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Nominatim

A tool to search OpenStreetMap data by name and address (geocoding) and to generate synthetic addresses of OSM points (reverse geocoding).

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A tool to search OpenStreetMap data by name and address (geocoding) and to generate synthetic addresses of OSM points (reverse geocoding).

Platform availability

Available on 2 of 6 install platforms

  • Unraid
  • TrueNAS (not listed)
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox (not listed)
  • Helm

Also on Docker Hub and GitHub

Health score

70/100 Good

Maintained
100last commit 9 days ago
Popular
734,512 GitHub stars
Easy to install
452 install platforms, install notes, Docker image
Light to run
2032 GB minimum RAM, runs on ARM
How is this calculated?

A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

Availability: platform listings confirmed today, links checked 9 days ago

GitHub stars
4,512
Open issues
114
Last commit
2026-09-30
Latest release
v5.3.2
License
GPL-3.0
Activity
declining

Checked 3 days ago - source: GitHub (osm-search/Nominatim)

Resources & Compatibility

Minimum requirements: 32 GB RAM, 500 GB disk. ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is supported.

Checked 10 days ago - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

  • Make a project folder first Run mkdir ~/nominatim-project and then cd into it before setting up the rest of Nominatim. This folder is where Nominatim keeps its settings and data, so having one dedicated place makes backups and later updates less likely to break things. source
  • Load the map data you want After setup, run nominatim import --osm-file <data file> to load the OpenStreetMap data you want Nominatim to search. Without this import, the app has no locations, so address searches will not return useful results. source
  • Turn on the Nominatim service Run the listed systemctl commands to enable and start nominatim.socket (the network listener) and nominatim.service (the main program). This makes Nominatim answer requests and keeps it running automatically after a reboot. source
  • Docker configuration Review the image README for all supported container parameters before starting Nominatim. source

Fetched 3 days ago - each note links to its source

Alternatives (1)

  • sthan.io - sthan.io is a set of REST APIs for working with US addresses, made for developers and the teams they build for.

Checked 7 days ago - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

Do I need to load OpenStreetMap data after installing Nominatim?

Yes. Run nominatim import --osm-file with the desired OSM file; without an import, address searches will not return useful results.

How should I back up a Nominatim installation?

Keep Nominatim in a dedicated project folder, such as ~/nominatim-project. Back up that folder, because it holds the settings and data Nominatim uses.

How do I make Nominatim start automatically on Ubuntu?

Enable and start nominatim.socket, the network listener, and nominatim.service, the main program. This makes Nominatim answer requests and keeps it running automatically after a reboot.

Why can my web server not use Nominatim?

The web server user needs access to the Nominatim database. On default Ubuntu, that user is www-data.

Are there request limits on a self-hosted Nominatim instance?

The public server allows one request per second, and longer jobs are reduced to four requests per minute. Your own server has no limits.

Answers sourced from eohne.github.io, nominatim.org, nominatim.org, nominatim.org

Community

Collected 5 days ago - public community threads