Yes: you can build a restaurant finder prototype without Google Maps or a direct API bill by using OpenStreetMap (OSM) restaurant data, MapLibre GL JS to render the map, and optionally Open-Meteo for weather. The important distinction is that free-to-use map data does not make public map tiles, geocoding, or weather services unlimited or suitable for every app. Treat $0 as a prototype target under each service’s terms—not a production-cost guarantee.
What you need—and what each part does
A map application is a collection of separate services. MapLibre draws the map interface; it does not provide restaurant data, tiles, address search, or directions. Choose each component for its specific job.
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| Component | Role in the finder | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| OpenStreetMap data | Provides community-mapped restaurant points and other geographic features. | Data is available under OSM’s open license, but restaurant coverage and freshness vary by location. No measured completeness or accuracy figures are established here. Review the OpenStreetMap copyright and licensing terms for your use. |
| Overpass API | Lets you query OSM nodes, ways, and relations by tags and geographic area. | It is query infrastructure, not an unlimited production database or bulk-export service. Keep prototype queries bounded and avoid repeated broad scans. |
| MapLibre GL JS | Renders an interactive web map and its data layers. | You must supply a map style and a source of map layers or tiles whose terms fit your project. |
| Tile provider | Supplies the visual map background used by the renderer. | OSM data and OSM Foundation public tiles are different things. The Foundation’s standard tile service has usage rules, limited capacity, and no service-level agreement. |
| Geocoder | Turns a typed address or place name into coordinates. | Public Nominatim is a limited geocoder, not a restaurant-search database or client-side autocomplete service. |
| Weather service | Adds forecast context for a coordinate, if it is useful to your product. | Open-Meteo’s free API is for non-commercial use and requires weather-data attribution. Commercial use needs a suitable commercial license or another properly licensed source. |
| Routing service | Calculates a route or directions between locations. | The components above do not automatically provide turn-by-turn directions. Choose a routing service separately if your product needs one. |
Start with a bounded restaurant query
For a small prototype, choose a modest test area and query restaurant-tagged OSM features within its bounding box. Overpass QL can select nodes, ways, and relations by tag and geographic bounds. This example returns the matching elements and their tags; ways and relations include a center coordinate in the output:
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[out:json][timeout:25];
(
nwr["amenity"="restaurant"](south,west,north,east);
);
out center tags;Replace the four named bounds with numeric coordinates for the area you want to test. Do not turn this into a recurring scan of large regions or use a public query instance as an export service. The public Overpass service is useful for bounded queries, not an unlimited production database.
Build a result list first, using only fields that are actually present in returned tags. OSM restaurant records may include a name, but other attributes can be absent or inconsistent. Do not assume every result has an address, opening hours, cuisine, or phone number. If a field is missing, omit it or display a clear “not listed” state rather than inventing a value.
Render results with MapLibre
Convert the query response into geographic features, then give those features to a map layer. For nodes, coordinates are in the element’s latitude and longitude fields; for ways and relations returned with out center, use the returned center. GeoJSON point coordinates use longitude first, then latitude.
function toRestaurantFeature(element) {
const point = element.type === "node"
? { lat: element.lat, lon: element.lon }
: element.center;
if (!point || point.lat == null || point.lon == null) return null;
return {
type: "Feature",
geometry: {
type: "Point",
coordinates: [point.lon, point.lat]
},
properties: {
id: `${element.type}/${element.id}`,
name: element.tags?.name ?? "Unnamed restaurant",
cuisine: element.tags?.cuisine ?? null
}
};
}
const features = elements
.map(toRestaurantFeature)
.filter(Boolean);
const restaurants = {
type: "FeatureCollection",
features
};Initialize MapLibre with a style from a source whose terms permit your use, then add the restaurant GeoJSON as a source and a symbol or circle layer. Keep the result list and map selection in sync: selecting a list item can center or highlight its feature, and selecting a marker can reveal the corresponding result. The style and tile source are separate from the restaurant GeoJSON; MapLibre does not supply either automatically.
