Google announced on December 12 that it will expand the free usage limits for all its Google Maps Platform offerings starting in March 2025, as part of its efforts to attract developers building mapping and location-based solutions in India and worldwide.
The move comes a few months after the tech giant slashed the pricing of Google Maps Platform for developers in India by as much as 70 percent from August 1.
Google stated that developers will get free access to each of its mapping products, including Maps, Routes, Places, and Environment APIs (application programming interfaces) and SDKs (software development kits) up to a monthly limit from March 1, 2025.
For Indian developers, the change would mean that they will have access to $6,800 (about Rs 5.7 lakh) worth of free monthly usage, a substantial increase from the previous $200 (about Rs 17,000) credit.
The company stated that this measure will provide flexibility for developers to build better solutions and experiment with its 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," it said in a blogpost.
Maps Embed API and Maps SDK will continue to have unlimited free usage, the company said.
In July, Google had introduced a country-specific pricing structure to make it easier to build location-based solutions. The new reduced pricing structure was available only to India-based customers that witness a large majority of usage in the country and are billed in India.
The tech giant had also partnered with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to offer additional discounts for developers building for ONDC for a limited period. This will result in up to 90 percent discount on select Google Maps Platform APIs that are used to drive ecommerce and adjacent use cases, the firm said.
“Maps are a crucial component of ride-hailing experience, and we appreciate Google Maps Platform's India and ONDC Pricing Program. As we innovate in the shared mobility space, sustainable growth is key, and this pricing helps manage costs while ensuring a great user experience," Shan MS, COO of Namma Yatri, said in a statement.
"By keeping tech operating costs low, it has enabled us to scale operations without concerns about rising expenses, ensuring long-term sustainability for our platform," Praful Poddar, chief product officer at Shiprocket, said.
The price reduction came in the backdrop of Ola chief Bhavish Aggarwal's artificial intelligence (AI) startup Krutrim introducing mapping and location-based services for developers via Ola Maps API. Krutrim had also subsequently unveiled an updated pricing structure for Ola Maps along with plans to launch APIs, SDKs, and features in the coming months.
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