Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service • Hacker News Board

Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#1

Post by ajmichael » Mon, May 09, 2016, 4:16 PM UTC

Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service
pathfinder.readme.io

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#2

Post by eric-hanson » Mon, May 09, 2016, 4:26 PM UTC

Hey, I noticed that I need to sign into google to make an account. Does this require a google account?

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#3

Post by pbreit » Mon, May 09, 2016, 4:50 PM UTC

LOL, I thought this was going to be some sort Angular/React/Etc routing as a service thing!!

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#4

Post by [deleted] » Mon, May 09, 2016, 5:09 PM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #3

LOL, I thought this was going to be some sort Angular/React/Etc routing as a service thing!!

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#5

Post by CameronBanga » Mon, May 09, 2016, 5:14 PM UTC

I understand it's a beta, but no pages on pricing?

This would be an API I would build my business around. No way I would touch it without an idea of how much it will cost me once it exits beta.

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#6

Post by ajmichael » Mon, May 09, 2016, 5:40 PM UTC

CameronBanga wrote: post #5

I understand it's a beta, but no pages on pricing? This would be an API I would build my business around. No way I would touch it without an idea of how much it will cost me once it exits beta.

Hey Cameron,

I understand your concern. At this point, we have no plans to charge for Pathfinder. Furthermore, if you're concerned about future viability of the API, all of our code is MIT-licensed at https://github.com/csse497 so it can be self hosted.

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#7

Post by wc- » Mon, May 09, 2016, 5:42 PM UTC

ajmichael wrote: post #6

CameronBanga wrote: post #5

I understand it's a beta, but no pages on pricing? This would be an API I would build my business around. No way I would touch it without an idea of how much it will cost me once it exits beta.

Hey Cameron, I understand your concern. At this point, we have no plans to charge for Pathfinder. Furthermore, if you're concerned about future viability of the API, all of our code is MIT-licensed at https://github.com/csse497 so it can be self hosted.

What is your plan for long term profitability if you have no plans to charge for this? I am nervous building tech around a free service that may either transition to a deal-breaking price (google app engine) or may disappear entirely due to the business going under.

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#8

Post by ajmichael » Mon, May 09, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

eric-hanson wrote: post #2

Hey, I noticed that I need to sign into google to make an account. Does this require a google account?

Hi Eric,

At the moment, we only support Google SignIn for creating accounts. We will certainly support more options in the future, but up until now we've been spending most of our time building our routing and api servers.

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#9

Post by akeruu » Mon, May 09, 2016, 5:46 PM UTC

Genuine candid question : why use this when we have more established solutions like Graphhopper[0], the OSRM Project[1] or Open Trip Planner[2] among others ?

[0] https://graphhopper.com/

[1] http://project-osrm.org/

[2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenTripPlanner

Re: Show HN: Pathfinder – Routing as a service

#10

Post by spatialfiend » Mon, May 09, 2016, 5:50 PM UTC

I haven't dug around the code much but I assume this is using "As the Crow Flies" distances between points? I don't see any references to OSM or street network data.