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USPS webtools is expensive, and Google Maps doesn't have certain addresses. Are there any free or open-source solutions?

Matt
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ma11hew28
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  • What do you mean by "Google Maps doesn't have certain addresses"? I ask because we are building address verification/normalization into our software. We are initially using SmartyStreets because it's free for nonprofits, as @Jonathan Oliver says (and we are and serve these entities), but it only works for the US. I'd like to know if GoogleMaps geocoding would be an acceptable alternative for non-US addresses. – ceiroa Mar 07 '14 at 21:41

1 Answers1

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Depending upon the nature of your business, or if you're a non-profit or educational institution, there is one online provider that gives you free address verification: SmartyStreets. Up to this point, I've never seen another online provider offer their services for free.

UPDATE: SmartyStreets now has a free offering for any company of any kind, up to a certain amount of lookups per month.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm the founder of SmartyStreets. You're more than welcome to contact me personally with additional questions.

Jonathan Oliver
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    Actually, SmartyStreets' API is now free for anyone, not just non-profits. – Matt Jan 12 '12 at 19:36
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    The USPS API is free, but only for shipments being sent via premium services. – andyknas Jan 26 '12 at 00:31
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    UPDATE: SmartyStreets still offers our address validation service at no cost to any person or organization that signs up. However, the offer is limited to 250 free per month and 10,000 lookups for the first month. – Jeffrey Aug 28 '14 at 19:53
  • http://matchbox.io is free and the limit is 60 requests per minute, not per month. – Joel Dec 09 '15 at 22:42