For years, “just use Google Maps” was the default answer for any app that needed a map, an address lookup, or a place search. That default is breaking down — and the bills are the reason.
On March 1, 2025, Google Maps Platform retired the flat $200 monthly credit that an entire generation of developers had quietly relied on. In its place came per-SKU free caps (roughly 10,000 free calls a month on Essentials-tier products, far fewer on Pro and Enterprise SKUs) and a reorganized Essentials/Pro/Enterprise structure billed at the individual SKU level. The headline rates are steep once you cross those caps: most maps and places SKUs run between roughly $2 and $40 per 1,000 calls, with interactive (“Dynamic”) map loads around $7 per 1,000 and basic geocoding around $5 per 1,000. A single store locator or checkout flow often touches four or five SKUs at once, so the meter runs faster than most teams budget for.
The good news: you almost never need Google’s entire product surface. Most apps need two or three things — geocoding, a tile basemap, maybe a places/POI search — and a wave of cheaper, OpenStreetMap-based specialists now do exactly those jobs for a fraction of the price. Here are five worth knowing, with current pricing and the trade-offs that actually matter.
A note on method: every price below is the publicly listed rate as of mid-2026. Maps pricing changes often (Google’s has changed twice in two years), so confirm on each provider’s pricing page before you commit.
1. LatLng — cheapest at scale
LatLng is a developer-first location API built on OpenStreetMap data, covering forward and reverse geocoding, places and autocomplete, vector and raster map tiles, static map images, and custom dataset tiles. It leans hard into the “simple REST API, no ceremony” experience — an API key, sub-50ms median responses from edge compute, a Python SDK, and 14 ready-made MapLibre-compatible map styles.
Pricing. The free tier gives 3,000 geocoding requests per day, plus 300 reverse-geocoding calls, 100 static map images, places search, and vector tiles — no credit card. The standout is the Pro plan at $29/month for 1,000,000 geocoding requests. For perspective, a million geocoding calls on Google’s roughly $5-per-1,000 rate would run on the order of $5,000. That single comparison is the reason LatLng lands first on this list. Enterprise adds dedicated infrastructure, a custom SLA, and an on-premise option.
Watch-outs. It’s a younger, leaner platform than the incumbents, so it’s a better fit for geocoding/places/tiles workloads than for, say, turn-by-turn navigation SDKs or Google-grade business-listing data. As with all OSM-based services, coverage quality tracks OpenStreetMap, which is excellent in well-mapped regions and thinner in others.
Best for: high-volume geocoding and reverse geocoding where Google’s per-request pricing is the pain point, and teams that want a flat, predictable monthly bill instead of metered SKUs.
2. Mapbox — the polished, brand-name alternative
Mapbox is the most established Google alternative and the one your designers will recognize. Its strength is cartography: Mapbox Studio lets you style basemaps to match your brand precisely, and its cross-platform SDKs (web, iOS, Android) are mature.
Pricing. 50,000 free web map loads per month — close to double Google’s free map allowance — then about $5 per 1,000 loads, dropping to roughly $3 per 1,000 above 200,000. Both rates undercut Google’s ~$7 per 1,000 for interactive maps. It also offers geocoding and navigation products on separate meters.
Watch-outs. The free tier requires a credit card, so an unmonitored spike can still produce a bill. Data is hosted on US-based AWS infrastructure, and some product terms (notably parts of the navigation stack) include broad data-licensing clauses worth a legal read if you handle sensitive location data.
Best for: consumer-facing apps that need custom-styled, interactive maps and polished mobile SDKs, at a lower per-load cost than Google.
3. MapTiler — best free tier for map tiles
MapTiler is a European platform built on OpenStreetMap data blended with proprietary sources, focused on tile hosting (vector and raster) over a global CDN, custom styling, and geocoding. It reportedly saw a large influx of users after each Google price hike, and the appeal is obvious for anyone whose main need is a basemap.
Pricing. A generous 100,000 tile requests per month free, with no credit card required — and crucially, if you blow past the free quota, maps simply stop loading until the next month rather than generating a surprise invoice. Paid plans start around €25/month and scale with usage; high-volume customers get custom plans.
