Radius Map Tool — Draw Multi-Ring Distance Circles
Draw concentric distance rings from any point — click, type coordinates, or search. Auto or fully custom ring radii, km / mi / nm, highlight contours, shareable link. Free, no signup.
How to Draw a Radius on the Map
Set your center point
Click anywhere on the map, type coordinates, search for an address, or use your current location. The center pin appears immediately.
Auto rings, or take full control
Leave it on Auto and clean ring steps are chosen for you as you zoom. Open Advanced and switch to Manual to set the step, the number of rings, the highlight interval, or paste your own radii list. Switch between km, miles, and nautical miles anytime.
Share or export
Copy the share link — it carries every setting (center, units, custom radii) so anyone opening it sees the exact same map. Or download a PNG for slides, reports, or posts.
Multi-Ring Mode — See Distance at a Glance
Most radius tools draw a single circle. This one draws many concentric rings at once, so distance reads at a glance like a target. Borrowing topographic-map conventions, every Nth ring is an "index contour" — bolder, brand-colored, labeled — while the rings between stay light and dashed. Auto mode picks clean steps for the current zoom; Manual mode lets you set the ring count, the step, or paste a fully custom radii list (e.g. 25, 60, 150, 400) — a depth of control few competitors match.
Ring radii (km)
Your list, rendered exactly — in km, mi, or nm.
Auto Mode & Custom Ring Radii
Used as a radius map calculator or just to draw a circle on a map, Auto mode keeps things effortless — clean, whole-number ring steps are chosen from the map zoom so you never see ugly values. Need precision? Open Advanced, switch to Manual, and either dial in step and ring count, or paste an exact list of radii — for example 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. The list is the source of truth: rings render exactly where you ask, in your chosen unit. Custom multi-ring radii is something most radius-map tools simply don’t offer.
Four Ways to Set Your Center Point
Click Anywhere on the Map
The fastest way. Click any spot on the world map and rings appear instantly around it. Useful when you want to explore — for example, "what's within 500 km of this random point in central Africa?"
Enter GPS Coordinates
Paste in decimal degrees (DD format), like 40.7128, -74.0060 for New York City. Useful when you already have precise coordinates from another source — a GPX file, a research dataset, or another mapping tool.
Search by Address or Place
Type a city, address, landmark, or country. Results are powered by OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service. Select a match and the center snaps to that location.
Use My Current Location
One tap on the location pin and the center jumps to where you are (with your permission). The fastest way to answer "what is within X of me?" — works from any of the other tabs too.
What You Can Do with a Radius Map
Find Cities and Places Within a Radius
Planning a trip and wondering "what's within a 2-hour drive of my hotel?" or "which cities are within 500 km of Berlin?" Drop the center on your starting point, set the rings, and visually identify candidate destinations. Pair with a city directory for a full list.
Service Area & Delivery Radius Map
Use a radius map to define a delivery radius, service area, or coverage area in seconds. Draw a 25 km delivery radius around a warehouse or a 5 mile service-area radius around a store, then share the link with your team. The same buffer-zone view works for franchise territories and catchment planning.
Visualize Commute and Travel Range
Relocating and considering where to live? Drop the center on your future office and draw rings at 5, 10, 15, 20 km — every neighborhood within that proximity zone becomes immediately visible. Note: this measures straight-line distance, not road distance — see the comparison section below.
Game Helper for Geography Games
Games like Worldle, Globle, GeoGuessr, and SatZoom give you distance hints. Drop a guess on the map, draw a ring at the hinted distance, and the answer is somewhere on that ring. Combine two or more guesses to triangulate. For full triangulation, see the City Triangulation tool.
Understanding the Distance Rings
How Accurate Are the Distance Rings?
Every ring is drawn as a true geodesic circle — a set of points equidistant from the center along the Earth's curved surface, calculated using the great-circle (haversine) formula with Earth's mean radius of 6,371 km. On the Mercator projection used by most web maps, geodesic circles look like ovals at high latitudes (near the poles) — that's not a bug, that's geometry. The distances are accurate; the visual distortion comes from flattening a sphere onto a screen.
Radius Map vs Drive Time Map
A radius map shows straight-line distance — "as the crow flies" — equal in all directions. A drive-time map shows the area actually reachable in a given time, following roads, accounting for traffic and terrain. Radius maps are faster, simpler, and free of API costs. Drive-time maps are more accurate for real-world travel planning but typically require paid services and only work in well-mapped road networks. For most planning, decision-making, and visualization tasks, a radius map is the right tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this tool really free?
Yes. No signup, no credit card, no usage limits. It runs entirely in your browser using open-source map tiles from OpenFreeMap.
Why does my circle look like an oval?
On a flat (Mercator) map, geodesic circles appear stretched at high latitudes. The distances are still accurate — it is the map projection distorting the visual, not a calculation error.
How many rings can I draw, and how is the spacing chosen?
In Auto mode the tool picks a clean, whole-number step from the map zoom and draws a full set of concentric rings automatically. In Manual mode you control the step and ring count yourself (up to 50 rings), or paste an exact radii list.
Can I set my own exact ring distances?
Yes — this is a standout feature. Open Advanced, switch to Manual, and paste a comma-separated list like 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. Those radii render exactly, in your chosen unit. Most radius-map tools only allow one fixed step; arbitrary custom multi-ring radii is rare.
What is the difference between Auto and Manual mode?
Auto keeps it effortless: clean ring steps are chosen for you from the zoom level, so numbers always stay tidy. Manual unlocks full control — set the step, the ring count, the highlight interval, or define every radius by hand. Your settings persist when you move the center point.
Can I share a specific map setup with someone?
Yes. Click Share, then Copy Link. The URL encodes all your settings — center, units, ring step, count, and any custom radii — so anyone opening it sees exactly your map.
What formats can I export to?
You can export the current map as a high-resolution PNG image — ready for slides, reports, or social posts. GeoJSON and other data formats are on the roadmap; if you need a specific format now, contact us via the suggestion form on the homepage and we will prioritize it.
How do I draw a 5 mile radius from my location?
Switch the unit to miles, tap the location pin to drop the center on your position, then set the step to 5 with one ring (or paste 5 into the custom radii box). You get an exact 5-mile-radius circle around where you are — the same flow works for a 10 km radius map or any distance.
Can I use this as a delivery or service area radius map?
Yes. Set the center on your store or depot, choose a distance, and the ring is your delivery radius / service area / coverage area. Add multiple rings for tiered zones (e.g. free delivery vs. surcharge), then copy the share link so your team sees the same buffer-zone map.