The short answer
Foursquare Places is billed per call (volume-based). It has a free tier: $200/mo credit + 500 free Pro calls. The paid plans we list start at $15.00 CPM (per 1,000) (Pro Endpoints (pay-as-you-go)).
Plans and prices
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Free (Sandbox) | $0 | Up to 10,000 free calls/month on Pro endpoints; no credit card required to test. (Reducing to 500 free Pro calls from June 1, 2026.) |
| Pro Endpoints (pay-as-you-go) | $15.00 CPM (per 1,000) | 501-100k calls at $15.00 CPM, 100k-500k at $12.00 CPM, 500k+ at $9.00 CPM. Covers Search, Details, Autocomplete, Place Match, Geotagging (default fields). |
| Premium Endpoints (pay-as-you-go) | $18.75 CPM (per 1,000) | 0-100k calls at $18.75 CPM, 100k-500k at $15.00 CPM, 500k+ at $11.25 CPM. Covers Tips & Photos and premium-tier fields. No free allowance. |
| Ask API | $30.00 CPM (Pro) / $36.00 CPM (Premium) | Natural-language / AI query endpoints priced higher than standard Pro/Premium calls. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Tailored volume pricing and terms via Foursquare sales. |
| FSQ OS Places (open dataset) | Free (Apache 2.0) | 100M+ POIs (106M+ by Dec 2025), 22 core attributes, updated monthly, downloadable as Parquet/Iceberg for commercial use. |
How Foursquare Places bills you
The pricing model is per call (volume-based). POI/places-data specialist (not full maps/tiles) with best-in-class venue data; self-serve pay-as-you-go with monthly free credits and a sandbox. Best suited to: places/poi search & geotagging.
What to watch for on the bill
- Coverage and freshness can trail Google outside dense urban / US / Western markets, and tip/photo depth varies
- Premium endpoints (tips, photos, ratings) have no free tier and start at $18.75 per 1,000 calls
The pricing page we read
Source: https://foursquare.com/pricing/. Prices change, so confirm there before you commit.
Compare Foursquare Places with alternatives
Other maps & geocoding apis: Google Maps Platform, Mapbox, HERE, TomTom, Radar.
Looking at quality rather than price? See the Foursquare Places score on APIbenchmarks. Full entry: Foursquare Places pricing.