Using ArcGIS Geocoding Service in QGIS?

Question

Is there a way to use an ArcGIS Geocoding Server with QGIS?

I recently lost access to my ArcMap License, so an alternative would be very helpful.

The service in question would be: https://tnmap.tn.gov/arcgis/rest/services/LOCATORS

My overall goal would be to use this like I would use it in Arcmap. i.e. setting an accuracy threshold, and feeding it a list of addresses and receiving the associated points.

I'm not partial to QGIS if there is another free alternative to make use of the geocoding service. I would prefer a GUI, but if there is a decent guide to a python script or something similar that could work too.

Edit: As mentioned above, I must be able to use the service linked above. The reason is that this service has the most accurate addresses for Tennessee, and has limits that can accommodate my needs (up to 250,000 addresses).

Answer 1

The MMQGIS plugin now has an option (added in June 2019) to geocode addresses using an ESRI GeocodeServer.

Install the MMQGIS plugin in QGIS. Then, from the MMQGIS menu, select "Geocode CSV with Web Service". (You may need to export your addresses to CSV first.)

The server URL should end with "GeocodeServer/findAddressCandidates".

More details about the plugin here: http://michaelminn.com/linux/mmqgis/

Answer 2

I was wondering about this in my old job since I would only use ArcGIS to perform geocoding, but I preferred to use QGIS to do everything else. I decided to build a Python script that can geocode a CSV file using an ArcGIS locator.

My geocoder is specific to Delaware, but in the geocode.py file, you should be able to change the JSON URL to the appropriate URL for the Tennessee geocoder.

The link to my geocoder is here: http://gis.ianpeters.org/geocoDE.html

I wrote this a few weeks ago and this is my first time "distributing" it. Feel free to use/adjust it as you please.