SafeGraph

SafeGraph is a B2B geospatial data company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Reviewed by 7wData
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Publisher review

SafeGraph is a B2B geospatial data company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It provides point-of-interest (POI), building footprint, and aggregated mobility datasets covering over 40 million locations across 250+ countries, with the deepest coverage in North America and Western Europe. The company serves analytics teams, alternative data buyers, retail chains, real estate investors, and AI practitioners who need structured location intelligence for site selection, market analysis, and consumer behavior modeling.

SafeGraph's core strength is data accuracy over coverage breadth—the company verifies POIs as real, operating businesses before inclusion, which means fewer locations in the database but higher confidence in the ones present. The Geometry dataset provides precise building footprints useful for trade area analysis and square footage estimation. Mobility data (foot traffic patterns) is aggregated from mobile device panels and includes hourly visit counts and dwell times by location.

Distribution is flexible: direct API access, AWS Data Exchange, Databricks, Snowflake, and CARTO integrations. A key trade-off: SafeGraph's mobile panel skews toward younger and higher-income populations, which affects accuracy in diverse and aging markets. Coverage varies significantly by country (organized into four tiers), and many international markets have limited category depth.

Pricing is custom and opaque—no published tiers, all quotes require sales outreach. The company has remained independent and is used internally by Databricks as a case study for analytics workloads.

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How it works

  1. Places POI Dataset

    40M+ verified locations with consistent attributes (name, address, category, hours, open/closed status) updated monthly across 250+ countries.

  2. Geometry Building Footprints

    Precise polygon data for commercial buildings with spatial hierarchy metadata, enabling trade area calculations and site overlap analysis.

  3. Weekly Places Patterns Mobility Data

    Hourly visit counts and dwell time aggregates for ~4M US POIs, sourced from anonymized mobile device panels to track foot traffic trends.

  4. Delta Sharing Integration

    Real-time secure data exchange via open protocol, reducing access provisioning time from months to minutes for Databricks, Snowflake, and AWS customers.

  5. Data Quality Transparency

    Quarterly coverage and accuracy reports (Coverage Rate and Real Open Rate) with documented evaluation methodology, plus detailed changelog tracking attribute changes and Placekey updates.

  6. AWS Data Exchange Catalog

    20+ pre-packaged datasets available as published listings, including free samples and category-specific exports (e.g., gas stations, restaurants) for quick evaluation.

  7. Custom Sampling & Evaluation

    Free sample datasets by geography and category to validate data quality and coverage before committing to a purchase, with dedicated onboarding support.

Strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

  • POI data quality is the standout differentiator—curated for real, operating businesses rather than maximizing count.
  • Flexible delivery via AWS, Databricks, Snowflake, Delta Sharing, and direct API minimizes integration effort for data warehouses.
  • Transparent data evaluation published quarterly; coverage tiers and gaps are documented to set realistic expectations.

Trade-offs

  • Mobile panel demographics bias: underrepresents older adults and non-white populations, limiting accuracy in diverse/aging geographies.
  • Custom pricing with no published tiers or per-unit costs; all quotes require sales engagement, complicating budgeting and comparisons.
  • Coverage is highly uneven globally; most countries outside North America and Western Europe are Tier 3-4 with limited category depth and stale data.

Pricing context

SafeGraph operates a fully custom pricing model with no published tiers. Annual fees are based on four variables: number of POI rows purchased, premium attribute columns selected, usage rights granted, and delivery method. Pricing reportedly ranges from ~$0.10 per location for small samples to $30,000+ per year for comprehensive subscriptions, though these are not guardrails.

The company includes monthly updates, customer success management, and access to public documentation in all contracts. Free samples are available by geography and category to validate fit before purchase. All pricing requires direct sales contact; no self-serve options are available.

Getting started with SafeGraph

  1. Request a free sample

    Visit the SafeGraph website and fill out the sample request form. Select your target geography and category to receive a free dataset. This allows you to evaluate data quality and coverage before committing to a purchase.

  2. Connect via AWS Data Exchange

    Navigate to AWS Data Exchange and subscribe to a SafeGraph dataset. Use your AWS account to access pre-packaged listings, including free samples. This integration minimizes setup time and leverages existing cloud infrastructure.

  3. Configure delivery method

    Choose your preferred delivery method from options like direct API, Databricks, Snowflake, or Delta Sharing. Set up the connection by following SafeGraph's documentation. This step ensures data flows into your analytics environment with minimal friction.

  4. Load POI data into analysis

    Import the Places POI dataset into your data warehouse or GIS tool. Filter by attributes like category, location, or open status to focus on relevant points of interest. Use the geometry data for trade area analysis or site selection.

  5. Schedule regular updates

    Configure automated monthly updates for your subscribed datasets through your chosen platform. SafeGraph provides monthly refreshes with changelogs. This keeps your location intelligence current without manual intervention.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SafeGraph and what does it do?

