About CityAPI
CityAPI is a free, no-auth REST API for cities, countries, airports, and geographic data. It exists because the good datasets are freely available but scattered across a dozen sources, and every other API that wraps them either charges for basic queries, requires a signup, or hides features behind RapidAPI.
The API is public, the data is open, and the infrastructure is small enough to run on one server. If it's useful, tell a friend.
Data sources
CityAPI is built on open data. Every source is credited below with its license and a link. Refresh cadence is monthly for cities, on-demand for everything else.
| Dataset | Source | License |
|---|---|---|
| Cities, alternate names, postal codes, timezones, admin1 | GeoNames | CC-BY 4.0 |
| Countries | mledoze/countries | ODbL-1.0 |
| Airports | OurAirports | Public Domain |
| Airlines | OpenFlights | ODbL |
| Currency codes | ISO 4217 | Public Domain |
| Language codes | ISO 639 | Public Domain |
| Timezones | IANA TZDB | Public Domain |
| Universities | Hipo/university-domains-list | MIT |
| Flag SVGs | lipis/flag-icons | MIT |
Attribution is a license obligation for CC-BY data, not decoration. If you build on CityAPI and redistribute the raw data, pass the attribution forward.
Who's behind this
CityAPI is built and run by BrotCode, a small Berlin software studio that builds custom systems for SMBs and Mittelstand companies. The infrastructure runs in the EU, jurisdiction is German, and the data stays where it's served.
CityAPI exists because the studio needed a clean geographic data source for client work and the open datasets deserved a free, no-auth front door. It's a side project of a consultancy, not a startup looking for traction. That's why there's no signup, no upsell, and no roadmap meeting.