OSRM Route Planner Scraper

Plan driving, cycling, and walking routes using the free OSRM (Open Source Routing Machine) public API. No API key, no proxy, no cost.

Features

• Route planning — get turn-by-turn directions between two or more coordinates with distance, duration, and step-by-step instructions
• Distance/time matrix — compute an N×M table of distances and travel times between multiple origins and destinations
• Nearest road lookup — snap any coordinate to the nearest routable road/path
• Three transport profiles — driving, cycling, walking
• Waypoints — add intermediate stops for multi-leg routes
• Direct URL mode — fetch any OSRM API URL directly via startUrls

Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	string (enum)	route, matrix, or nearest
profile	string (enum)	driving, cycling, or walking (default: driving)
startCoordinate	string	Start point as "lat,lon" (e.g. "51.5074,-0.1278")
endCoordinate	string	Destination as "lat,lon"
waypoints	string[]	Intermediate stops as "lat,lon" strings (route mode)
origins	string[]	Origin coordinates for matrix mode
destinations	string[]	Destination coordinates for matrix mode
startUrls	URL[]	Direct OSRM API URLs to fetch
maxItems	integer	Max records to emit (default: 100)

Output

Route record (recordType: "route")

{
  "recordType": "route",
  "sourceUrl": "http://router.project-osrm.org/route/v1/driving/...",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
  "profile": "driving",
  "startCoordinate": "51.5074,-0.1278",
  "endCoordinate": "48.8566,2.3522",
  "distanceMeters": 620363.4,
  "durationSeconds": 43265.6,
  "steps": [
    {
      "instruction": "depart",
      "name": "King Charles I Island",
      "distanceMeters": 21.0,
      "durationSeconds": 2.9,
      "mode": "driving"
    }
  ]
}

Matrix record (recordType: "matrix")

{
  "recordType": "matrix",
  "sourceUrl": "http://router.project-osrm.org/table/v1/driving/...",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
  "profile": "driving",
  "origins": ["51.5074,-0.1278"],
  "destinations": ["48.8566,2.3522"],
  "matrixCells": [
    {
      "origin": "51.5074,-0.1278",
      "destination": "48.8566,2.3522",
      "durationSeconds": 43265.6,
      "distanceMeters": 620363.4
    }
  ]
}

Nearest record (recordType: "nearest")

{
  "recordType": "nearest",
  "sourceUrl": "http://router.project-osrm.org/nearest/v1/driving/...",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
  "profile": "driving",
  "queryCoordinate": "51.5074,-0.1278",
  "nearestCoordinate": "51.507478,-0.127965",
  "nearestLatitude": 51.507478,
  "nearestLongitude": -0.127965,
  "nearestRoadName": "King Charles I Island",
  "distanceToRoadMeters": 14.37
}

Example Use Cases

• Logistics planning — compute travel times between a warehouse and multiple delivery addresses
• Route comparison — compare driving vs cycling distances for the same trip
• Geocoding fallback — snap coordinates to the nearest named road
• Distance matrix for TSP — feed matrix data into a Travelling Salesman solver

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this free to use? Yes. OSRM is an open-source project with a free public demo server. No API key or account required.

What coordinate format should I use? Enter coordinates as "lat,lon" strings, e.g. "51.5074,-0.1278" for London. The OSRM API internally uses lon,lat order — this actor handles the conversion automatically.

What is the coverage? Global — OSRM uses OpenStreetMap data, which covers the entire world.

How accurate are the routes? Routes are based on OpenStreetMap road data and are generally accurate for most roads worldwide. Rural and newly built roads may have limited coverage.

Can I plan routes with multiple stops? Yes — add intermediate coordinates to the waypoints field for multi-stop route planning.

What is the matrix mode? Matrix mode computes an N×M table of travel times and distances between all origin-destination pairs in a single API call — ideal for logistics and routing optimization.

Are there rate limits? The public OSRM demo server is a shared resource. This actor adds small delays between requests to be a good citizen. For high-volume use, consider running your own OSRM instance.

Data Source

router.project-osrm.org — free public OSRM routing API based on OpenStreetMap.