Mapbox Search Box API vs Azure Maps Search for AI agents
Mapbox Search Box API is Mapbox's search API for addresses, places and POIs, with interactive (/suggest + /retrieve), text (/forward), category and reverse endpoints. Azure Maps Search is Microsoft Azure's location search service for geocoding and finding places and businesses by name or category.
The short answer
- Mapbox Search Box API: Cheap autocomplete-style place and address search inside map apps, with a first-party hosted MCP server.
- Azure Maps Search: Teams already on Azure who want place search billed on their Azure account under Microsoft's enterprise terms.
Side by side
| Mapbox Search Box API | Azure Maps Search | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Addresses, places and points of interest, including category search such as "coffee shops around me". | Addresses, places and businesses by name or category. Search v1.0 (POI, category, nearby search) is superseded by Search 2026-01-01 but still works. |
| Returns | 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. | JSON. Search v1 POI results include name, phone, url, categories, brands and optional opening hours. |
| Before the first call | 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. | An Azure subscription with an Azure Maps account. Authentication is by Shared Key, Microsoft Entra ID or SAS token. |
| 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. | 5,000 Search transactions a month. |
| Paid | 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). | $4.50 per 1,000 Search transactions (under 500K a month). Volume discounts start at 100,000 transactions. |
| Acting on a result | Retrieved POIs can include phone and website in metadata. There is no way to message a business through the API. | v1 POI results include phone and website URL. There is no way to message a business through the API. |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | All Search Box results are for temporary use only. Storing position data requires contacting Mapbox sales. | Results may be cached only to reduce latency, not to serve multiple users, and for no longer than the header validity or 6 months, whichever is shorter. Geocodes may be kept while the Azure account is active. Results may not be displayed on third-party maps or content. |
| AI in its terms | Not stated on its pages | The Product Terms say the customer may not modify or create a derivative work from any content using machine learning or artificial intelligence unless the terms expressly allow it. They also forbid building a competing or derived database. |
| Coverage | Global. The docs have a supported-geographies section that was not reviewed in detail. | Not stated on its pages |
| MCP server | 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. | No official server listed |
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 Mapbox Search Box API and Openpath vs Azure Maps Search.
Questions people ask
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.
What do I need before I can use Azure Maps Search?
An Azure subscription with an Azure Maps account. Authentication is by Shared Key, Microsoft Entra ID or SAS token.
Is Azure Maps Search free?
5,000 Search transactions a month.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
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”
Azure Maps Search, read on October 15, 2026:
- azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-maps: “Meters Free <500K 500K+ ... Search 5,000 $4.50 Contact Us”
- azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-maps: “Unless otherwise specified, the prices below are per 1,000 transactions.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/rest-api-azure-maps: “search for places and businesses by name or category”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/migrate-search-v1-api: “Azure Maps Search API version 1.0 has been superseded by Search API version 2026‑01‑01”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/migrate-search-v1-api: “While Search v1 continues to function, new development should use the latest Search API”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/maps/search/get-search-poi: “Details of the returned POI including information such as the name, phone, url address, and classifications.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/azure-maps-authentication: “Azure Maps supports three authentication methods: Shared Key, Microsoft Entra ID, and Shared Access Signature (SAS) Token.”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Results may not be stored for longer than: (i) the validity period indicated in returned headers; or (ii) 6 months, whichever is shorter.”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Customer may not cache or store results delivered by the Azure Maps API for the purpose of scaling such Results”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Customer may not modify or create a derivative work based on any content using machine learning or artificial intelligence”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Customer may not use Azure Maps or any part thereof to create a competing database or service”