A Mapbox alternative, priced line by line.
Both platforms sell maps, routing, matrices and geocoding by the request. They differ in how the monthly bill is built. They differ on dangerous goods, on what an agent needs to connect, and on whether a self-host price is published. Mapbox also has things we do not: satellite imagery, a native mobile map view and a drop-in navigation UI. This page shows both sides, including the usage at which Mapbox is cheaper.
Each Mapbox claim below was read on 17 October 2026, from the Mapbox page it links to. The calculator's Mapbox prices come from Mapbox's pricing page, read the same day.
Mapbox's pricing page carries no dates, so the calculator states the day we read it. MapMap's prices are read from /pricing.json when the page is built. Rows that show a gap on our side are here on purpose: they are the reasons a switch does not happen.
Price a month of your Mapbox usage.
Pick the preset nearest your usage, or set each line from last month’s Mapbox invoice. Both bills use list prices: Mapbox’s read on 17 October 2026, and ours from /pricing.json.
A delivery product with matrices and route optimisation.
An assumption dated 16 October 2026. Change it to today's rate.
MapMap bills tiles at one call per 50 tile requests. We measured a typical session (open the map, two pans, two zooms) on production on 17 October 2026, with MapLibre GL JS. The median was 0.96 calls with the browser cache off, and 0.67 on a fresh visit with it on. Across 18 viewports and start views it ran from 0.08 to 1.48. A return visit within a day cost 0. Method: qa/benchmarks/tiles-per-load/result.md.
At this usage MapMap is cheaper: £431 on MapMap (Growth plan) against $5,410 (£4,162) on Mapbox. That saves £3,731 a month, and Mapbox's bill is 9.7 times ours.
| Line | A month | Mapbox free | Mapbox | MapMap calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web map loads | 600,000 | 50,000 | $1,850 | 600,000 |
| Directions requests | 1,000,000 | 100,000 | $1,600 | 1,000,000 |
| Geocoding requests | 600,000 | 100,000 | $360 | 600,000 |
| Matrix elements | 1,000,000 | 100,000 | $1,600 | 40,000 |
| Optimisation requests | 20,000 | 100,000 | $0 | 200,000 |
| Isochrone requests | 0 | 100,000 | $0 | 0 |
| Total | $5,410 | 2,440,000, 50,000 free |
Mapbox prices are its pay-as-you-go list prices, read on 17 October 2026 from mapbox.com/pricing. Its free allowances are per product, and they stack. MapMap prices come from /pricing.json (updated 2026-09-23). Our 50,000 free calls are shared across every product, and plan overage is charged at the pay-as-you-go bands. A matrix is priced in whole blocks of 25 elements. An optimisation is the flat 10 calls for up to 50 locations. An isochrone has one contour. Truck and ADR calls are a separate price class on MapMap, and are not in this calculator.
Where Mapbox is cheaper
Mapbox’s free allowances are per product, and they stack. Our 50,000 free calls are shared across every product. So a month that uses all of Mapbox’s allowances (50,000 map loads, 100,000 directions, 100,000 geocodes, 100,000 matrix elements, 100,000 optimisations, 100,000 isochrones) costs $0 on Mapbox and £299 on MapMap (Growth plan). Scale any of the five presets up or down, and Mapbox stays cheaper until its bill reaches about £38 to £48 a month. The Hobby preset is one of those months: $0 on Mapbox against £45 on MapMap. Route optimisation is the lasting exception. Mapbox bills one request where MapMap bills 10 calls for up to 50 locations. So a month of optimisation alone stays cheaper on Mapbox at every volume where both of us publish a price. At small volumes, price is not the reason to switch.
| Preset, a month | Mapbox | MapMap | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $0 (£0) | £45, pay as you go | Mapbox |
| Start-up | $588 (£452) | £149, Starter plan | MapMap, Mapbox is 3.0 times |
| Growing SaaS | $5,410 (£4,162) | £431, Growth plan | MapMap, Mapbox is 9.7 times |
| Logistics | $17,000 (£13,077) | £1,250, Scale plan | MapMap, Mapbox is 10.5 times |
| MapLibre team, APIs alone | $3,560 (£2,738) | £299, Growth plan | MapMap, Mapbox is 9.2 times |
At 1 MapMap call per map load and 1.30 dollars to the pound. The calculator above has each preset’s usage, line by line.
