agentbeacon

Comparisons · Local business data APIs · read on October 15, 2026

AgentBeacon vs Apple Maps Server API for AI agents

Apple Maps Server API is Apple's REST API for geocoding, place and POI search, autocomplete, directions and ETAs, using Apple Maps data. AgentBeacon is built on beacons, each a few plain words about what someone has or needs right now, live while they renew it. Each result is one, with the employer’s Apply link for a hiring beacon or an address to message a business’s through AgentBeacon. It needs no key.

The short answer

  • Apple Maps Server API: Apps already in the Apple ecosystem that show results on an Apple map and fit within the free daily quota.
  • AgentBeacon: Giving an agent a job to apply for or a home-service business to message, with no key.

AgentBeacon covers far less today: jobs in Austin, Texas, and remote, and businesses in and around Austin. Where it has what the agent is looking for, it is free and needs no sign-up.

Apple Maps Server API and AgentBeacon, side by side

Apple Maps Server APIAgentBeacon
SearchesPlaces and points of interest by name or criteria, with POI category include/exclude filters and country limits.Hiring beacons from employers’ own job boards (Austin, Texas, and remote) and home-service businesses around Austin
ReturnsJSON Place objects with name, formatted and structured address, coordinate, country code, display map region and a Place ID.Plain Markdown, one beacon per result: its own words, quoted, when it was updated, until when it’s open, and where it was seeded from. Typed JSON on request.
Before the first callAn Apple Developer account with a Maps ID and private key, which you use to sign JWTs. The API is governed by the Apple Developer Program License Agreement (the program costs 99 USD a year).One empty request to /v1/connect, which returns a token. No account, email or card.
FreeUp to 25,000 service calls a day per team, shared between the Apple Maps Server API and MapKit JS.Free: 600 finds a minute and 20,000 a day for each connected agent
PaidNot stated on its pagesFree for agents
Acting on a resultThe Place object documentation lists no phone or website field. There is no way to message a business through the API.A hiring beacon has the employer’s Apply link; every other beacon is messaged through AgentBeacon, and the business replies there. A business that hasn’t taken over the beacon AgentBeacon seeded for it isn’t told, so a message to it waits 30 days.
Limits on keeping or showing resultsMap Data may be cached or stored only on a temporary, limited basis. When Map Data is shown on a map it must be an Apple map, and surfaced results must show the corresponding Apple map. Building a substitute service is not allowed.Agents read beacons and message them; the terms say reading one doesn’t give the right to reuse it freely.
AI in its termsNot stated on its pagesBuilt for AI agents. An agent may act only with its owner’s permission, and the terms don’t let AgentBeacon train AI models on what businesses write.
CoverageApple says the service may not be available in all countries, regions or languages.Hiring in Austin, Texas, and remote; home services around Austin, for now
MCP serverNo official server listedhttps://api.agentbeacon.sh/mcp/search, with no sign-in

Try AgentBeacon

Connect, then find:

curl https://api.agentbeacon.sh/v1/connect \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary '{}'
curl -G https://api.agentbeacon.sh/v1/beacons \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AGENTBEACON_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "q=plumber near Austin, TX"

Or let the JavaScript client connect for you. The Python client, agentbeacon-sdk, works the same way.

npm install @agentbeacon/sdk

import { find } from "@agentbeacon/sdk";
console.log(await find("plumber near Austin, TX"));

Agent apps that take MCP servers can add https://api.agentbeacon.sh/mcp/search, which needs no sign-in. The local businesses docs have the full code, every parameter and each line of the answer.

One result, as it read on October 15, 2026:

## Wilson Plumbing, plumber in Austin, TX 78751
> Wilson Plumbing, plumber in Austin, TX 78751.
Expires Nov 7, 18:00 CST · Updated yesterday
Location: 30.2672, -97.7431, sent yesterday
Verification (agentbeacon.sh): Seeded by AgentBeacon from public data: Meta via Overture Maps, CDLA-Permissive-2.0. Read again each month. Its business isn’t on AgentBeacon yet: a message waits 30 days for it to join.
Link: https://agentbeacon.sh/beacon/c705c92b-8d0d-4b03-8bbb-aa9442843ec5

What AgentBeacon doesn’t do yet

  • Jobs come from the job boards of a growing list of companies, in Austin and remote.
  • Businesses are in Austin, Texas, for now.
  • It shows no phone numbers or websites: a business is reached by messaging its beacon through AgentBeacon.

Questions people ask

What do I need before I can use AgentBeacon?

One empty request to /v1/connect, which returns a token. No account, email or card.

Is AgentBeacon free?

Free: 600 finds a minute and 20,000 a day for each connected agent.

What do I need before I can use Apple Maps Server API?

An Apple Developer account with a Maps ID and private key, which you use to sign JWTs. The API is governed by the Apple Developer Program License Agreement (the program costs 99 USD a year).

Is Apple Maps Server API free?

Up to 25,000 service calls a day per team, shared between the Apple Maps Server API and MapKit JS.

Sources

Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.

Apple Maps Server API, read on October 15, 2026: