Difference between SimpleGeo and GeoAPI
With the increasing need for location APIs in today's business environment, several companies have risen up to feed the demand. Among some of the companies keenest to grab a piece of this market are SimpleGeo and GeoAPI, both of which are each other’s closest competitors. What to these companies have to offer over the competition? This comparison article aims to show you.
Profile
SimpleGeo is a company started up via a $1.5 million angel fund from a number of prominent Silicon Valley investors. The company offers a variety of go-to geolocation database resources intended for use by location-aware applications.
GeoAPI is a set of services that allow developers to generate location services quickly and easily. Among the services the company offers are Tweet annotations to FourSquare-style check-in apps.
Features
SimpleGeo is currently freely available to all developers, with an API call ceiling of one million calls a month. The service includes a back-end dashboard for use by developers and a building data visualization of API usage right from the dashboard. All of these services are bundled with SimpleGeo at no cost.
GeoAPI for its part features a reverse geocoder, a database of more than 16 million businesses and thousands of points of interest, a layer that allows developers to perform annotation tasks and complex geo-queries, and location-enabled media layers for Twitter and Flickr among others. More recently, the company has also introduced an iPhone SDK, which is expected to facilitate the development of new mobile applications.
Comparison
With GeoAPI, users can get an API key in as little as 5 minutes of making a request. The service also provides users with an extensive list of points of interest in the United States. This allows users to develop place-aware applications without having to worry about location issues. GeoAPI also offers an API that scales traffic, excellent technical support services, and engineers that are on-call all the time.
With SimpleGeo on the other hand, users may have to wait as long as two months in order to get an API key. The service also does not provide POI data at present. While plans are underway to provide these services in the future, it will likely come with an extra charge.
This last omission is particularly significant, since it basically gives GeoAPI the edge in terms of geo application development. Although SimpleGeo does offer a number of features that allow users to index and search data spatially, the lack of a comprehensive POI database makes it a bit harder to get around.
Similarities and Differences
SimpleGeo
- Offers a variety of go-to geolocation database resources intended for use by location-aware applications
- Started up via a $1.5 million angel fund from Silicon Valley investors
GeoAPI
- A set of services that allow developers to generate location services quickly and easily
- Features a reverse geocoder, a database of millions of businesses and thousands of points of interest
- Provides developers with a layer that allows annotation tasks and complex geo-queries
