How to reverse geocode without Google?

Question

Are there any web services (paid or free) out there besides the Google Maps API which allow you to reverse geocode?

My particular application will have access to a latitude and longitude and I need to be able to get the US Zip Code or State.

The reason I can't use Google is that the Terms of Service seems to indicate that if you use Google Maps API, you need to use the data to display a Google map.

I am using C# .Net framework in case that's relevant.

Answer 1

Try this, you should find happiness :p http://www.geonames.org/export/reverse-geocoding.html

Answer 2

Geonames can give you either a placename:

http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPlaceName?lat=40.65&lng=-73.78

or a zip code:

http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPostalCodes?lat=40.65&lng=-73.78

It's free as long as you credit them and you need fewer than 15000 lookups per day. You can pay if you need more.

Answer 3

I am not a fan of MS. But check this out: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff859477.aspx

RESTful Location Service API does not seem to post any restriction.

You can user Find Location By Point API: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff701710.aspx

I tried out the sample for geoNames, the result is not good enough for me as I need county information, and the response time is slow.