Helping developers in India build more with Google Maps Platform

For nearly a decade, Google Maps Platform has helped developers in India build useful, innovative experiences – powering everything from delivery to travel apps. In India, our coverage spans over 7 million kilometers of roads, 300 million buildings, and 35 million businesses and places. Besides our effort to offer the freshest information, we continue to build solutions that meet complex local needs by harnessing the power of AI, like Address Descriptors, which was pioneered in India to help developers show addresses in the unique local format, and features like the Air Quality API, which offers robust and reliable air quality data.

To make our powerful mapping tools even more accessible and support local innovation for developers of all sizes, several months ago we introduced India-specific pricing for Google Maps Platform. This includes up to 70% lower pricing on most APIs, and a collaboration with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) which offers developers up to 90% off on select Google Maps Platform APIs. As a result of these changes, many developers have seen their bills decrease by more than half, with smaller developers seeing even larger reductions.

Here’s what developers had to say:

Expanding free usage ¹ limits across our products

Now, we’re taking this a step further: we’re announcing new ways to help developers around the world get even more value from Google Maps Platform. Starting March 1, 2025, developers will get free ¹ access to each of our products - including Maps, Routes, Places, and Environment APIs and SDKs - up to a monthly limit, so they can build more for free. In India, this means that instead of the fixed $200 monthly credit we offer today, developers can soon access up to $6,800 USD (over 570k+ INR) ² worth of free usage every month, distributed across all products.

This update will give developers the flexibility to build better solutions and experiment with our APIs and SDKs at no cost. Now, they can evaluate whether a new product is right for their business – for example, they can integrate Places Nearby or Dynamic Street View into their app to make the experience more rich and immersive - or build a proof-of-concept delivery service with Routes API before making a major investment. With this expanded free usage, developers only pay if they exceed the limit. And further, Maps Embed API and Maps SDK – some of our most popular products – will continue to have unlimited free usage.

Let’s take a look at how this could work. Imagine a real estate company wants to help renters find the perfect neighborhood. Now, they can try more products for free before deciding which APIs or SDKs best suit their needs, and if their usage stays under the monthly free limit, provide this solution at no cost. Start with Dynamic Maps to visualize a neighborhood. Use Data-driven styling to highlight pincodes or color-code localities by average home rental price. Help renters explore an area with Dynamic Street View and find relevant places like parks and restaurants with Nearby Search and Place Details.

With our fresh, comprehensive data about the real world, we’re supporting the incredible work Indian businesses and developers are already doing with Google Maps Platform. Learn more about the updates here.