Google Maps Platform API pricing: plans, free tier and what to watch for

Google Maps Platform API pricing at a glance: Pay-as-you-go (free tier) $0, Starter (subscription) $100/mo, Essentials (subscription) $275/mo, Pro (subscription) $1,200/mo

The short answer

Google Maps Platform is billed per 1k requests (per-sku). It has a free tier: 10k free geocoding events/mo (Essentials SKUs). The paid plans we list start at $100/mo (Starter (subscription)).

Plans and prices

Plan	Price	What it covers
Pay-as-you-go (free tier)	$0	Free monthly cap per SKU: 10,000 events for Essentials SKUs, 5,000 for Pro, 1,000 for Enterprise; plus a $300 new-customer trial credit.
Starter (subscription)	$100/mo	50,000 monthly calls; includes Dynamic Maps and Geocoding; marketed as saving up to $180 vs pay-as-you-go.
Essentials (subscription)	$275/mo	100,000 monthly calls across the most popular Maps, Routes, Places, and Environment products.
Pro (subscription)	$1,200/mo	250,000 monthly calls with advanced features and enhanced customization.
Enterprise	Custom	Custom monthly call allowances and access to the most powerful/customizable features; requires contacting sales.

How Google Maps Platform bills you

The pricing model is per 1k requests (per-sku). The default incumbent with the richest global POI/road data, but 2025-2026 pricing moved to per-SKU free caps and geocoding runs a pricey ~$5/1k. Best suited to: enterprise-grade global maps & places.

What to watch for on the bill

Expensive at high request volumes compared to Mapbox, HERE, and MapTiler
Pricing structure is complex and bills can spike unpredictably; the March 2025 removal of the $200 universal credit frustrated many existing users
Per-SKU billing model makes cost forecasting hard, especially for keystroke-heavy autocomplete usage
Vendor lock-in to the Google Cloud billing and terms ecosystem

The pricing page we read

Google Maps Platform pricing page, captured for reference — Capture of mapsplatform.google.com. Captured from Germany, so some vendors show local prices or currency. Listed prices are verified Jun 27, 2026. The live page may differ.

Source: https://mapsplatform.google.com/pricing/. Prices change, so confirm there before you commit.

Compare Google Maps Platform with alternatives

Other maps & geocoding apis: Mapbox, HERE, TomTom, Radar, Foursquare Places.

Looking at quality rather than price? See the Google Maps Platform score on APIbenchmarks. Full entry: Google Maps Platform pricing.