Watch-outs. Tile-request math matters: a single map view is roughly 4 requests with vector tiles but 10–16 with 256px raster tiles, so your effective free allowance depends on how you render. MapTiler also offers a self-hosted server option if you need full control.
Best for: websites and apps whose primary need is fast, attractive, customizable basemaps, and teams that value a hard “no surprise bills” guarantee.
4. Geoapify — best all-in-one for the price
Geoapify is an OSM-based location platform that bundles geocoding, reverse geocoding, places, routing, distance matrices, isolines, and map tiles behind a single credit-based model. One simple request (a geocode, a reverse geocode, a place lookup) costs one credit, which makes cost estimation straightforward.
Pricing. Free plan of 3,000 credits per day with no credit card and limited commercial use allowed — friendly for prototypes and small production apps. Paid plans are transparent and inexpensive: roughly €49/month for 300,000 credits, €89/month for 750,000, and €149/month for 1,500,000, scaling up from there.
Watch-outs. Compute-heavy calls (route optimization, long isochrones) consume multiple credits each, so a routing-heavy app burns credits faster than a pure-geocoding one. The credit abstraction is convenient but means you should model your specific call mix.
Best for: apps that need a bit of everything — geocoding plus routing plus places — without juggling multiple vendors or Google’s separate SKUs.
5. LocationIQ — lowest barrier to entry for geocoding
LocationIQ is a long-running, OSM-based provider that markets itself directly as an affordable Google alternative for geocoding, reverse geocoding, autocomplete, tiles, and routing via a simple REST API.
Pricing. The free tier allows 5,000 requests per day (about 150,000/month) with no credit card, and even permits commercial use as long as you display a “Search by LocationIQ” attribution link. Paid plans step up in daily limits — roughly 10,000/day, 25,000/day, and up to 250,000/day on the top published tier — with soft limits that absorb temporary spikes rather than hard-failing.
Watch-outs. The free plan’s attribution requirement and rate limit (around 2 requests/second) make it best for back-end or moderate-traffic use rather than bursty, user-facing autocomplete at scale; for that you’ll want a paid tier.
Best for: developers who want to drop in address search or batch-geocode addresses today, at zero cost, with the least signup friction.
Quick comparison
| Provider | Free tier | Entry paid plan | Data | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LatLng | 3,000 geocodes/day | $29/mo — 1M geocodes/mo | OpenStreetMap | Cheapest high-volume geocoding |
| Mapbox | 50,000 map loads/mo | ~$5/1K loads (→$3 at scale) | Proprietary + OSM | Custom-styled interactive maps |
| MapTiler | 100,000 tile requests/mo | from ~€25/mo | OSM + proprietary | Free, surprise-proof basemaps |
| Geoapify | 3,000 credits/day | ~€49/mo — 300K credits | OpenStreetMap | All-in-one geocoding + routing |
| LocationIQ | 5,000 requests/day | scales to 250K/day | OpenStreetMap | Lowest-friction free geocoding |
Google Maps Platform, for reference: ~10,000 free Essentials calls/SKU/month, then roughly $2–$40 per 1,000 depending on SKU (~$5/1K geocoding, ~$7/1K dynamic maps).
How to choose
The trick is to stop thinking “which Google replacement?” and start thinking about your actual workload:
- Mostly turning addresses into coordinates? LatLng or LocationIQ win on price; LatLng’s $29-for-a-million plan is hard to beat once you’re past hobby volume.
- Mostly rendering a basemap? MapTiler’s 100,000-free-tiles tier (with no overage billing) or Mapbox’s styling are the picks.
- Need geocoding and routing and places from one vendor? Geoapify’s single credit pool keeps it simple.
- Need Google-grade business listings and navigation specifically? That’s the one area where Google (or a dedicated POI provider) still genuinely leads — most alternatives ride OpenStreetMap, which is superb for geometry and addresses but lighter on rich commercial place data.
A common, cost-smart pattern is hybrid: use a cheap OSM-based provider for bulk and back-end work (batch geocoding, basemaps) and reserve a premium provider only for the accuracy-critical, user-facing calls. For most teams, though, simply moving geocoding and tiles off Google’s metered SKUs is enough to turn an unpredictable four-figure bill into a flat $29–$149 line item.
