# I built a free AI-powered relocation tool comparing 95 countries and 668 cities — here's how I did it

> Source: <https://dev.to/vachmivibe/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-relocation-tool-comparing-95-countries-and-668-cities-heres-how-i-did-1g9j>
> Published: 2026-06-21 07:07:45+00:00

##
The Problem

I was researching international relocation and found the existing

tools deeply frustrating:

- Numbeo is the gold standard but costs $260/month for API access
- Most comparison sites cover 20–30 countries at best
- Nothing gives you a personalised recommendation based on YOUR
priorities

##
What I Built

Placemappr (placemappr.com) is a free relocation research platform:

- 95 countries with composite relocation scores
- 668 cities with weather, air quality and quality of life data
- AI-powered 6-question quiz matching you to your top countries
- Currency and live exchange rates
- Political stability ratings with context (World Bank WGI data)
- Government type, languages spoken, major religions per country
- Blog with data-driven expat guides

Everything is free. No paywalls.

##
Tech Stack

- Next.js 15 + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS v4
- Supabase (PostgreSQL + Auth)
- Groq API for AI matching (free tier — llama-3.3-70b-versatile)
- Vercel for hosting
- Open-Meteo for air quality (free, no API key needed)
- OpenWeatherMap for city weather

Total infrastructure cost: $0/month

##
Data Sources

- Country scores: WhereNext (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank, WHO, OECD data)
- Cities: SimpleMaps free database (668 cities, population > 1M)
- Political stability: World Bank WGI with disclaimer explaining
the index measures physical security perception not democratic
strength
- Exchange rates: ExchangeRate-API (free tier)

##
Interesting Technical Challenges

**Token limits with Groq:** Sending all 95 countries to the LLM

exceeded the 12,000 token/minute free tier limit. Solution:

pre-filter to 25 most relevant countries based on budget and

region before sending to Groq. Dropped from ~12,500 to ~3,000

tokens per request.

**City data without Teleport:** The popular Teleport API is now

defunct. Derived city quality scores from country-level data

with population-tier adjustments instead.

**REST Countries API redirects:** Returns 301 redirects that

Node.js doesn't follow by default. Replaced with a hardcoded

currency map for all 95 countries — more reliable anyway.

##
Revenue Plan

Currently $0. Planning:

- Google AdSense (high CPC finance/relocation category)
- Affiliate links (Wise, SafetyWing, NordVPN)
- Premium tier (detailed reports, cost alerts)

##
Current Status

- Live at placemappr.com
- 23/766 pages indexed by Google so far (new domain)
- Working on backlinks and content to speed up indexing

##
What I'd Love Feedback On

- What data would make you actually use this for a relocation
decision?
- Is the AI quiz useful or gimmicky?
- What countries or cities are missing that matter to you?

Happy to answer any questions about the tech stack or data!