If your app has a location search tool, it is likely that you will need to show points of interest to users on a map. The example below from a UK property search provider layers local schools onto a map.
In the case of Zoopla, they own their own property listing data. However, if a home buyer has children, the location of the local schools would factor into their decision. So, layering these points of interest can improve the user experience and help property buyers make informed decisions. But, where do you find this kind of information and how reliable is it? Let’s take a look at some points of interest data sources.
Global Places Data by Factual
Global Places Data is a points of interest database from Factual that allows users to view businesses, landmarks, and other points of interest on a map.
Features
- 64 million points of interest globally
- Available in 52 countries and in 29 languages
- Attributes include name, contact information and latitude/longitude
- Restaurant and hotel data contains bespoke attributes, including prices, opening times and amenities
Pricing
Free up to 10,000 API calls per day.
Places API by Foursquare
Features
- 105 million points of interest globally
- Attributes include address, lat/ long, opening times, price, link to the point of interest’s website
- Photos, tips, and reviews written by Foursquare users can also be incorporated into an app
- Unlimited daily API calls for startup users
Pricing
- Free up to 99,500 Regular Calls + 500 Premium Calls
- $599 per month - unlimited API calls and points of interest
We use Foursquare's API on our app, TravelTime Maps. This web app filters which points of interest fall within a travel time area, for example 'which hotels are within 30 minutes from the airport?'. To filter by travel time try our API.
Sygic Travel API
Sygic Travel is a points of interest database designed for travel businesses.
Features
- 24 million points of interest globally
- Data for popular points of interest include photos and 360° videos
- Data is available in 18 languages
- Places consist of latitude, longitude and full geometry
- Data includes local names, category, tags, descriptions of places, contact information, admission fees and opening hours
- Points of interest are matched to popular tours and activities provided by third-party companies. You can increase your profit by offering these tours to the end customer for a commission.
Pricing
- Free up to 1000 API calls per month
- 45 Euros per month for up to 50,000 API calls (8 euros for an additional 10,000 calls)
- 99 Euros per month for up to 150,000 API calls (5 euros for an additional 10,000 calls)
Planet.osm
Planet.OSM is a feature of OpenStreetMap that allows you to extract millions of points of interest from the open source platform for free.
Features
- Extract points of interest into a database or as a file
- Download extracts of data that covers individual continents, countries, and metropolitan areas
- New version released weekly
- Free!
Here places API
The HERE Places (Search) API allows you to build applications where users can search for addresses and points of interest.
Image from HERE case study about Tencent
Features
- Links to further information, such as ‘navigate to’, ‘get information from service provider’, ‘call’, ‘go to website’ and ‘email’ links
- Attributes include address information, opening hours and amenities
- Interactive media allows users to submit reviews and upload pictures
- “get me there“ allows users to calculate the route to point of interest
Pricing
- Free up to 250,000 API calls per month
- $449 up to 1M API calls per month
Any questions?
Start filtering points of interest by travel time using the free API key below. We can help suggest the best database API for your app's use case.