01 · Product name
Bellingcat OpenStreetMap Search
OSM proximity search. The app asks you to sign in.
Published by Stichting Bellingcat.
In short
Bellingcat OpenStreetMap Search is the proximity search at osm-search.bellingcat.com. On 24 Oct 2026 the page said it queries public OpenStreetMap data and is an alternative to Overpass Turbo, then asked for a Google or email sign-in. The repository showed 213 stars on the page and in the API, SPDX MIT, and no releases. pushed_at was 2026-07-07. The README says a planet database needs about 700GB. No dollar price was printed. A sign-in wall is not a search result.
Product pricing strategy
02
Free
Bellingcat OpenStreetMap Search printed no dollar price on 24 Oct 2026. The signed-out page has no checkout. The GitHub API license field was MIT, the repository page said MIT license, and the LICENSE file is the MIT grant, copyright 2023 Stichting Bellingcat. Stars were 213 on the page and 213 in the API. There were no releases and the tag list was empty. pushed_at was 2026-07-07T16:07:07Z. The README’s 700GB figure is disk for a planet import, not a fee. Firebase and Mapbox are named as requirements for a self-hosted copy. Their prices are not printed in the README, so this listing does not invent them. Sign in with Google is an account gate, not a price.
Utility and features
03
The live page is titled Bellingcat OpenStreetMap search. It says the tool assists researchers and journalists with geolocation by querying public OpenStreetMap data, and that it is an alternative to more complicated interfaces such as Overpass Turbo. It says the tool is open to public use for journalism and education and that all use is audited against Bellingcat’s acceptable-use policy. The next lines are Please sign in to continue, Sign in with Google, and Sign in with email. This review did not sign in, so no feature pair was searched.
- Sign in before search. The page offers Google or email and says use is audited. No query was run from this review.
- MIT, 213 stars, no release. The page and the API both say 213. SPDX is MIT. pushed_at was 2026-07-07. The tag list was empty.
- Planet import is about 700GB. The README says that for the entire planet file. Firebase and Mapbox tokens are self-host requirements, with no prices printed.
The GitHub page showed Star 213, 14 forks, 0 tags, MIT license, and no releases list. The API returned stargazers_count 213, SPDX MIT, and pushed_at 2026-07-07T16:07:07Z. The LICENSE file is the MIT grant, copyright 2023 Stichting Bellingcat. The README says a hosted copy is at osm-search.bellingcat.com and that loading the entire planet file needs about 700GB. Self-hosting the API needs Postgres environment variables and a Firebase service account file named service_account.json. The frontend build needs a Mapbox token and Firebase keys that the README says will be publicly viewable. A 8 May 2023 Bellingcat article says the default maximum distance between features is 100 metres and tells the reader to sign up.
- 1
Do not describe a search result from a session that stopped at the sign-in form.
- 2
Quote MIT and 213 from both the page and the API. Leave the release list empty.
- 3
Keep the 100 metre default on the 8 May 2023 article. It was not on the signed-out page.
Caveats
04
The public page stops at a sign-in. Journalism and education are the page’s stated use, and the page says use is audited. This review did not create an account and did not run a proximity search, so there is no result count to quote. The 8 May 2023 article’s 100 metre default is that article’s slider. It was not visible on the signed-out page.
Overpass Turbo is the query IDE and did open without an account. This tool is the sign-in form plus a MIT repository. 213 stars agree on the page and in the API. The empty release list does not mean the site is unpublished. The site is the sign-in page. A cluster of OpenStreetMap tags is a place someone mapped. It can be wrong. The planet import’s 700GB note is the README’s disk estimate, not a statement that the hosted site stores that much where you can see it. No personal result was available to redact, because the search never ran.
Potential use cases
06
- The sign-in form is about to be described as a search result. On 24 Oct 2026 the page said it queries public OpenStreetMap data and is an alternative to Overpass Turbo, then asked for Google or email. This review did not sign in, so no feature pair was searched and no result count is quoted. Use is audited, in the page’s words.
- The 2023 article’s slider is about to be put on the signed-out page. The 8 May 2023 article says the default maximum distance is 100 metres. That slider was not visible before sign-in. Stars were 213 on the page and 213 in the API. SPDX was MIT. There were no releases. pushed_at was 2026-07-07.
- 700GB is about to be briefed as a fee or as the hosted site’s visible store. The README says loading the entire planet file needs about 700GB. Firebase and Mapbox tokens are self-host requirements, and the README prints no prices for them. A cluster of map tags, if a search were run, would still be a mapped place, not a verified address.
Hard cases
The case where the first result is easy to over-read.
The 100 metre default is called live
100 metres is the 8 May 2023 article’s default distance. The signed-out page on 24 Oct 2026 showed a Google and email sign-in and did not show that slider. Quoting 100 metres as the control on the page that loaded puts the article’s UI on a form that did not have it.
Questions
Is Bellingcat OpenStreetMap Search free?
The page printed no dollar price. The GitHub API license field was MIT. The search itself asks for a Google or email sign-in. No releases were published. Stars were 213 on the page and in the API.
How is this different from Overpass Turbo?
The signed-out page calls itself an alternative to Overpass Turbo. Overpass Turbo opened as a query editor without an account. This site stopped at sign-in, so no shared result was compared.
Citations
07
Titled sources. These public pages are what the quotes on this listing come from.
Product
Bellingcat OpenStreetMap search
https://osm-search.bellingcat.com/Documentation
bellingcat/osm-search
https://github.com/bellingcat/osm-searchDocumentation
Finding Geolocation Leads, 8 May 2023
https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/how-tos/2023/05/08/finding-geolocation-leads-with-bellingcats-openstreetmap-search-tool/