HERE Geocoding & Search vs Mapbox Search Box API for AI agents
HERE Geocoding & Search is HERE's location search API family (Discover/Search, Autosuggest, Geocode, Reverse Geocode) for finding addresses and places/POIs. Mapbox Search Box API is Mapbox's search API for addresses, places and POIs, with interactive (/suggest + /retrieve), text (/forward), category and reverse endpoints.
The short answer
- HERE Geocoding & Search: Cheap per-call POI and address search with a free monthly tier. Good when results stay inside an app and are not fed to AI systems.
- Mapbox Search Box API: Cheap autocomplete-style place and address search inside map apps, with a first-party hosted MCP server.
Side by side
| HERE Geocoding & Search | Mapbox Search Box API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Addresses, places/POIs, EV charge points and third-party data such as Tripadvisor, searchable by free text or along routes. | Addresses, places and points of interest, including category search such as "coffee shops around me". |
| Returns | JSON with an items array. Only title, id, resultType and position are guaranteed. Place results can add address, categories, contacts (phone, www, email) and openingHours. | JSON features with name, address, coordinates, POI categories, mapbox_id and optional metadata such as phone, website, open hours, rating and photos. Each response includes an attribution string. |
| Before the first call | A HERE platform account on the Base Plan, which requires entering a payment method at sign-up (since 2025), plus an app ID and API key. | A Mapbox account and access token. You can sign up without a credit card, but you get trial usage limits until you add a payment method. |
| Free | 5,000 Discover/Search transactions a month on the Base Plan (30,000 for Geocode and Autocomplete). | Introductory preview pricing: 500 interactive sessions a month and 50,000 /category or /reverse requests a month. The page also shows a "Standard pricing" table (2,500 and 25,000 free), and which table applies when was not stated in the text read. |
| Paid | Discover/Search: EUR 2.33 per 1,000 (5,001 to 200,000), then EUR 1.87 per 1,000 up to 1,000,000. | Sessions: $3.00 per 1,000 under the introductory preview pricing, or $11.50 per 1,000 under the standard pricing. /category and /reverse: $1.00 per 1,000 (intro) or $1.70 (standard). |
| Acting on a result | Place results can include phone, website and email contacts. There is no way to message a business through the API. | Retrieved POIs can include phone and website in metadata. There is no way to message a business through the API. |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | The Platform Terms bar caching or storing Results outside the Platform for more than 30 days (24 hours for Japan and Positioning). The Base Plan also excludes asset-tracking use cases. | All Search Box results are for temporary use only. Storing position data requires contacting Mapbox sales. |
| AI in its terms | Restrictive. Unless your plan or a separate agreement allows it, the Platform Terms (6.3 f) forbid using HERE Materials "in connection with a machine learning or artificial intelligence (“AI”) system," including generative AI. | Not stated on its pages |
| Coverage | Not stated on the pages read. Searches can be limited to countries by ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code. | Global. The docs have a supported-geographies section that was not reviewed in detail. |
| MCP server | HERE Location Reasoning, an MCP server at https://hlr.here.ai/mcp (docs: https://docs.here.com/location-reasoning/docs/hlroverview). Access terms and pricing for it were not confirmed. | Mapbox MCP Server, hosted at https://mcp.mapbox.com/mcp (OAuth) and open source at https://github.com/mapbox/mcp-server. The search tools use the Search Box API. |
Where Openpath fits
If the agent needs a local business to message in Austin, Texas, Openpath returns the listings themselves, free and with no key. See Openpath vs HERE Geocoding & Search and Openpath vs Mapbox Search Box API.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use HERE Geocoding & Search?
A HERE platform account on the Base Plan, which requires entering a payment method at sign-up (since 2025), plus an app ID and API key.
Is HERE Geocoding & Search free?
5,000 Discover/Search transactions a month on the Base Plan (30,000 for Geocode and Autocomplete).
What do I need before I can use Mapbox Search Box API?
A Mapbox account and access token. You can sign up without a credit card, but you get trial usage limits until you add a payment method.
Is Mapbox Search Box API free?
Introductory preview pricing: 500 interactive sessions a month and 50,000 /category or /reverse requests a month. The page also shows a "Standard pricing" table (2,500 and 25,000 free), and which table applies when was not stated in the text read.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
HERE Geocoding & Search, read on October 15, 2026:
- here.com/get-started/pricing: “Discover / Search pricing Monthly Transactions Cost per 1,000 0 to 5,000 Free 5,001 to 200,000 €2.33”
- here.com/get-started/pricing: “200,001 to 1,000,000 €1.87 1,000,001+ Contact us 1 Transaction is counted for every Request.”
- here.com/get-started/pricing: “Discover addresses, Places/POIs, EV charge points, truck-specific attributes and 3rd party data like Tripadvisor”
- here.com/learn/blog/april-2025-platform-release-notes: “The Base plan requires entering a payment method during the onboarding process to access our platform.”
- docs.here.com/geocoding-and-search/docs/discover: “Only title, id, resultType, position can be expected for all results.”
- legal.here.com/en-gb/terms/here-platform-terms: “for more than 30 days, except HERE Positioning services which cannot be cached or stored outside the Platform for more than 24 hours”
- legal.here.com/en-gb/terms/here-platform-terms: “Use HERE Materials in connection with a machine learning or artificial intelligence (“AI”) system”
- legal.here.com/en-gb/terms/here-platform-terms: “Except as otherwise permitted in your Subscription Plan or separate agreement with HERE, you may not:”
- here.com/get-started/pricing/base-plan-restrictions: “The following use cases are excluded from the Base Plan.”
- docs.here.com/location-reasoning/docs/hlroverview: “HERE Location Reasoning is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server”
- docs.here.com/location-reasoning/docs/hlroverview: “The HERE Location Reasoning MCP server is available at: https://hlr.here.ai/mcp”
Mapbox Search Box API, read on October 15, 2026:
- mapbox.com/pricing: “Introductory preview pricing* Monthly sessions Up to 500 501 - 100,000 ... Cost per 1,000 Free $3.00”
- mapbox.com/pricing: “Standard pricing Monthly requests Up to 2,500 2,501 - 100,000 ... Cost per 1,000 Free $11.50”
- mapbox.com/pricing: “Request to /category and /reverse endpoints are billed on a per-request basis.”
- mapbox.com/pricing: “Monthly requests Up to 50,000 50,001 - 500,000 ... Cost per 1,000 Free $1.00”
- mapbox.com/pricing: “A session includes 50 /suggest calls, and 1 /retrieve call, and it will automatically expire after 2 minutes of inactivity.”
- docs.mapbox.com/accounts/guides/signup: “Quick sign-up without a credit card gives you access to Mapbox services with trial usage limits.”
- docs.mapbox.com/api/search/search-box: “all data returned by the Search Box API endpoints is only available for temporary use”
- docs.mapbox.com/api/search/search-box: “"metadata" : { "phone" : "PHONE_NUMBER" , "website" : "WEBSITE_URL" , "open_hours"”
- docs.mapbox.com/api/guides/mcp-server: “This endpoint is available at https://mcp.mapbox.com/mcp”