Outgrew the OSRM demo server? Same API, production-ready

What the Demo Server Is For

router.project-osrm.org is the OSRM project's public demo, and it's a generous thing to have: worldwide car, foot and bike routing with no signup. It's there so people can try OSRM out, not to sit behind an application. The project's usage policy keeps it to reasonable, non-commercial use at no more than one request per second, and it comes with no promises about uptime, latency or how fresh the map data is.

That's fine for a prototype or a weekend project. Once you're building something commercial, need more than a request a second, or can't afford to go down when the demo does, you need an OSRM of your own. You can self-host it on a large server, or use a hosted one.

Migration: Change the Base URL, Add a Header

Paths, query parameters and responses are the standard OSRM v1 API. Only the host and the auth header change.

# Before
curl "https://router.project-osrm.org/route/v1/driving/-73.9935,40.7506;-73.7781,40.6413?overview=full"

# After
curl "https://api.simplerouting.io/osrm/route/v1/driving/-73.9935,40.7506;-73.7781,40.6413?overview=full" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

The same change in JavaScript:

// Before
const BASE = "https://router.project-osrm.org";
const res = await fetch(BASE + "/route/v1/driving/-73.9935,40.7506;-73.7781,40.6413?overview=full");

// After
const BASE = "https://api.simplerouting.io/osrm";
const res = await fetch(BASE + "/route/v1/driving/-73.9935,40.7506;-73.7781,40.6413?overview=full", {
  headers: { Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" },
});

Using a Client Library?

routingpy

Pass the base URL and the header to the OSRM router. Everything else stays as it is.

from routingpy.routers import OSRM

client = OSRM(
    base_url="https://api.simplerouting.io/osrm",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
route = client.directions(
    locations=[[-73.9935, 40.7506], [-73.7781, 40.6413]],
    profile="driving",
)
print(route.duration, route.distance)

Try It: Live Route Demo

# Get directions from Penn Station to JFK Airport
curl "https://api.simplerouting.io/osrm/route/v1/driving/-73.9935,40.7506;-73.7781,40.6413?overview=full" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer 988b35cc-6183-4922-bbc0-857e1a1d318d"

This is a live demo with a real API key (feel free to steal it).

Not for you if…

• You need live traffic. Travel times come from OpenStreetMap road data and speed profiles, not real-time or historical traffic.
• You route outside North America and Europe. That's the coverage today. More regions get added on demand — email us.
• You need an enterprise SLA. This is a small operation: no uptime contract, no account manager, no procurement paperwork.