# OSMNames > osmnames.org | Data APIs; 1 record: free tier, limits, identity cost and evidence. HTML https://fshy.ajam.dev/p/osmnames/ | JSON https://fshy.ajam.dev/api/v1/entity/osmnames.json | how to read a record: https://fshy.ajam.dev/llms-full.txt ## OSMNames - `data-apis/osmnames` | self-hosted, last resort | verdict qualifies-with-caveat | evidence documented | binding none | category geocoding gazetteer data download and search software | tier planet download - needs card no, phone no, ID no, institution no | verified 2026-11-02T00:23:41.926Z (live) | stale on 2026-12-03 - url https://osmnames.org/download/ - free tier: a pre-generated planet gazetteer of over 21 million place names as a gzip-compressed TSV, 1.34 GB on the download page (1,437,702,497 bytes by a ranged read), free to use in projects, products and research, with no account | unit: unlimited | metered on: none | read on: 2026-11-02 | source: [1] | note: the data is a file, not a query service: geocoding against it needs a search server that the user installs and runs; the hosted autocomplete endpoint at osmnames.org takes a key parameter whose issuer and quota are unverified - per-object cap: one planet file of 1,437,702,497 bytes (the v2.0.4 planet-latest_geonames.tsv.gz that the download page links); country and bounding-box extracts are cut from it with zcat and awk | bytes: 1437702497 | source: [1] - retention: static release files on GitHub Releases with no expiry stated; the newest release holds OpenStreetMap data of 2022-11-25 | source: [2] - egress: not applicable: static release files with no download limit published | metered: no | source: [1] - identity: anonymous | detail: no account; public downloads from GitHub Releases - interface: rest - binding note: static files with no published download limit - interface detail: HTTPS download of planet-latest_geonames.tsv.gz from GitHub Releases; a ranged read of the first 1,024 bytes answered HTTP 206 with no account; the project's search server speaks an autocomplete form /q/.js?key= and an incomplete Nominatim-compatible API - endpoint: https://github.com/OSMNames/OSMNames/releases/download/v2.0.4/planet-latest_geonames.tsv.gz - tooling: curl or wget, zcat and awk or any TSV tool for the data file; for geocoding the user installs and runs the open-source OSMNames search server (the klokantech/osmnames-sphinxsearch Docker image, or the Flask service with SphinxSearch) on a rented or free machine - composes with: the no-account route to a global place-name gazetteer with bounding boxes, ranks and administrative hierarchy, for bulk matching or for a search index that the user builds; geocoding queries need a server that the user installs and runs, so a hosted geocoder with a free allowance comes first and this is the last resort - reliability: the newest release, v2.2.0, holds OpenStreetMap data of 2022-11-25 with no housenumbers, and the download page links the older v2.0.4 file; the pages state no refresh schedule - notes: Free requests: unmetered static file download, no account. Rate limit: none published. Bulk path: the planet TSV download. The geocoder itself is software that the user installs and runs, the last resort among geocoding options. - evidence note: the download page, the API page, the docs, the about page and the releases page were quoted on 2026-11-02, and a ranged read of the planet file answered HTTP 206 with a total size of 1,437,702,497 bytes. The whole file was not downloaded, so its content was not checked. - self hosted: yes - extras: - free_requests: unmetered: one static planet file download - rate_limit: none published - bulk_path: the full planet TSV download, 1.34 GB; country and bounding-box extracts by filtering - evidence: - [1] 2026-11-02: a pre-generated planet file with over 21 million place names is offered | capture: sha256:77734a3bd7bae22100b245105d00a3eebb56fb3e537604e45cfa312f12931c77 | quote: Here you can download the pre-generated data with over 21 million place names for the whole planet. - [1] 2026-11-02: the data may be used in projects, products and private research | capture: sha256:77734a3bd7bae22100b245105d00a3eebb56fb3e537604e45cfa312f12931c77 | quote: Feel free to use it in your next project, your website, your company product, or just for your private research. - [1] 2026-11-02: the file is available | capture: sha256:77734a3bd7bae22100b245105d00a3eebb56fb3e537604e45cfa312f12931c77 - [1] 2026-11-02: the full planet file is 1.34 GB | capture: