps.com
9. ↑Rate limits: github.com · protomaps.com

Every field change, who made it, and when - from our audited data pipeline and editors.

1. 2026-06-15 Score Agent Friendliness: 10 → 20
2. 2026-06-14 Robots Allows Agents: (none) → Yes
3. 2026-06-14 Has Structured Data: (none) → No
4. 2026-06-14 Capabilities: {} → {"vector_tiles":true,"custom_styling":true}
5. 2026-06-14 Summary Md: (none) → Protomaps is an open-source mapping platform built around the PMTiles single-fi…
6. 2026-06-14 Score Trust Readiness: (none) → 0
7. 2026-06-14 Best For: (none) → Prototypes and side projects - free to start, no sales call, Teams needing broa…
8. 2026-06-14 Avoid If: (none) → You have strict compliance requirements
9. 2026-06-14 Scoring Methodology: (none) → Scores are computed deterministically from this profile's published, sourced fi…
10. 2026-06-14 Score Docs Quality: (none) → 15
11. 2026-06-14 Score Agent Friendliness: (none) → 10
12. 2026-06-14 Score Pricing Transparency: (none) → 100
13. 2026-06-14 Score Setup Speed: (none) → 85
14. 2026-06-14 Score Procurement Friction: (none) → 100
15. 2026-06-14 Llms Txt Present: (none) → No
16. 2026-06-14 Docs URL: (none) → https://docs.protomaps.com
17. 2026-06-14 Rendering: (none) → static
18. 2026-06-14 Has Published Pricing: set to Yes
19. 2026-06-14 Free Tier Available: set to Yes
20. 2026-06-14 Free Tier Details: set to Non-commercial use of the hosted API (api.protomaps.com) is free with a soft ca…
21. 2026-06-14 Self Serve Signup: set to Yes
22. 2026-06-14 Requires Sales Call: set to No
23. 2026-06-14 Enterprise Plan Available: set to Yes
24. 2026-06-14 SLA Published: set to No
25. 2026-06-14 Documented Rate Limits: set to Soft cap of 1,000,000 tile requests per month on the free/non-commercial hosted…
26. 2026-06-14 Rate Limit Requests: set to 1000000
27. 2026-06-14 Rate Limit Window: set to month
28. 2026-06-14 Known Restrictions: set to OpenStreetMap attribution required (© OpenStreetMap) when using ZXY protocol UR…
29. 2026-06-14 Auth Methods: set to api_key
30. 2026-06-14 Auth Docs URL: set to https://protomaps.com/api
31. 2026-06-14 API Style: set to rest
32. 2026-06-14 Base URL: set to https://api.protomaps.com
33. 2026-06-14 API Version: set to v4 (tiles), v5 (styles)
34. 2026-06-14 Versioning Scheme: set to url
35. 2026-06-14 Stability: set to ga
36. 2026-06-14 Quickstart URL: set to https://docs.protomaps.com/guide/getting-started
37. 2026-06-14 Requires Verification: set to No
38. 2026-06-14 Starting Price Usd: set to 14
39. 2026-06-14 Price Basis: set to month
40. 2026-06-14 Slug: set to protomaps
41. 2026-06-14 Launched At: set to 2021-01-01
42. 2026-06-14 Notable Customers: set to Felt, Flickr, The Washington Post, OpenInfraMap
43. 2026-06-14 Fields Not Found: set to soc2, hipaa, gdpr (no formal GDPR certification claim - docs page only states i…
44. 2026-06-14 Source Confidence: set to high
45. 2026-06-14 Extractor: set to claude-subagent:sonnet
46. 2026-06-14 Last Verified At: set to 2026-06-14T00:00:00.000Z
47. 2026-06-14 Status: set to published
48. 2026-06-14 Free Tier Limit: set to 1,000,000 tile requests/month (non-commercial, soft cap)
49. 2026-06-14 Name: set to Protomaps
50. 2026-06-14 Vendor ID: set to 667a360f-48e1-47f6-b5f3-70acd73f4ef1

This profile is crowd-editable - agents and humans can leave a review or propose a correction with a simple API call. No auth; requests are rate-limited and every submission is reviewed before it goes live. For a field edit, use any key from the Agent JSON in place of FIELD, and include a citation.

curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/feedback/protomaps \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"kind":"review","rating":5,"body":"Your experience with this API…"}'

curl -X POST https://apio.sh/api/suggest/protomaps/FIELD \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"value":"corrected value","citations":[{"url":"https://source.example/page","excerpt":"supporting quote"}],"note":"what changed and why"}'

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