Google Maps Platform is a powerful solution, but it comes with a hefty price tag. We've developed this guide to help you consider equally good but more affordable alternatives.

In this article, we'll highlight the true cost of Google Maps APIs to help you decide if it's worth it for your business case. We'll also tell you more about Radar's all-in-one location solution and why it might be a better, more cost-effective alternative for your next project.

Key takeaways

• The Google Maps Platform pricing model means you can easily end up paying more than expected.
• Cost overruns usually come from exceeding the relatively low number of free requests, and a higher fee per 1,000 requests.
• Teams looking to incorporate geocoding or places data can reduce costs significantly by using Radar Maps Platform instead.

Why some teams choose the Google Maps API

Google Maps Platform is a dominant player in the mapping solutions space, offering comprehensive maps, street views, satellite imagery, and real-time traffic data. Its wide range of mapping data, search, and navigation functionalities make it a popular choice for developers.

Since 2010, Google Maps services have had a long-term impact on navigation, providing technological advancements that facilitate real-time traffic updates, route planning, and more. However, the pricing model for Google Maps APIs can be complex, and there are certain usage and licensing restrictions to consider.

Google Maps divides its APIs into three groups: Maps, Routes, and Places:

Maps	Dynamic maps, static maps, street view, and elevations
Routes	Directions and distances from one point to another
Places	Geocoding, geolocation, address validation, and time zones

Google Maps API pricing explained

The Google Maps Platform pricing model means you might find yourself paying more than anticipated after the initial $200 credit is exhausted.

The cost of using Google Maps APIs wasn't always so challenging. Before its pricing update in 2018, Google offered a generous free usage tier. Developers were able to make up to 25,000 maploads per day without incurring any fees. For many startups and small businesses, this was enough to power their mapping needs without having to pay for the service.

However, Google introduced a pay-as-you-go pricing model for its APIs and changed the way that certain products and features are billed.

You get $200 in monthly credit for API calls. When this amount is used up, your account will be automatically charged. Should you exceed the request rate limits of any API, the API will return an error message, and your access to the platform may be blocked.

Google Maps API pricing model

This model ensures that you only pay for the services you actually use, making it a solid option for those with varying levels of API usage. However, the costs become prohibitively expensive once you exceed their usage limits.

Google Maps API pricing plans

Google Maps API offers several pricing plans tailored to meet the diverse needs of businesses:

• Standard plan: Ideal for small businesses or startups, this plan provides a limited number of free API calls per day. Once the free quota is exhausted, additional calls are charged at a standard rate.
• Premium plan: Designed for growing businesses, the Premium Plan offers a higher number of free API calls per day. Additional calls beyond the free quota are charged at a lower rate compared to the Standard Plan, making it more cost-effective for higher usage.
• Enterprise plan: This plan caters to large organizations with extensive mapping needs. It offers customized pricing based on the specific requirements of the business, ensuring that large-scale operations can manage costs effectively.

What changed after Google's pricing update

• Google’s free tier was reduced from 25,000 maploads per day to 28,500 maploads per month.
• Dynamic Maps costs $7 for every 1,000 additional maploads.
• The use of Google Maps APIs and SDKs requires a valid API key linked to a Google Cloud Platform billing account.
• All customers are required to provide billing information and pay for any usage beyond the free quota. Certain API calls can incur charges, adding to the overall cost.
• If you exceed daily API usage limits the API will fail.

The cost of using Google Maps APIs

Google's pay-as-you-go pricing structure charges customers based on the specific features they use. The platform's SDKs and APIs are each priced individually based on usage per month, with pricing ranging from $2 to $30 per 1,000 requests.

If you're a low-volume business looking for the flexibility of browsing numerous features and only paying for what you need, then Google Maps pricing model might work for you. However, as you grow and scale your operations, you’ll notice costs can quickly skyrocket. Just use Google’s interactive pricing calculator to see for yourself. For Maps, the pricing is as follows:

Product	Pricing
Static maps	$2 per 1,000 requests
Dynamic maps	$7 per 1,000 requests
Static street view	$7 per 1,000 requests
Dynamic street view	$14 per 1,000 requests

How Google Maps APIs are billed

Billing for Google Maps APIs is based on the type of request made, with each request classified into a specific SKU. The cost is calculated according to the pricing tier of that SKU. For instance, retrieving map tiles, directions, or places information each falls under different SKUs with distinct pricing. Billing is conducted on a monthly basis, and charges are based on the actual usage of the API.

Google Maps API usage limits and restrictions

Google Maps API enforces usage limits and restrictions to ensure fair usage and prevent abuse. These include:

• Daily quotas: Limits on the number of API calls that can be made each day.
• Rate limits: Restrictions on the number of API calls that can be made per second.
• Usage limits: Caps on the total number of API calls that can be made per month.
• Content restrictions: Guidelines on the type of content that can be retrieved using the API.

