Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap)

Find local businesses by category and city or area without scraping Google Maps. This Apify Actor uses the free, public OpenStreetMap Nominatim and Overpass services, needs no API key, and exports lead-friendly contact and location data.

What it does

1. Geocodes the requested location with Nominatim.
2. Maps common business categories to the correct OpenStreetMap tag.
3. Searches named nodes and ways inside the location boundary with Overpass.
4. Saves clean business records with addresses, coordinates, and available contact details.

Supported category shortcuts include restaurant, cafe, dentist, hotel, bar, pharmacy, gym, bakery, hairdresser, supermarket, doctor, lawyer, and car_repair. Other categories are tried as both an amenity and a shop tag.

Input

Field	Type	Required	Description
category	string	Yes	Business type, for example restaurant or dentist.
location	string	Yes	City or area, for example Austin, Texas.
maxResults	integer	No	Maximum records to save, from 1 to 200. Defaults to 50.

Example input:

{
  "category": "restaurant",
  "location": "Austin, Texas",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Output

Each named business is stored as one dataset item:

{
  "name": "Example Restaurant",
  "category": "restaurant",
  "address": "100 Congress Avenue, Austin, 78701",
  "street": "Congress Avenue",
  "city": "Austin",
  "postcode": "78701",
  "phone": "+1 512 555 0100",
  "website": "https://example.com",
  "email": null,
  "openingHours": "Mo-Su 11:00-22:00",
  "lat": 30.2672,
  "lon": -97.7431,
  "osmType": "node",
  "osmId": 123456789
}

OpenStreetMap coverage varies by location and business. Contact and address fields are null when contributors have not added them. Please use public contact data responsibly and follow applicable outreach laws.

How to use Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap)

1. Open Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) on Apify Store and click Try for free.
2. Fill in the input (the form is prefilled with a working example) and click Start.
3. Watch results appear in the Output tab, then download them as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read them through the API.
4. Optional: save the input as a task and add a schedule to run it automatically, or connect it to your tools with integrations and webhooks.

How much does Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) cost?

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing: you pay only for what it delivers, and platform usage is included.

Event	Price
Actor start	$5e-05 per run
Result (one dataset item)	$0.004 each ($4.00 per 1,000)

Set Maximum cost per run in the run options to cap your spend; the Actor stops when the limit is reached. Check the Pricing tab for current prices and plan discounts.

Use Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) with AI agents (MCP)

Give Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client this Actor as a tool through the hosted Apify MCP server. The agent sees the input fields with descriptions and example values, runs the Actor, and reads the results.

MCP server URL (this Actor only):

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=technicaldost/osm-local-business-finder

Claude Code:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=technicaldost/osm-local-business-finder" --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop and other clients (mcp.json or the client's MCP settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=technicaldost/osm-local-business-finder",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Clients that support sign-in (such as Claude.ai connectors) can use the URL without a token and log in to Apify instead. Get your token in Apify Console → Settings → API & Integrations, or generate a ready config for your client at mcp.apify.com. In the agent the tool is named technicaldost--osm-local-business-finder; ask it, for example, to "run Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) with {"category": "restaurant", "location": "Austin, Texas"}".

AI agents without an Apify account can also run and pay for this Actor per request with x402 agentic payments.

Run Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) via API

Run the Actor and get its results in one call (replace YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN):

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/technicaldost~osm-local-business-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"category": "restaurant", "location": "Austin, Texas"}'

Python (pip install apify-client):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("technicaldost/osm-local-business-finder").call(run_input={"category": "restaurant", "location": "Austin, Texas"})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

JavaScript / TypeScript (npm install apify-client):

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('technicaldost/osm-local-business-finder').call({"category": "restaurant", "location": "Austin, Texas"});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Long runs: start them with POST /v2/acts/technicaldost~osm-local-business-finder/runs and fetch the dataset when the run finishes, or receive a webhook.

Integrations

Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) works with Make, Zapier, n8n, LangChain, Google Sheets, Slack, GitHub and webhooks. Schedule runs in Apify Console and send new results straight to your apps, spreadsheets or AI pipelines.

Related Actors

• Public Business Directory Leads Extractor — Extract structured local business leads from public directories: name, address, phone, website, category and r
• Google Maps Business Scraper — Extract business listings with reviews, hours, photos, ratings, and geo as structured JSON from public busines
• Yelp Business & Review Scraper — Scrape Yelp business listings and reviews: name, category, address, phone, rating, review count and individual

FAQ

Can I use Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) with AI agents like Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes. Connect the Apify MCP server with ?tools=technicaldost/osm-local-business-finder (see above) and the agent can run the Actor and read its results on its own.

Can I call Local Business Finder (OpenStreetMap) from my own code?

Yes. Use the REST API, or the official Python and JavaScript clients shown above. Results are available as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML.

How do I run it on a schedule?

Save your input as a task in Apify Console and add a schedule (for example, daily). Use webhooks or integrations to send each run's results onward.

Is it legal to use this Actor?

It works with publicly available data. Make sure your use complies with the source website's terms and with data protection laws such as GDPR, especially for personal data.

Something doesn't work or I need a feature. What should I do?

Open an issue in the Issues tab on this Actor's page with an example input, and we'll look into it.