GeoDB Cities vs GeoSearch

GeoDB Cities and GeoSearch answer the same question — which places match this name, and what do we know about them — and deliver the answer differently. GeoSearch serves every tier from one origin with one header: no RapidAPI proxy on paid plans, the full dataset on the free tier, and one JSON envelope with cursor pagination on every endpoint. The table below compares the two honestly.

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Feature comparison

	GeoDB Cities	GeoSearch
Hosting	Free host direct; paid tiers through the RapidAPI proxy	Direct, one origin
Authentication	None on free; `X-RapidAPI-Key` + `x-RapidAPI-Host` on paid	`X-API-Key` on every tier
API style	REST and GraphQL	REST
Free tier	86,400 req/day, 1 req/s, 10 results per page, population ≥ 40,000, monthly refresh	5,000 requests/month, 2 req/s, full dataset
Pagination	`offset` / `limit`	Cursor-based, `next_cursor` / `has_next`
Beyond cities	Cities, regions, countries	+ postal codes, timezones, IP geolocation, boundary GeoJSON
Self-hosting	Yes — $200/month Docker licence	Hosted only
Paid plans	$20–$120/month (REST and GraphQL priced separately)	$29 / $99 / $299 per month

Last verified 2026-09-05 against the GeoDB Cities documentation.

When GeoDB Cities is the right choice

You want volume without an account. The free tier serves 86,400 requests a day with no signup and no API key — GeoSearch Free is 5,000 requests a month and needs a key.
You prefer GraphQL. GeoDB Cities offers it as a first-class API on every tier; GeoSearch does not offer GraphQL at all.
Your data must stay inside the network. The self-hosted Docker option at $200/month runs the whole API on your own hardware; GeoSearch is hosted only.

When GeoSearch is the better fit

No proxy: paid tiers hit one origin with one X-API-Key header, instead of routing through RapidAPI with two.
The full dataset on the free tier — no population ≥ 40,000 floor — and pages larger than 10 results.
Cursor pagination that stays stable while data changes underneath it, instead of offset / limit.
Postal codes, timezones, IP geolocation and boundary polygons in the same envelope as cities, regions and countries.

Migrating from GeoDB Cities

The calls below show the free host, the RapidAPI-proxied paid host, and the pagination model — each beside the one GeoSearch call that replaces all three.

GeoDB Cities free host — curl

# no auth at all; 1 req/s, max 10 results
curl "http://geodb-free-service.wirefreethought.com\
/v1/geo/cities?namePrefix=San%20Fran&limit=5"

GeoSearch — curl, then Python

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://geosearch.dev/v1/cities\
?name=San+Fran&limit=5"

# pip install git+https://github.com/geosearch-dev/geosearch-python.git
import os
import geosearch

configuration = geosearch.Configuration(
    host="https://geosearch.dev")
configuration.api_key['apiKeyAuth'] = \
    os.environ["GEOSEARCH_API_KEY"]

with geosearch.ApiClient(configuration) as api_client:
    api = geosearch.CitiesApi(api_client)
    page = api.list_cities(name="San Fran",
        limit=5)

GeoDB Cities paid host — curl

# paid tiers route through the RapidAPI
# proxy and carry two headers
curl "https://wft-geo-db.p.rapidapi.com\
/v1/geo/cities?namePrefix=San%20Fran&limit=5" \
  -H 'X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'x-RapidAPI-Host: wft-geo-db.p.rapidapi.com'

GeoSearch — curl, then Python

# the same call on every tier - one
# origin, one header, free or paid
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://geosearch.dev/v1/cities\
?name=San+Fran&limit=5"

api = geosearch.CitiesApi(api_client)
page = api.list_cities(name="San Fran", limit=5)

GeoDB Cities pagination — curl, then the envelope

# offset/limit; the envelope carries links
curl "http://geodb-free-service.wirefreethought.com\
/v1/geo/cities?namePrefix=San%20Fran\
&offset=0&limit=5"

{"links":[{"rel":"next",
  "href":"/v1/geo/cities?offset=5&limit=5..."}],
 "data":[...],
 "metadata":{"currentOffset":0,"totalCount":19}}

GeoSearch — curl, then Python

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://geosearch.dev/v1/cities\
?name=San+Fran&limit=5"
# next page: send meta.next_cursor back
# as ?cursor= - the cursor stays stable
# while data changes underneath it

page = api.list_cities(name="San Fran", limit=5)
# page.meta.next_cursor, page.meta.has_next

Common questions

Is GeoSearch a drop-in replacement for GeoDB Cities?

No. The envelope is different and so is the pagination — GeoDB returns links, data and metadata with offset paging; GeoSearch returns data and meta with a cursor. The section above shows how the calls map.

Do you offer GraphQL?

No, REST only. If your stack is built around GraphQL, GeoDB Cities is the better fit — that is the honest answer, and it is the same one the table above gives.

Do I need a credit card for the free tier?

No. The free tier is 5,000 requests a month with no card and no trial clock — sign up with an email address and you get a key.

Try it on your own queries

The free tier has every endpoint — search your own city, reverse-geocode your own coordinates, and read the response envelope yourself.

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