Google Places API pricing hit a breaking point in 2026. The basic "Essentials" tier starts at $275/month, and if you need contact details it's $400+. For indie developers, MVPs, and side projects, that's a non-starter.

I built BizData — a free REST API and MCP server that returns business data for any location worldwide. No API key. No signup. No rate limits (yet).

What It Does

Query any city + business category and get structured JSON back: name, address, phone, website, email, coordinates, opening hours. 37 business categories from restaurants to hospitals.

Example — find cafes in Paris:

GET https://bizdata-web.vercel.app/api/businesses?city=paris&category=cafe&limit=5

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Returns:

{ "businesses" : [ { "name" : "Café de Flore" , "address" : "172 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris" , "phone" : "+33 1 45 48 55 26" , "website" : "https://cafedeflore.fr" , "latitude" : 48.8540 , "longitude" : 2.3325 } ], "count" : 2309 , "city" : "paris" , "category" : "cafe"…