How to read the rows below
The right-hand column quotes or paraphrases Mapbox’s published documentation and pricing. Every row links to the page it came from, so you can check it yourself. If we could not source a claim from Mapbox's own documentation or pricing page, we left the row out rather than word it more vaguely. If a row has gone stale, tell us and we will correct it.Switching an existing integration
Directions, Matrix, Isochrone, Optimization v1 and Geocoding answer at Mapbox's own paths, with Mapbox's query parameters and response shapes. Switching is a change of base URL and token.
Each path is an alias of a MapMap endpoint and is billed as that endpoint. An option we cannot honour is refused with a 400 that names what is supported, never silently dropped. The Mapbox-compatible API page at /docs/mapbox-compatible-api lists every option.
Mapbox's routing APIs are served from api.mapbox.com, for example GET /directions/v5/{profile}/{coordinates}, with the access token passed as access_token.
Directions API reference. The Matrix, Isochrone, Optimization and Geocoding references follow the same pattern.
Truck dimensions
The truck costing takes height, width, length and gross weight on every request. Axle load and axle count apply when you send them. A road whose recorded limit the vehicle exceeds is excluded, not just penalised.
A missing dimension falls back to the EU legal maximum for an articulated vehicle (Directive 96/53/EC), so the route errs on the side of caution. Restrictions come from OpenStreetMap, and truck tagging there is uneven.
The driving and driving-traffic profiles take max_height, max_width and max_weight. The route then uses roads whose limits are at or above the vehicle's.
Directions API reference. Each of the three parameters carries the note that coverage for the restriction may vary by region. Listed here because vehicle dimensions are a genuine point of parity.
Dangerous goods (ADR tunnel codes)
Declare hazmat and an ADR tunnel code, B to E, on the truck profile. The costing then enforces the ADR 8.6.4 tunnel categories. POST /adr/check answers the tunnel question on its own, without a route.
The limit, plainly: a route reflects what the map and the ADR matrix record. It certifies nothing, and the operator stays the duty holder.
The Directions API's vehicle parameters are max_height, max_width and max_weight. You can exclude all tunnels with exclude=tunnel, a beta option. The reference documents no parameter for dangerous goods, a hazmat class or an ADR tunnel category.
Directions API reference: the optional parameters for the driving and driving-traffic profiles, and the list of exclude values.
Matrix size and billing unit
Up to 10,000 source and target pairs in one request. Each started block of 25 elements is one call. The asynchronous job lane takes up to 40,000 elements per job at the same rate.
A 100 by 100 matrix is one request and 400 calls. On the hosted gateway, the furthest source and target can be 1,500 km apart for motor profiles.
Between 2 and 25 coordinates per request, 10 for driving-traffic, and at most 625 elements (25 sources by 25 destinations). Billed by elements.
Matrix API reference, under restrictions and limits and Matrix API pricing. The pricing page charges per 1,000 elements after the free tier, and the calculator above uses those bands.
Route optimisation sizes
POST /optimise solves up to 200 locations in one request. The asynchronous job lane takes up to 2,000. It bills 10 calls per 2,500-pair block of its internal matrix: 10 calls up to 50 locations, 40 at 100 and 160 at 200.
A small problem costs 10 calls on MapMap and one request on Mapbox. So a month heavy on optimisation narrows the gap. The calculator prices both.
Optimization v1 takes 2 to 12 coordinates per request, and bills each request as one, however many waypoints it has. Optimization v2 adds capacities, time windows and driver shifts. It is a public beta with an early-access sign-up.
Optimization v1 API reference. The v2 reference (docs.mapbox.com/api/navigation/optimization) sets a maximum of 1,000 locations per routing problem.
Geocoding
Forward and reverse geocoding worldwide, from our own index, in a Photon-compatible GeoJSON shape. Batch geocoding takes up to 1,000 queries in one request. Search as you type includes 5,000 free suggest requests a day per identity.
This row compares the shape of the two APIs, not the quality of their results. We make no quality claim. Test both on your own addresses before you switch.
Geocoding v6 offers forward search by text or structured input, reverse geocoding, and batches of up to 1,000 queries. Results are temporary by default. To store them you need permanent geocoding, set with permanent=true and priced separately.
Geocoding API reference.
Map tiles and styles
Planet vector tiles to zoom 14 in the OpenMapTiles schema, with the MapMap Light and Dark house styles. Studio makes your own themes, and MapLibre GL JS draws the map. Tiles bill one call per 50 tile requests.
Above zoom 14 the map overzooms the zoom 14 tiles. The house styles have no equivalent of Mapbox Standard's landmark 3D buildings or dynamic lighting.
Mapbox Standard is the default style in every Mapbox map renderer, with landmark 3D buildings and dynamic lighting. Mapbox Studio and the Styles API let you design and edit your own styles.
Mapbox Standard style guide.
Satellite imagery
We do not offer a satellite tileset for your apps. You can add your own imagery as an XYZ raster source. Our static map images can draw Sentinel-2 imagery where the pilot region has coverage.
If your product needs a satellite basemap, this gap can decide the switch on its own.
Mapbox Satellite is a raster tileset of satellite and aerial imagery, with global coverage to zoom 16 and regional coverage to zoom 18.
Mapbox Satellite tileset reference.
Mobile map view
None. The MapMap mobile SDKs are headless and ship no map view. You add MapLibre Native, own the view, the camera and the styling, and point it at our style JSON.
Our mobile guide shows how, and states this limit up front. If you need a native map view backed by the vendor, this is a gap.
The Maps SDK for iOS is a library for embedding customised maps in iOS apps, with Mapbox Standard, runtime styling and 3D terrain. A Maps SDK for Android is documented alongside it.
Maps SDK for iOS guide.
Native turn-by-turn UI
Guidance state, not a screen. The SDKs give you manoeuvres, distances, lane hints and voice. You build the manoeuvre card, route line, puck and camera.
There is no drop-in navigation view controller or Compose navigation screen. The CarPlay and Android Auto modules are in beta and ship as source code.
Mapbox describes the Navigation SDK as an all-in-one solution for navigation in a car or a mobile app. It includes route line rendering, navigation camera controls and voice instruction playback.
Navigation SDK for Android guide. The iOS guide lists the same features.
Self-host price
Self-host licences are published. One that runs the routing engine starts at £12,000 per year. It is the same build that runs at api.mapmap.ai, brought up from one Docker Compose stack.
The figure is read from /pricing.json when the page is built, so it cannot drift from the price list.
Mapbox Atlas runs maps, search and navigation on private clouds or on premises. The pricing page gives no figure. It says the price depends on the services, the data and the scale of the implementation.
Quoted: “Reach out to Mapbox to begin a pricing conversation.”
Agent access over MCP
A hosted MCP server at mcp.mapmap.ai/mcp. An agent can connect without a key, under fair use. Send an snk_ key to bill calls to your own account and lift the limits.
Without a key, calls are rate limited per client IP, and over the limit the server answers 429 with Retry-After. Agents get the same truck and ADR costing as the API.
A hosted MCP server at mcp.mapbox.com/mcp. When a client connects, it completes an OAuth flow in the browser, signing in to a Mapbox account or creating one. The local server needs a Mapbox access token.
Mapbox MCP Server guide. Mapbox's demo access guide adds that a card-free demo account can be created during that sign-in.
Agent payments
x402 is live on the hosted gateway. Its 402 responses advertise USDC payment on Base and Solana. An agent can pay for a call, or top up prepaid credit, from a wallet.
Per-call x402 prices at the entry band, with a minimum charge per request. For volume, prepaid credit is cheaper. The x402 documentation has the wire format.
Pay-as-you-go accounts get a monthly invoice, charged to a card or US bank account on file. Prepaid credit is bought by card. The billing guide documents no way to pay per request.
Mapbox invoices and billing guide.
Spending limits
Keys carry hard limits. Paid usage is prepaid credit or a monthly plan, so there is no overage billed after the fact. At the limit, calls stop unless prepaid credit is there.
From the published pricing notes. A key's state, including its credit balance, is readable at GET /v1/keys/self.
Quoted: “Mapbox accounts do not support a spending cap customizable usage limit after which services cut off during a billing period.”
Mapbox invoices and billing guide, which suggests buying a set amount of prepaid credit and monitoring usage, and offers email usage notifications at thresholds you set.
Send us your Mapbox invoice.
We price last month's usage on MapMap, line by line, and send back the number. It is a free desk proof. We do five a month, in the order they arrive. Bespoke work beyond it, such as the migration itself, is scoped and quoted.
Other comparisons: the full list.