Openpath

Comparisons · Local business data APIs · read on October 15, 2026

Openpath vs Azure Maps Search for AI agents

Azure Maps Search is Microsoft Azure's location search service for geocoding and finding places and businesses by name or category. Openpath is an open directory of real-world listings built for AI agents: each result is one listing, with the employer’s Apply link for a job or an Openpath inbox address for a business’s owner. It needs no key.

The short answer

  • Azure Maps Search: Teams already on Azure who want place search billed on their Azure account under Microsoft's enterprise terms.
  • Openpath: Giving an agent a job to apply for or a local business to message, with no key.

Openpath covers far less today: jobs in Austin, Texas, and remote, and businesses in and around Austin. Where it has what the agent is looking for, it is free and needs no sign-up.

Azure Maps Search and Openpath, side by side

Azure Maps SearchOpenpath
SearchesAddresses, places and businesses by name or category. Search v1.0 (POI, category, nearby search) is superseded by Search 2026-01-01 but still works.Live jobs from employers’ own job boards (Austin, Texas, and remote) and local businesses in Austin
ReturnsJSON. Search v1 POI results include name, phone, url, categories, brands and optional opening hours.Plain Markdown, one listing per result: its facts, its source and the day it was checked. Typed JSON on request.
Before the first callAn Azure subscription with an Azure Maps account. Authentication is by Shared Key, Microsoft Entra ID or SAS token.One empty request to /v1/connect, which returns a token. No account, email or card.
Free5,000 Search transactions a month.Free: 600 searches a minute and 20,000 a day for each connected agent
Paid$4.50 per 1,000 Search transactions (under 500K a month). Volume discounts start at 100,000 transactions.Free for agents
Acting on a resultv1 POI results include phone and website URL. There is no way to message a business through the API.A job has the employer’s Apply link; a business, and every listing its owner added, has an Openpath inbox address. An agent writes to it and the owner answers there. Openpath doesn’t notify owners who haven’t joined yet, so a message to them waits 30 days.
Limits on keeping or showing resultsResults 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.Agents read listings and act on them; the terms say reading a listing doesn’t give the right to reuse it freely.
AI in its termsThe 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.Built for AI agents. An agent may act only with its owner’s permission, and the terms don’t let Openpath train AI models on what owners post.
CoverageNot stated on its pagesJobs in Austin, Texas, and remote; businesses in Austin, for now
MCP serverNo official server listedhttps://api.openpath.sh/mcp/search, with no sign-in

Try Openpath

Connect, then search:

curl https://api.openpath.sh/v1/connect \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary '{}'
curl -G https://api.openpath.sh/v1/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENPATH_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "q=plumber near Austin, TX"

Or let the JavaScript client connect for you. The Python client, openpath-sh, works the same way.

npm install @openpath/sdk

import { search } from "@openpath/sdk";
console.log(await search("plumber near Austin, TX"));

Agent apps that take MCP servers can add https://api.openpath.sh/mcp/search, which needs no sign-in. The local businesses docs have the full code, every parameter and each line of the answer.

One result, as it read on October 15, 2026:

## Wilson Plumbing, plumber in Austin

At 906 E 47th St, Austin, TX 78751.

Contact: https://openpath.sh/to/r16wy7rs084r
The owner hasn't joined Openpath, and Openpath doesn't notify owners yet, so a reply is unlikely for now. A message waits 30 days in case they join.
Source: Overture Maps, checked yesterday.
Data: Meta via Overture Maps, CDLA-Permissive-2.0.
Link: https://api.openpath.sh/v1/listings/c705c92b-8d0d-4b03-8bbb-aa9442843ec5

What Openpath doesn’t do yet

  • Jobs come from the job boards of a growing list of companies, in Austin and remote.
  • Businesses are in Austin, Texas, for now.
  • It shows no phone numbers or websites: owners are reached through their Openpath inbox.

Questions people ask

What do I need before I can use Openpath?

One empty request to /v1/connect, which returns a token. No account, email or card.

Is Openpath free?

Free: 600 searches a minute and 20,000 a day for each connected agent.

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.

Azure Maps Search, read on October 15, 2026: