Openstreetmap Poi Scraper

Scrape OpenStreetMap points of interest via the free Overpass API. Extract names, addresses, coordinates, opening hours, phone numbers, websites, and amenity types. No API key required.

Overview

This actor queries the Overpass API to extract POI data from OpenStreetMap, the world's largest open geodatabase. It geocodes area names using Nominatim and builds Overpass QL queries to retrieve amenity data. Since it uses open APIs, no authentication or proxies are needed.

Features

• Search POIs by area name (city, town, region)
• Filter by multiple amenity categories simultaneously
• Extract geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude) for mapping
• Get opening hours, phone numbers, and website data
• Access wheelchair accessibility and operator information
• Uses Nominatim geocoding for accurate area matching
• Built-in rate limiting to respect API guidelines
• No API key or proxy required - uses free open data APIs

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
area	string	"Dallas, TX"	City, town, or area name to search
categories	array	["restaurant", "hospital", "school"]	POI amenity categories to search
maxResults	integer	500	Maximum number of POIs to return

Output Format

Each result contains the following fields:

• name - POI name
• category - Amenity category searched
• address - Street address when available
• lat - Latitude coordinate
• lon - Longitude coordinate
• openingHours - Opening hours in OSM format
• phone - Phone number
• website - Website URL
• amenityType - OSM amenity tag value
• cuisine - Cuisine type for restaurants
• wheelchair - Wheelchair accessibility
• operator - Operating organization
• dataSource - Data source identifier
• apiEndpoint - API endpoint used
• scrapedAt - Timestamp of data extraction

Use Cases

Location analytics platforms can build POI databases for any city worldwide. Real estate developers can analyze neighborhood amenity density. Delivery services can map restaurants and stores. Healthcare researchers can study hospital and clinic distribution. Urban planners can evaluate public facility coverage.

Limitations

OpenStreetMap data completeness varies by region - major cities have better coverage. The Overpass API has rate limits of approximately one request per 10 seconds for heavy queries. Not all POIs have complete metadata (phone, hours, website). The actor includes built-in rate limiting to stay within API guidelines.

Cost

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing at $0.30 per 1,000 results. You only pay for the data you receive. See Apify pricing for platform compute costs.