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  "path": "/vachmivibe/i-built-a-free-ai-powered-relocation-tool-comparing-95-countries-and-668-cities-heres-how-i-did-1g9j",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-21T07:07:45.000Z",
  "site": "https://dev.to",
  "tags": [
    "ai",
    "showdev",
    "sideprojects",
    "webdev"
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  "textContent": "##  The Problem\n\nI was researching international relocation and found the existing\ntools deeply frustrating:\n\n  * Numbeo is the gold standard but costs $260/month for API access\n  * Most comparison sites cover 20–30 countries at best\n  * Nothing gives you a personalised recommendation based on YOUR priorities\n\n\n\n##  What I Built\n\nPlacemappr (placemappr.com) is a free relocation research platform:\n\n  * 95 countries with composite relocation scores\n  * 668 cities with weather, air quality and quality of life data\n  * AI-powered 6-question quiz matching you to your top countries\n  * Currency and live exchange rates\n  * Political stability ratings with context (World Bank WGI data)\n  * Government type, languages spoken, major religions per country\n  * Blog with data-driven expat guides\n\n\n\nEverything is free. No paywalls.\n\n##  Tech Stack\n\n  * Next.js 15 + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS v4\n  * Supabase (PostgreSQL + Auth)\n  * Groq API for AI matching (free tier — llama-3.3-70b-versatile)\n  * Vercel for hosting\n  * Open-Meteo for air quality (free, no API key needed)\n  * OpenWeatherMap for city weather\n\n\n\nTotal infrastructure cost: $0/month\n\n##  Data Sources\n\n  * Country scores: WhereNext (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank, WHO, OECD data)\n  * Cities: SimpleMaps free database (668 cities, population > 1M)\n  * Political stability: World Bank WGI with disclaimer explaining the index measures physical security perception not democratic strength\n  * Exchange rates: ExchangeRate-API (free tier)\n\n\n\n##  Interesting Technical Challenges\n\n**Token limits with Groq:** Sending all 95 countries to the LLM\nexceeded the 12,000 token/minute free tier limit. Solution:\npre-filter to 25 most relevant countries based on budget and\nregion before sending to Groq. Dropped from ~12,500 to ~3,000\ntokens per request.\n\n**City data without Teleport:** The popular Teleport API is now\ndefunct. Derived city quality scores from country-level data\nwith population-tier adjustments instead.\n\n**REST Countries API redirects:** Returns 301 redirects that\nNode.js doesn't follow by default. Replaced with a hardcoded\ncurrency map for all 95 countries — more reliable anyway.\n\n##  Revenue Plan\n\nCurrently $0. Planning:\n\n  1. Google AdSense (high CPC finance/relocation category)\n  2. Affiliate links (Wise, SafetyWing, NordVPN)\n  3. Premium tier (detailed reports, cost alerts)\n\n\n\n##  Current Status\n\n  * Live at placemappr.com\n  * 23/766 pages indexed by Google so far (new domain)\n  * Working on backlinks and content to speed up indexing\n\n\n\n##  What I'd Love Feedback On\n\n  * What data would make you actually use this for a relocation decision?\n  * Is the AI quiz useful or gimmicky?\n  * What countries or cities are missing that matter to you?\n\n\n\nHappy to answer any questions about the tech stack or data!",
  "title": "I built a free AI-powered relocation tool comparing 95 countries and 668 cities — here's how I did it"
}