sha256:77734a3bd7bae22100b245105d00a3eebb56fb3e537604e45cfa312f12931c77 | quote: 1.34 GB - [1] 2026-11-02: country extracts are cut from the planet dump by filtering the records | capture: sha256:77734a3bd7bae22100b245105d00a3eebb56fb3e537604e45cfa312f12931c77 | quote: It is pretty easy to filter the records for a country of your choice from the downloaded planet dump. - [1] 2026-11-02: the download page links the v2.0.4 planet-latest_geonames.tsv.gz file | capture: sha256:7c5c79d3590ddfeb0fec17686b9375edd91cb7353435f2c1b3522dd36659095c | quote: https://github.com/OSMNames/OSMNames/releases/download/v2.0.4/planet-latest_geonames.tsv.gz - [1] 2026-11-02: the open-source code that generates the data is published | capture: sha256:77734a3bd7bae22100b245105d00a3eebb56fb3e537604e45cfa312f12931c77 | quote: The open-source code for generating the data is available in the repository - [1] 2026-11-02: the place search API of the site runs on a separate open-source project | capture: sha256:77734a3bd7bae22100b245105d00a3eebb56fb3e537604e45cfa312f12931c77 | quote: The Place Search API used on this website is implemented with the open-source project available at - [3] 2026-11-02: the hosted autocomplete endpoint takes a key parameter | capture: sha256:5ea924c8431ef74ddd49cc94bea88ae8787e5720c343d507c9ef856ebc357861 | quote: `/q/.js?key=` - [3] 2026-11-02: the search system has an incomplete Nominatim-compatible API | capture: sha256:5ea924c8431ef74ddd49cc94bea88ae8787e5720c343d507c9ef856ebc357861 | quote: comes with an (incomplete implementation) of the API compatible with Nominatim - [3] 2026-11-02: the search system is a basic MapTiler-built service returning JSON | capture: sha256:5ea924c8431ef74ddd49cc94bea88ae8787e5720c343d507c9ef856ebc357861 | quote: The OSMNames open-source project provides raw place data in an easy-to-index form. The MapTiler team has developed a basic search system providing responses for queries in the form of structured JSON data. - [4] 2026-11-02: running the geocoding service means running a Docker container on a machine of the user | capture: sha256:501725ff7b3d4eebf6df7124748cd1b79fddb5eea790424857df71c8f78da291 | quote: The fastest way how to run the OSMNames geocoding service on your computer is to use Docker - [4] 2026-11-02: the Docker image is klokantech/osmnames-sphinxsearch | capture: sha256:501725ff7b3d4eebf6df7124748cd1b79fddb5eea790424857df71c8f78da291 | quote: docker run -d -p 80:80 klokantech/osmnames-sphinxsearch - [4] 2026-11-02: the search system is a Python Flask service on SphinxSearch | capture: sha256:501725ff7b3d4eebf6df7124748cd1b79fddb5eea790424857df71c8f78da291 | quote: The main search system is written in Python (Flask) and requires the search engine (SphinxSearch). - [4] 2026-11-02: a world index is large and slow to build once | capture: sha256:501725ff7b3d4eebf6df7124748cd1b79fddb5eea790424857df71c8f78da291 | quote: The generated indexes for the whole world are large (over 30GBytes) and time-consuming (about 45minutes) to create. - [5] 2026-11-02: the search system is open source and installable on a custom server free of charge | capture: sha256:0c8e4a9915f4cccf099106c35b08210ae013e6f2187d4842ee7ca9fca0a157aa | quote: The search system is available under an open-source license and can be easily installed on a custom server completely free of charge. - [2] 2026-11-02: the newest release holds OpenStreetMap data of 2022-11-25 | capture: sha256:3ffc0f1473b39500c36d7ed252b10f63b62dfe4210db721e8e7881bce410ee38 | quote: OpenStreetMap data of 2022-11-25. - [2] 2026-11-02: the newest release dump has no housenumbers | capture: sha256:3ffc0f1473b39500c36d7ed252b10f63b62dfe4210db721e8e7881bce410ee38 | quote: This dump does not contain any housenumbers - probe:https://github.com/OSMNames/OSMNames/releases/download/v2.0.4/planet-latest_geonames.tsv.gz 2026-11-02: a ranged read of the planet file answers HTTP 206 with no account | capture: sha256:9b10cf5f74c23f97982b12684d01d27ab9c248b33bc423cb858e8e4a2ed8871c | quote: "status": 206 - probe:https://github.com/OSMNames/OSMNames/releases/download/v2.0.4/planet-latest_geonames.tsv.gz 2026-11-02: the planet file is 1,437,702,497 bytes in total | capture: sha256:9b10cf5f74c23f97982b12684d01d27ab9c248b33bc423cb858e8e4a2ed8871c | quote: "content_range": "bytes 0-1023/1437702497" - sources: - [1] https://osmnames.org/download/ - [2] https://github.com/OSMNames/OSMNames/releases - [3] https://osmnames.org/api/ - [4] https://osmnames.org/docs/ - [5] https://osmnames.org/about/