How to use openrouteservice?#

openrouteservice can be used via a web API. Take a look at the openrouteservice API playground to find out how to query openrouteservice.

… via the Web Client#

To give openrouteservice a try, check out our openrouteservice Web Client.

… via the API#

If you want to integrate openrouteservice into you project, you need to use the openrouteservice API. There are two options on how to query it.

1. Public API#

HeiGIT gGmbH provides a public, global API which is free to use for everyone within certain limits depending on your plan.

  1. Create an account at https://openrouteservice.org/.

  2. Generate an API key.

  3. Send queries to the public API including your API key.

2. Self-Hosting#

In the openrouteservice documentation you will find a detailed information on how to set up openrouteservice on your own machine.

… via Libraries and Plugins#

There are many libraries and plugins available for communicating with openrouteservice that make it easy for you to integrate calls to openrouteservice in your own code and analysis.

  • JavaScript -

  • R

  • Python

  • QGIS - Using the ors tools plugin available from the standard QGIS plugin repo

See also

No matter whether which option you choose, take a look at the openrouteservice Ecosystem to learn how to send queries to the openrouteservice API in the easiest way for you.