Adhering to these limits and restrictions is crucial to avoid service disruptions or additional costs. The difficulty understanding and complying with these guidelines is one of the many reasons why companies choose Radar as their maps platform of choice.

Radar Maps Platform vs. Google Maps Platform cost comparison

If you're looking for affordable Google Maps alternatives, Radar might be the best solution for your business. Radar pricing is free for up to 100,000 API requests per month, and only $0.50 for every additional 1,000 calls.

Not only are we more affordable than Google Maps APIs, we also offer better value for your money. Radar supports geocoding, search, and distance APIs with high-quality address and place data. We're also a full-stack platform for location tracking and geofencing, with support for unlimited geofences, polygon geofences, place detection, and more.

An affordable alternative to Google Maps APIs

For businesses with high usage levels, Radar's free limits and cheaper pricing can result in significant cost savings. For example, a business with 1 million monthly active users could expect to pay 90% less for Radar's APIs than Google's.

Here's a side-by-side pricing comparison of Radar's API vs. Google Maps:

Feature	Radar	Google Maps
Free geocoding requests per month	100,000	40,000 (based on $200 credit)
Geocoding price	$0.50 per 1,000 requests	$5 per 1,000 requests
Free places search requests per month	100,000	11,764 (based on $200 credit)
Places search price	$2 per 1,000 requests	$17 per 1,000 requests

Key differences between Google Maps and Radar

Radar is full-stack location infrastructure for every product and service. Our SDKs and APIs make it easy to add location-based experiences to your app or website, from pickup and delivery tracking to location-based messaging to store locators and more.

Our Geofencing Platform is the industry-leading geofencing and location tracking platform, including geofencing, place visit detection, trip tracking, fraud detection, and analytics.

Our Maps Platform is a cost-effective solution for geocoding APIs, search APIs, routing APIs, and base maps.

Our Geo-Compliance Platform detects location spoofing, device tampering, current jurisdiction, and more.

We power location-based experiences for enterprises and startups across hundreds of millions of devices worldwide.

Think of Radar not just as an affordable Google Maps API alternative, but as an all-in-one location platform that also supports geofencing, location tracking, and location analytics.

Feature	Radar	Google Maps
Forward geocoding	✅	✅
Reverse geocoding	✅	✅
IP geocoding	✅	❌
Autocomplete	✅	✅
Address validation	✅	✅
Places search	✅	✅
Geofences search	✅	❌
Routing	✅	✅
Base maps	✅	✅
Display data on any map	✅	❌
Geofencing	✅	❌
Trip tracking	✅	❌
Place visit detection	✅	❌
Location verification	✅	❌

FAQs

How does Radar's API compare to Google Maps API in terms of pricing?

Radar's geocoding, search, and distance APIs are cheaper than Google Maps Platform. Our basic plan is free, and our Enterprise plan offers unlimited geofences, MTUs, and API calls.

What kind of customer support does Radar offer?

All Enterprise plans come with a dedicated customer success manager, implementation consulting, and technical escalation. Please request a demo to learn more.

What are the differences between Radar's API and other alternative mapping APIs?

Radar isn't just a mapping API. We're an all-in-one solution that also includes geofencing, location tracking, trip tracking, and more.

Does Radar offer a free trial of its mapping API?

Radar offers a free tier, as well as a 14-day free trial of the Enterprise feature set. You can compare plans here.

What kind of developer tools and resources are available with Radar's API?

Check out our developer tools documentation for an SDK reference, API reference, and integration support.

What kind of companies use Radar's APIs?

Radar offers use cases and solutions for businesses of all sizes. American Eagle, Panera Bread, T-Mobile, Zillow, Ibotta, and Zappos are just a few brands that use Radar's APIs and SDKs. Learn more about our customers.

What our customers say

Route saved a whopping $1M per year by using our geocoding and routing APIs. With features like real-time package tracking, delivery ETAs, and carbon neutral shipping, Route helps merchants build trust with their customers, reduce support inquiries, and increase retention.

Radar's geolocation services are phenomenal. The data is incredibly accurate and the platform is consistently available. Accuracy and availability are what we value the most in a partner, and we can trust the entire platform. We found that Radar provides the same accuracy as other products on the market at a fraction of the cost. Radar's APIs are simple to use and easy to integrate, which saved us time and allowed us to dedicate resources to other projects.

— Nick Lloyd, Senior Director of Software Engineering, Route

Switch to Radar

Fed up with Google Maps API costs and limitations? We're here to help. At Radar, we understand the complexity of making a key technology infrastructure switch, and we're here to support you every step of the way.

If you're thinking about using Radar as a better Google Maps API alternative, contact us today!