Isochrone API
Show the area reachable within a travel time, with up to 10 contours per request
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
An example request and its response, drawn on the map.
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 -X POST "https://plaza.fyi/api/v1/isochrone" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"geometry": {
"coordinates": [
-77.03,
38.9
],
"type": "Point"
},
"time": 900
}'
View endpoints
| Method | Path | Description |
|---|---|---|
| POST | /api/v1/isochrone | Isochrone polygons for one or more travel times |
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.
Can I use a distance instead of a time?
Yes. Send contours_meters instead of time (PlazaQL: distance:) and you get the area within that many metres of road, up to 100 km. It still follows the road network, so one-way streets and access rules count. Speed and traffic don't.
How does denoising work?
With several times in one request, denoise (0 to 100) drops contours smaller than denoise x 1,000 square metres, and generalize (0 to 1,000) simplifies each outline.
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. Add depart_at and road isochrones use that hour's traffic profile, so a 15-minute drive at 8am covers less ground than one at 3am. For transit isochrones depart_at picks the timetable instead. Without it, road speeds are free-flow.