SafeGraph is a B2B geospatial data company founded in 2016, headquartered in Denver. It provides point-of-interest, building footprint, and aggregated mobility datasets covering over 40 million locations across 250 countries, focusing on data accuracy over sheer volume.

How does SafeGraph pricing work?

SafeGraph uses a fully custom pricing model with no published tiers. Annual fees depend on the number of POI rows, premium attributes, usage rights, and delivery method. Prices reportedly range from about $0.10 per location for small samples to over $30,000 per year for comprehensive subscriptions.

What types of data does SafeGraph offer?

SafeGraph offers three main datasets: Places POI with 40 million verified locations, Geometry building footprints with precise polygons, and Weekly Places Patterns mobility data with hourly visit counts and dwell times for about 4 million US points of interest.

How accurate is SafeGraph's data?

SafeGraph prioritizes accuracy over coverage breadth by verifying each POI as a real, operating business before inclusion. It publishes quarterly coverage and accuracy reports with metrics like Coverage Rate and Real Open Rate, along with detailed changelogs for transparency.

What are the weaknesses of SafeGraph's mobility data?

SafeGraph's mobile panel skews toward younger and higher-income populations, underrepresenting older adults and non-white groups. This demographic bias limits accuracy in diverse and aging markets, making foot traffic patterns less reliable for those areas.

How can I access SafeGraph data?

SafeGraph provides flexible delivery options including direct API, AWS Data Exchange, Databricks, Snowflake, and Delta Sharing integration. Free sample datasets by geography and category are available to evaluate quality before purchase, but all pricing requires direct sales contact.

Alternatives

How SafeGraph compares

Direct head-to-head against 3 competitors. Picked by 7wData.

This tool

SafeGraph

Pricing
SafeGraph operates a fully custom pricing model with no published tiers. Annual fees are based on four variables: number of POI rows purchased, premium attribute columns selected, usage rights granted, and delivery method. Pricing reportedly ranges from ~$0.10 per location for small samples to $30,000+ per year for comprehensive subscriptions, though these are not guardrails. The company includes monthly updates, customer success management, and access to public documentation in all contracts. Free samples are available by geography and category to validate fit before purchase. All pricing requires direct sales contact; no self-serve options are available.
Target
SafeGraph is a B2B geospatial data company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Strength
POI data quality is the standout differentiator—curated for real, operating businesses rather than maximizing count.
Watch for
Mobile panel demographics bias: underrepresents older adults and non-white populations, limiting accuracy in diverse/aging geographies.

Foursquare

Pricing
Custom pricing, typically $0.005-$0.05 per API call
Target
Location-based marketing, foot traffic analytics, and enterprise POI data
Deployment
Cloud API, SDK, and data feeds
Strength
Foot traffic attribution and visit data from 100M+ opted-in users
Watch for
Pricing can escalate with high API call volumes; data coverage varies by region

FactSet

Pricing
Custom/Contact sales, typically $10,000+/year per user
Target
Financial analysts, investment firms, and corporate strategy teams
Deployment
Cloud and on-premise via terminal
Strength
Deep financial data integration with 200+ partner feeds
Watch for
High cost and steep learning curve; not focused on POI or location data

Here Technologies

Pricing
Custom/Contact sales, pay-per-use or subscription
Target
Automotive, logistics, and enterprise mapping applications
Deployment
Cloud API, SDK, and offline maps
Strength
High-precision mapping and real-time traffic data for 200+ countries
Watch for
Complex licensing and pricing tiers; less granular POI data than SafeGraph

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Sources

Reporting on this tool draws on these publicly available sources.

  1. www.safegraph.com — Company mission, focus on accurate global places dataset, process/technology/ML approach to data quality
  2. www.safegraph.com — Custom pricing model, no per-unit or tier-based rates, included support and monthly updates, free sample availability
  3. www.safegraph.com — Coverage tiers (Tier 1-4), geographic variation in data comprehensiveness, 40M+ POI scale
  4. www.safegraph.com — AWS Data Exchange partnership, Databricks integration, Delta Sharing adoption, Places and Geometry datasets
  5. www.databricks.com — SafeGraph as Databricks customer case study, use of Delta Lake and Apache Spark for data pipelines
  6. www.growthfactor.ai — Mobility data panel demographics bias (underrepresentation of older adults and non-white populations), hourly visit counts for ~4M US POIs, accuracy variability by geography
  7. www.safegraph.com — POI dataset attributes, use cases (consumer insights, risk assessment, urban planning, investment research), accuracy trade-offs vs. coverage breadth
  8. www.safegraph.com — SafeGraph positioning vs. Foursquare (geometry/building footprints vs. user-generated content), lack of consumer app data, Mapbox comparison