Use public map tiles only within their policy
If you choose the OpenStreetMap Foundation’s standard raster tile service for a prototype, follow its Tile Usage Policy. The Foundation states: “OpenStreetMap data is free for everyone to use. Our tile servers are not.” Its policy requires clear “© OpenStreetMap contributors” attribution, valid identification, and compliant caching. If HTTP cache headers cannot be read, the policy requires at least seven days of tile caching. It prohibits prefetching and bulk tile downloads, and offers no SLA; availability is best-effort.
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Put attribution somewhere clearly visible on the map and ensure it remains visible at different screen sizes and in every relevant UI state. Do not download tiles in advance for offline use or try to build a local tile archive from the public service. A production app with growing traffic should evaluate a tile source with terms and capacity appropriate to that use, or consider operating its own service.
Add address search only if the finder needs it
If users can browse a fixed area or share their location, you may not need a geocoder at all. If you do add typed address or place search, use geocoding for that lookup—not to fetch restaurant records.
The OpenStreetMap Foundation’s public Nominatim Usage Policy sets an absolute maximum of one request per second per application. That is a ceiling, not a target for a growing app. The policy disallows client-side autocomplete and systematic querying to download points of interest. Make searches user-triggered, identify your application as required by the policy, cache appropriately, and keep combined traffic within the limit. Build the ability to switch providers rather than making your application depend on a public geocoder indefinitely.
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Open-Meteo can provide forecast context for the coordinates of a restaurant or search area. Keep the request focused on a small set of useful variables, such as current conditions or a relevant forecast, instead of fetching data the interface never displays. The API’s pricing page lists a free, non-commercial tier limited to 10,000 calls per day; it carries no uptime guarantee. The provider’s terms require weather-data attribution.
Best Value
Under Open-Meteo’s current terms, commercial use includes an app supported by advertising or subscriptions, as well as commercial products and promotional activity. If your finder falls into those categories, do not rely on the free endpoint: choose a commercial-use license or another source whose terms cover the product. Confirm the current pricing and terms when you make that decision, since service policies can change.
A practical prototype sequence
- Choose a small area. Define a bounding box and make a single, bounded restaurant query rather than repeatedly scanning broad regions.
- Make the results useful without extra data. Show a list and map markers from the returned records. Treat optional tags as optional, because their presence and freshness vary by place.
- Choose a style and tile source. Configure MapLibre with a source whose usage terms fit the prototype. If using OSM Foundation tiles, follow the Foundation’s attribution, identification, caching, and no-prefetch rules.
- Test the interaction. Check that selecting a result selects its marker, incomplete records render safely, and the map attribution remains visible on narrow screens.
- Add geocoding only for a real search need. Avoid autocomplete against public Nominatim, identify the application, cache, and observe the per-application rate limit.
- Add weather only if it answers a user question. Request the relevant coordinates and limited variables, display the required attribution, and verify that your app qualifies for the selected license.
- Reassess before launch or growth. Check expected traffic, service availability, licensing, caching, data updates, and whether you need a backend cache, self-hosted service, or commercial provider.
What “$0 in API costs” does—and does not—mean
A non-commercial prototype can avoid a direct API bill if it stays within the relevant public-service policies and uses Open-Meteo’s free tier only for eligible non-commercial use. That is not the same as having a cost-free production system. Public endpoints have limited capacity and no guaranteed availability; a service may block use that violates its policy. Open-Meteo reserves commercial use for an appropriate subscription or license. Hosting, support, and production provider costs depend on the architecture and traffic; no specific production budget is established here.
Before committing to any provider or self-hosted setup, compare commercial-use rights, geographic coverage, request limits, availability commitments, attribution and data-license duties, caching and update expectations, whether tiles/search/routing are included, and expected cost at your projected usage. OSM data can be used under its open license, but the exact obligations for a particular product depend on how it uses and distributes the data; this article does not establish jurisdiction-specific legal advice.
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