Can you recommend the mapping API for commercial use?

Question

The requirements that I have in connection with the ability to print routes between many nodes are to be able to request distances between nodes for the best possible route calculation and display custom icons on maps.

It is important to have a source of matching that is accurate with respect to roads and streets.

I researched open street maps, but I'm afraid it might not be entirely accurate. Any suggestion from a commercial library / API would be appreciated (if it is intuitive and doesn't block you in functionality)

I started using the Google Maps API to investigate. I would use the final application internally and be paid (so that means that if I use Google maps, I would pay for their commercial license, which is quite a large amount. And I only need maps for selected areas, starting in Northern Europe)

It would be nice to have a map API that can be easily integrated into a Spring-MVC-based system (therefore, a JavaScript or Java-based API)

Answer 1

We used CloudMade for our latest map-based application. Their data was obtained from OpenStreetMap, but we were impressed by the quality of the maps. OSM is a moving target as maps are constantly updated, but always for the better.

CloudMade offers a commercial service on top of this data (i.e. SLA, support, etc.). A small company longing to please. Makes an updated change from working with Google and Bing, which are too big to leave. They are constantly adding new features and are happy to change their implementation priorities when we ask for them.

Services include a javascript API, as well as a geocoder and a simple static map web service, all of which we use from our Spring application.

Answer 2

The Bing Maps platform (formerly Microsoft Virtual Earth) should be cheaper than Google maps for commercial use, can print routes between nodes, support distance calculation and provide a JS API.

Answer 3

Maybe you should talk with Drawlive . I used only the API to determine the distance, but they also have a mapping and route creation. The integration for determining the distance is done through SOAP, and I used Axis to generate the client. Bing Maps, as suggested before me, could also be an option: one of my customers chose them because the entry fee was much lower than Google Maps.