Geonames vs Openrouteservice
A side-by-side look at the Geonames and Openrouteservice MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Geonames for location services work as a local process; choose Openrouteservice for location services as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Geonames when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Location Services domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_geonames, get_nearby, get_timezone.
Choose Openrouteservice when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Location Services domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
PLATFORM_ORS_KEY.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Location Services | Location Services |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 41/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | PLATFORM_ORS_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 4 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Geonames | View Openrouteservice |
Tools & capabilities
Geonames tools 4
search_geonamesSearch for places (cities, towns, landmarks, regions) by name and get which STATE / PROVINCE / COUNTY / PREFECTURE / administrative division (German Bundesland, UK county, Canadian province, Japanese prefecture, Indian/Australian/Mexican state, etc.) they are in, plus country, coordinates, populati…get_nearbyFind places near a given latitude/longitude. Returns nearby cities, landmarks, and features sorted by distance. Example: get_nearby(48.8566, 2.3522) for places near Paris.get_timezoneGet timezone information for a latitude/longitude location. Returns timezone ID, GMT offset, DST offset, current local time, sunrise, and sunset. Example: get_timezone(40.7128, -74.0060) for New York.find_postal_codesLook up postal/ZIP codes and places by each other. Pass "postal_code" (+ country) to find the place(s) a code maps to ("what city is ZIP 90210"); or pass "place" (+ country) to find the postal codes for a place name ("postal codes for Paris"). Returns place name, country, admin region (state/county…
Openrouteservice tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Geonames
{
"mcpServers": {
"geonames": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-geonames"
]
}
}
}
Openrouteservice
{
"mcpServers": {
"openrouteservice": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-openrouteservice"
],
"env": {
"PLATFORM_ORS_KEY": "YOUR_PLATFORM_ORS_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Geonames is categorized under Location Services and uses a local stdio subprocess. Openrouteservice belongs to Location Services and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Geonames for location services work and Openrouteservice for location services.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Geonames has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Openrouteservice has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add geonames and openrouteservice as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Geonames has a quality signal of 52/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Openrouteservice has 41/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.