Geocoding guides and tutorials

Practical, sourced guides. Drafts under review carry [À VÉRIFIER] marks where a claim still needs confirming before launch.

Choose and compare

• BAN vs a commercial geocoding API: when the national address base is enough

  The French national address base (BAN) is free and good for many needs. When it is enough, when a commercial API adds value, and how to decide for your data.

• Google Geocoding API alternative: migrate to Addrova in one line

  Looking for a Google Geocoding API alternative? Addrova is EU-hosted, lets you store results, and offers a Google-compatible mode: change the base URL.

• Nominatim alternative: when the public API rate limit stops you

  The public Nominatim server limits heavy use. Switch to Addrova's Nominatim-compatible endpoints by changing the base URL, and keep the results.

• Free geocoding APIs compared: what the free tiers really allow

  Free tiers of geocoding APIs side by side, with limits, storage rules and sources, read on 18 October 2026. Includes Addrova's own free tier.

• Reverse geocoding API: what to compare before you choose

  How to compare reverse geocoding APIs: precision levels, distance, rate limits, storage rules and cost. Includes how Addrova's reverse endpoint answers.

• Google Geocoding API cost: how much would you pay in 2026?

  How the Google Geocoding API bills by volume tier, worked examples from 50,000 to 5 million requests a month, and the same volumes at Addrova's prices.

• Can you store Google geocoding results? What the terms really allow (and the legal alternative)

  Google limits how long you may cache geocoding coordinates. Here is what its terms say, what you can keep, and how to store addresses permanently.

• How to choose a geocoding API: a checklist of ten questions

  Ten questions to ask any geocoding provider before you commit: data source, storage rights, where data is processed, logs, accuracy evidence, pricing, exit path.

Privacy and compliance

• GDPR and geocoding: is sending customer addresses to a geocoding API a problem?

  Addresses are personal data. What the GDPR asks when you send customer addresses to a geocoding provider, and what Addrova's zero-log claims do and do not cover.

• GDPR-compliant geocoding API: what to check, and what Addrova claims

  A checklist to choose a GDPR-compliant geocoding API: data location, logging, retention, reuse, DPA. And the claims Addrova makes, each tied to a test.

For developers

• Geocode addresses in Python: pandas, 100,000 rows, and repairing typos with a confidence score

  Geocode a pandas DataFrame of up to 100,000 addresses with the Addrova batch API, review low-confidence rows, and repair typos with a confidence score. Working code.

• Geocode an address in JavaScript and Node.js: fetch, retries and a small queue

  Geocode addresses from Node 18+ or a browser with plain fetch: read the result fields, retry on rate limits, geocode a list with a small queue. Working code.

• Geocoding precision levels: rooftop, street, centroid and locality explained

  What the precision field of a geocoding result means, why a hamlet or a PO box is not a rooftop point, and how to use precision in your own rules. Working code.

• How to choose a confidence threshold for geocoding results

  A confidence score only helps if you pick the threshold on purpose. How to read confidence, calibration and levels, and set a cut-off from your own sample.

• Batch geocoding with webhooks and idempotency keys: retries without double billing

  Submit a batch file safely: retry with an Idempotency-Key, get a webhook when the job ends, and verify its Standard Webhooks signature. Working code.

• Reverse geocoding in Python: from coordinates to an address, with a distance check

  Turn a latitude and longitude into an address with the Addrova reverse endpoint, read the distance and precision, and reject points too far from any address.

Files, spreadsheets and coordinates

• Batch geocode a CSV online: free tier, GDPR-friendly

  Geocode a CSV of addresses with a single API call: Addrova batch endpoint, input file deleted after processing, results you can store. EU processing to be confirmed.

• Geocode addresses in Google Sheets with an API

  Add a GEOCODE function to Google Sheets with Apps Script and the Addrova API: code, key storage, quotas and what to do about messy addresses.

• Geocode addresses from Excel: two ways, one with no code

  Geocode a column of addresses from Excel: export to CSV and use a batch geocoder, or call the Addrova API from Power Query. Steps, code and cautions.

• Convert Lambert 93 to GPS (WGS84): formula, tools and code

  Convert Lambert 93 (EPSG:2154) coordinates to GPS latitude and longitude (WGS84), with a free in-browser tool, Python and JavaScript code, and the datum caveat.

Addresses and data

• European address formats: postcodes, house numbers and the traps in each country

  How addresses are written in France, the Netherlands, Spain, Czechia, Austria, Luxembourg and Poland: postcodes, house-number order, PO boxes, parser traps.

• Open address data in Europe: which licence needs which attribution

  Official address registers are open, but their licences differ: Licence Ouverte, CC0, CC BY, ODbL. What each requires when you store or display geocoded addresses.