About Map With Radius
I'm an avid traveler who uses maps a lot. Map With Radius started because I wanted a fast, free way to draw a circle on a map — “what's within 5 miles of this hostel?”, “how far can I get from this Airbnb on foot?”, “which neighborhoods are within 20 minutes of the office?” — and every existing tool either wanted me to sign up, sold an API plan, or buried the feature behind a paywall.
So I built one. No account, no usage limits, no location tracking. It runs on OpenStreetMap and Leaflet, which means there are no Google Maps API fees to recoup from you. Whether you're a real estate agent comparing comps, a planner defining a delivery zone, a couple picking a wedding venue, or just someone curious about a 30-minute walk from home — these tools are yours, free.
What this site is and isn't
A few non-negotiables I held to when building it:
- Free with full functionality. No paywalls, no premium tiers, no feature gates. Every tool here is the full tool.
- No account, ever. You shouldn't need to hand over an email address to draw a circle on a map.
- Your location stays in your browser. If you click “Use My Location,” the GPS lookup happens locally. The coordinates never leave the page.
- Mobile-first. A surprising number of map tools online are still broken on phones. This one isn't.
- Built on open data. OpenStreetMap and Leaflet, not a paid Google or Mapbox API. That's what makes “free forever” sustainable.
Why I built this
For years, drawing a simple radius circle on a map meant either paying for expensive software, dealing with clunky 2010-era interfaces, or hitting API usage limits on tools that relied on paid map services. Most of the existing “free radius map” sites are built on Google Maps under the hood — which means they pay per-request fees and either show ads aggressively or limit usage.
The frustrating part: the underlying technology has been free and open-source for over a decade. Leaflet was first released in 2011. OpenStreetMap has full global coverage. Nobody had wrapped them in a clean, mobile-first tool that respects your time.
So that's what this is. A focused wrapper around open-source mapping that answers one question really well — “what's inside this circle?” — plus a few related ones (drive time, walking time, distance between two points, zip codes within a radius, geofence planning). I use it constantly when I travel. You should too.
Who actually uses these tools
Beyond travelers like me, the tool has found its way into a few specific communities. The deeper guides on use cases go into each in detail; here's the short version.
Real Estate Professionals
Agents and property developers use our radius tools to show clients what amenities, schools, and services are within a certain distance of a property. The drive time map helps illustrate commute possibilities.
Delivery & Logistics
Restaurants, retailers, and logistics companies use radius maps to define delivery zones, calculate service areas, and plan distribution coverage from warehouses.
Urban Planners & Researchers
City planners, academics, and researchers use our tools to analyze accessibility, study walkability, and visualize the reach of public services and infrastructure.
Sales & Marketing Teams
Territory mapping, market analysis, and identifying potential customers within a geographic radius are common use cases for sales and marketing professionals.
Event Organizers
Event planners use radius maps to understand venue accessibility, identify potential attendees within driving distance, and plan parking and transportation logistics.
Everyday People
Home buyers checking neighborhood walkability, job seekers evaluating commutes, parents finding activities near home, or anyone curious about what's nearby.
The tools
Each tool below answers a specific question. They share the same map engine, geocoder, and export formats, so muscle memory carries between them.
Our flagship tool. Draw one or multiple radius circles on any map. Customize the radius in miles, kilometers, meters, or feet. Drag to reposition, resize by dragging the edge, and export as PNG or KML. Perfect for visualizing coverage areas, delivery zones, and geographic reach.
See how far you can actually travel in a given time, accounting for real roads and traffic patterns. Unlike simple radius circles, drive time isochrones show realistic travel boundaries for driving, walking, or cycling.
Measure the straight-line (as-the-crow-flies) distance between any two points on Earth. Click two locations or enter addresses to get instant distance calculations in multiple units.
The same powerful radius tool with kilometers as the default unit. Designed for users in countries that use the metric system, with quick presets in common kilometer distances.
Find all ZIP codes within a specified radius of a location. Essential for direct mail campaigns, market research, and defining service areas based on postal codes.
Visualize how far you can walk or cycle from a location. Perfect for walkability analysis, urban planning, real estate listings, and finding what's accessible without a car.
Technology & Open Source
Map With Radius is built entirely on open-source technologies and open data. This approach ensures we're not dependent on expensive commercial APIs and can offer our tools for free indefinitely.
Our Technology Stack
- Map Rendering:Leaflet — A lightweight, open-source JavaScript library for interactive maps
- Map Data:OpenStreetMap — Free, editable map of the world built by a community of mappers
- Geocoding:Nominatim — OpenStreetMap's address search and reverse geocoding service
- Routing:OSRM /Valhalla — Open-source routing engines for drive time calculations
- Framework:Next.js — React framework for fast, SEO-friendly web applications
By choosing open-source alternatives to proprietary services like Google Maps API, we avoid per-request costs that would force us to implement usage limits or charge for access. This is why Map With Radius can remain completely free.
Accuracy & Limitations
While we strive for accuracy, it's important to understand the limitations of our tools:
- Radius circles are mathematically accurate but represent straight-line distance, not actual travel distance along roads.
- Drive time maps provide estimates based on typical conditions. Actual travel times vary with traffic, weather, and road conditions.
- Geocoding results depend on OpenStreetMap data quality, which varies by region. Some addresses may not be found or may be imprecisely located.
- Map data is contributed by volunteers and may contain errors or be outdated in some areas.
For critical applications (legal, safety, financial), always verify our results with authoritative sources. Our tools are designed for planning and visualization, not as a replacement for professional surveys or official data.
Our Privacy Commitment
Privacy is not an afterthought for us — it's a core design principle. Here's what makes Map With Radius different:
- No accounts: You never need to sign up, log in, or provide any personal information.
- No location tracking: When you use "My Location," your coordinates stay in your browser. We never see them.
- No advertising trackers: We don't use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any tracking cookies.
- Shareable links contain everything: When you share a map, the URL itself contains all the data. Nothing is stored on our servers.
Read our full Privacy Policy for complete details.
What's next
Some things on the rough roadmap, in no particular order:
- More export formats (GeoJSON, GPX, Shapefile)
- An embeddable widget for other sites
- Area and path-distance measurement
- Better international address coverage in the geocoder
- More city-specific landing pages — currently 12, headed for 30+
Have something you'd like to see? Let me know. I read every message.
Get in touch
Questions, bug reports, feature requests, or interesting use cases — all welcome. I read everything that comes in.
Email: contact@mapwithradius.com