Left · the labs.llc tool
RX, side by side
141,701 doctors' practices from an open map: the labs.llc register against two booking platforms and the US government's provider register.
Right · set against
- Zocdoc
A US marketplace to find doctors by specialty, insurance and location and book online.
page checked 2026-09-27 20:06 UTC - Doctolib
A European platform for booking in-person and video appointments.
page checked 2026-09-27 20:06 UTC - NPPES NPI Registry
The US register of National Provider Identifiers, with a free JSON API.
page checked 2026-09-27 20:05 UTC
1 · The tool
What it is, and who it is for
Finding a doctor abroad, or in a country whose booking apps you do not use, can be hard. RX on labs.llc searches every doctor's practice mapped in OpenStreetMap across Europe and the Americas: 141,701 practices in 69 countries and 31,268 cities, by city, postcode, specialty or name, in Spanish, Portuguese or English. It tells you a practice exists and how to reach it.
It is for people looking for a doctor in a particular city, including travellers and people living abroad.
2 · The workings
How it works
Search runs in the browser (doctors/rx.js): the page loads a summary file, then only the country files for the region you pick. Separately, place.php renders country and city pages on the server for search engines, counting every figure from the data when the page is requested. The register is extracted from OpenStreetMap at build time; this edition is dated 2026-09-04.
- OpenStreetMap objects tagged amenity=doctors or healthcare=doctor (ODbL), extracted into per-country files
Where the work happens: Mostly your browserSearch and filtering in the page; the server renders city and country pages for search engines.
3 · The test
What we ran, and what came back
Run against a local copy of labs.llc build 537, byte-identical to the live site. Times are UTC.
| What we did | When (UTC) | What came back |
|---|---|---|
| Register totals | 2026-09-27 20:02:02 | 141,701 practices, 69 countries, 31,268 cities; 54,802 with a phone, 62,352 with a postcode, 40,173 with opening hours; 25 specialty classes. Largest: Germany 39,110, United States 16,567, France 13,301. |
| Data sizes on the local copy | 2026-09-27 20:02:02 | Page 32,614 bytes; summary file 592,841 bytes; Germany 9,823,770 bytes; Mexico 199,103 bytes, all uncompressed. |
| US depth, one city | 2026-09-27 20:05:15 | RX lists 29 practices in Milwaukee, none classed as cardiology. The NPI Registry API returned its 200-result limit for cardiovascular-disease providers there. The units differ, practices against individual providers, but the gap is plain. |
4 · Side by side
Row by row against Zocdoc, Doctolib, NPPES NPI Registry
2 to labs.llc3 elsewhere1 level
01Booking an appointment
Not possible. RX gives the practice's phone, website and hours as mapped.
Evidence: rx.js phone, web and hours keysZocdoc shows real-time availability and books day or night.
Doctolib books in-person and video consultations around the clock, with reminders.
If you need an appointment, the booking platforms do the job RX does not attempt.
02Depth where the others work
16,567 US practices in all; 29 in Milwaukee, none classed cardiology.
Evidence: meta.json; Milwaukee test at 20:05:15 UTCNPI Registry is authoritative and near-complete for US providers, with licence taxonomy codes and a free API.
Doctolib reports 900,000 healthcare professionals in France, Germany and Italy, per its App Store listing.
Inside their home countries, the comparators are far deeper.
03Reach
69 countries from one search box: 25 in Latin America, the US and Canada, and 42 in Europe, in three languages.
Evidence: meta.json; rx.js about textZocdoc and the NPI Registry cover the US.
Doctolib lists France, Germany and Italy.
Of the four, on the pages we read, only RX spans Latin America, North America and Europe from one search box.
04Searching the way people type
Tolerates accents, word beginnings (“cardio” finds Cardiology), a one-letter typo and postcodes, and spots country, state and city names in the phrase. Specialties come from the map tag and from words in the practice's name, such as pediatría or Kinderarzt.
Evidence: rx.js lines 52, 265-266Zocdoc searches by condition, procedure or specialty with insurance and location.
NPI Registry is searched by fields such as taxonomy, city and state.
RX goes further on messy, multilingual input; Zocdoc's insurance filter is something RX lacks.
05Who decides what is listed
Nobody pays to be listed or ranked; a missing field stays missing; every entry links to “Fix on OSM” so corrections go back to the open map.
Evidence: rx.js line 49 and footer stringsZocdoc shows verified reviews it collects from previous patients.
An open register anyone can correct, against a curated marketplace with reviews. Different kinds of trust.
06How current it is
A snapshot built on 2026-09-04; fixes made on the map arrive in the next edition.
Evidence: meta.json built dateZocdoc pulls availability in real time.
NPI Registry answers live through its API.
The comparators are live; RX is a dated edition.
5 · The shortcomings
Where it falls short
- No booking, availability, insurance or reviews.
- Only as complete as OpenStreetMap: 29 practices in Milwaukee against the NPI Registry's 200-result ceiling for one specialty.
- A snapshot dated 2026-09-04, not live.
- Hospitals, clinics and dentists carry other map tags and are left out, per its own about text.
- Big countries mean big downloads: the Germany file is 9.8 MB uncompressed.
6 · The verdict
Which side, for which job
Left: labs.llc RX
Pick RX when you need to know which practices exist in a city, anywhere from Bogotá to Berlin, searched in your own words, with nothing paid for placement.
Right: elsewhere
Pick Zocdoc or Doctolib to book, and the NPI Registry to check a US provider against the official record.
The widest and most open search in this comparison, and the shallowest where the others are strong. A directory, not a booking service.
Try RX on labs.llc