Is the Google Maps API free?
Partly. An API key costs nothing, and each Google Maps Platform API has a free allowance every month, but Google charges for every request past it. You need a billing account with a payment method even to stay inside the free allowance.
Figures are from Google's pricing page, last checked October 22, 2026.
What's free every month
Each API, and each tier of an API, has its own free allowance. They don't pool: unused geocoding requests can't pay for map loads. Since March 1, 2025, these allowances have replaced the $200 monthly credit.
| API | Free each month | Then, per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic Maps (Maps JavaScript API) | 10,000 map loads | $7.00 |
| Static Maps | 10,000 | $2.00 |
| 2D Map Tiles | 100,000 tiles | $0.60 |
| Geocoding | 10,000 | $5.00 |
| Places Autocomplete | 10,000 requests | $2.83 |
| Place Details, address and location only | 10,000 | $5.00 |
| Place Details with names or business details | 5,000 or 1,000 | $17.00 to $25.00 |
| Text Search and Nearby Search | 5,000 or 1,000 | $32.00 to $40.00 |
| Compute Routes | 10,000 | $5.00 |
| Geolocation | 10,000 | $5.00 |
The rule behind the numbers: most Essentials APIs include 10,000 free requests a month, Pro APIs 5,000, and Enterprise APIs 1,000. The fields you ask for decide the tier. The Google Maps API pricing guide has every price and volume band.
What's free without a limit
- The Maps Embed API, which puts a Google map on a page in an iframe.
- Map loads in the Maps SDKs for Android and iOS.
- Autocomplete requests in a session past the twelfth, when the session ends with a Place Details request.
- Place IDs only. Place Details and Text Search requests that ask only for IDs.
Do you need a credit card?
Yes. Every Google Cloud project that calls Google Maps Platform needs a billing account with a payment method, even if it never leaves the free allowance. Two exceptions help while you try it out:
- A Maps demo key lets you prototype with some Maps JavaScript API features without billing details.
- New Google Cloud customers get a $300 free trial for 90 days. Maps usage past the free allowances is charged to it first.
What happens past the free allowance
Google bills the overage to your card at the end of the month. Nothing stops by default, and Google warns that there's no limit to what you can be charged once billing is on. To make sure a bug, a busy month, or a scraped key can't run up a bill:
- Set a quota for each API in the Google Cloud console, such as 300 geocoding requests a day. Requests past the quota fail instead of costing money.
- Restrict each key to your app's websites or app IDs, and to the APIs it uses.
- Add a budget alert. It emails you as spending passes a threshold, but it doesn't stop anything.
How far the free allowance goes
10,000 requests a month is about 330 a day. A map on a busy page passes that quickly: a site with 1,000 visitors a day showing them a Google map loads it 30,000 times a month, and pays $140 for the 20,000 past the free allowance.
A free tier without a card
Mapricot gives every account 250,000 free requests every 30 days, shared by geocoding, places, routing, and IP geolocation, and asks for no card to start. Map tiles for MapLibre are free and don't count against it. After the free requests, you pay as you go at $0.10 per 1,000 from prepaid credits, so you're never billed more than you bought.
It covers maps, geocoding, address autocomplete, nearby places, and routes, but not Google's reviews, photos, opening hours, live traffic, or Street View. The Google Maps comparison shows which Mapricot endpoint replaces each Google API.
Questions
Is a Google Maps API key free? Creating a key is free. What you do with it is billed per request past each API's free allowance.
Is Google Maps free for personal or non-commercial use? The prices and free allowances are the same for everyone. Verified nonprofits can apply for Google Maps Platform credits, starting at $250 a month, and Google has a few other public programs.
Does Google still give $200 a month in free credit? No. Since March 1, 2025, each API has its own free allowance instead.
Is embedding a Google map free? Yes, with the Maps Embed API, which has no usage charge. A map built with the Maps JavaScript API is billed per load past 10,000 a month.