Isochrone API
Visualize reachable areas by travel time or distance with multi-contour polygons
See everywhere you can reach in 5, 10, or 15 minutes on a map.
How it works
Pick a center point
Any coordinate — your office, a store, a warehouse.
Plaza generates polygons
Travel-time contours following the actual road network.
Get reachable areas
Multi-contour GeoJSON polygons with denoising.
See it in action
A real API request, visualized.
Who uses this
Teams building with Isochrone API.
Site selection
Compare locations by how many customers each can serve.
Delivery zones
Define and visualize delivery coverage areas by drive time.
Real estate
Show commute-time boundaries for property listings.
What you can build
Example apps powered by Isochrone API.
Coverage Analyzer
Visualize how many customers each warehouse can reach.
Commute Calculator
Show commute-time zones around office locations.
Emergency Response
Map response-time coverage from fire and EMS stations.
Start building
curl "https://plaza.fyi/api/v1/isochrone?lat=38.9&lng=-77.03&time=900"
View endpoints
| Method | Path | Description |
|---|---|---|
| GET | /api/v1/isochrone | Generate isochrone polygons for travel time or distance contours |
How it compares
Common questions
What are isochrones used for?
Delivery zone mapping ("what can we reach in 30 minutes?"), real estate analysis ("what's within a 15-minute commute?"), site selection ("which location covers the most customers?"), and service area visualization.
What's the difference between time and distance isochrones?
Time isochrones show areas reachable within X minutes of travel. Distance isochrones show areas within X meters. Both follow the actual road network, not straight-line distance.
How does denoising work?
The denoise parameter (0.0 to 1.0) removes small islands and holes from the polygon. 1.0 gives the smoothest result. The generalize parameter controls polygon simplification separately.
Does Google offer isochrones?
No. Google doesn't have a standalone isochrone endpoint. Mapbox charges $2/1K. Plaza includes isochrones on every plan as a premium endpoint at $1.50/1K.
Do isochrones support traffic?
Yes. Pass the depart_at parameter to generate isochrones that account for traffic conditions at a specific departure time.