What is Nominatim used for?

Nominatim is a geocoding tool that searches OpenStreetMap data by name and address and generates addresses for map points via reverse geocoding. It is a good fit for adding address search to a map app, converting coordinates to addresses and running a private geocoder.

Is Nominatim open source?

Yes. Nominatim is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at osm-search/Nominatim and is written mainly in Python.

Yes. Nominatim is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Nominatim?

Yes. Nominatim can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What are some alternatives to Nominatim?

Similar open-source tools in the Search category include Swirl, SearXNG and OpenSearch. SaaS products in the same category include Amazon OpenSearch Service, Azure AI Search and CarScout.

Is Nominatim actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Nominatim was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is v5.3.2, published on 19 April 2026. The project has 4.5k stars on GitHub.

Nominatim: open-source search

About Nominatim

Nominatim is a search engine for OpenStreetMap data. Given a name or an address it finds matching places, which is called geocoding, and given a location it produces a synthetic address for that point, called reverse geocoding. The name comes from the Latin for by name.

A public instance with up-to-date data runs at nominatim.openstreetmap.org, and Nominatim is one of the sources behind the search box on the OpenStreetMap home page. To run your own, you clone the repository, create a Python virtual environment, import an OSM data file and start the web server with uvicorn and falcon.

The Python code is available under GPL version 3 or later, the Lua configuration files for osm2pgsql use Apache-2.0 and all other files fall under GPLv2. Documentation for the development version is in the docs directory and published on nominatim.org, along with installation instructions and a troubleshooting FAQ.

Key features

Geocoding by name and address
Reverse geocoding to synthetic addresses
Built on OpenStreetMap data
Import from OSM data files
Python web server using uvicorn and falcon
Public instance available

Good fit for

→Adding address search to a map app
→Converting coordinates to addresses
→Running a private geocoder

Built with: Python
Tags: geocoding; openstreetmap; osm; reverse-geocoding; search; python; maps; address-search

Nominatim: questions and answers

What is Nominatim used for?: Nominatim is a geocoding tool that searches OpenStreetMap data by name and address and generates addresses for map points via reverse geocoding. It is a good fit for adding address search to a map app, converting coordinates to addresses and running a private geocoder.
Is Nominatim open source?: Yes. Nominatim is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at osm-search/Nominatim and is written mainly in Python.
Is Nominatim free?: Yes. Nominatim is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Nominatim?: Yes. Nominatim can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What are some alternatives to Nominatim?: Similar open-source tools in the Search category include Swirl, SearXNG and OpenSearch. SaaS products in the same category include Amazon OpenSearch Service, Azure AI Search and CarScout.
Is Nominatim actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Nominatim was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is v5.3.2, published on 19 April 2026. The project has 4.5k stars on GitHub.