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Frequently Asked Questions

Data & coverage​

What data does geocodeme.net use?​

OpenStreetMap data, served by our own geocoding and routing engines. No Google/HERE/TomTom data is involved, which is why there are no restrictive display or storage clauses.

Which regions are covered?​

Europe and the five French overseas regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Mayotte, Réunion). Queries outside the covered area return an empty result, not an error. See Geographic Coverage, and tell us which other regions you need.

How fresh is the data?​

The dataset is refreshed periodically from OpenStreetMap extracts. Community edits to OSM appear after the next refresh. Details in Coverage & Data Freshness.

Do I have to credit OpenStreetMap?​

Yes, displaying © OpenStreetMap contributors is the one obligation the ODbL license puts on you. A footer mention is enough for most apps. See Licensing & Attribution.

Can I store the geocoding results in my database?​

Yes. Caching and storing results is allowed (and encouraged: it saves your quota).

Quotas & rate limits​

What happens if I exceed my monthly quota?​

Requests are rejected with HTTP 429 and error code QUOTA_EXCEEDED until the quota resets on the 1st of the next month (00:00 UTC); there is no automatic overage billing, so no surprise bills. The response includes quota_reset (timestamp) and an upgrade link. To keep going, upgrade your plan from the dashboard.

What happens if I send requests too fast?​

Each plan has a per-second rate limit. Exceeding it returns HTTP 429 with RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED and a Retry-After header; implement exponential backoff. See Rate Limiting.

How do I monitor my consumption?​

Three ways: the usage charts in your dashboard, the X-RateLimit-* / X-RateLimit-Monthly-* headers on every response, and the X-RateLimit-Monthly-Warning: true header once you pass 80% of your monthly quota.

Reliability & security​

Do you offer an SLA?​

Not yet: the service is provided on a best-effort basis (see our terms). We operate transparently: uptime and per-component health are public on status.geocodeme.net.

Where is the service hosted? Is it GDPR-compliant?​

The entire stack (API, databases, geocoding engines) is hosted in France (European Union), and OpenStreetMap data means no third-party map provider sees your queries. Payments are processed by Stripe. Full details in our privacy policy.

How are API keys protected?​

Keys are shown once at creation and stored server-side as SHA-256 hashes; we cannot read them back. You can revoke and re-create keys at any time from the dashboard. See Authentication for handling best practices.

Billing & account​

How does billing work?​

Subscriptions are monthly, handled by Stripe. Upgrade from the pricing page; invoices, payment methods, and plan changes are managed in the Stripe customer portal linked from your dashboard's Billing page.

How do I cancel?​

From your dashboard → Billing → customer portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; your account then falls back to the Free plan. You can also delete your account entirely (Settings → danger zone) once the subscription is cancelled.

Is there a free plan?​

Yes: 1 request/second and 3,000 credits per day (a geocode costs 1 credit), no credit card required. See pricing for the current plans.

Integration​

Do you provide SDKs?​

No SDK is required; it's a plain REST API with JSON responses. We provide copy-paste examples in cURL, Python, JavaScript, and PHP, and a public OpenAPI spec you can feed to any client generator.

Can I try it without signing up?​

Yes: the interactive Playground embeds a rate-limited public demo key.

How do I get support?​

  • Free plan: community support (documentation + contact form)
  • Startup plan: email support
  • Pro plan: priority email support

Write to [email protected].