Google AI Studio adds Maps Platform with 100 free daily calls per API

Google added Google Maps Platform to Google AI Studio on November 9. When someone asks Gemini to build a web app such as a store finder or route planner, AI Studio can now set up the mapping service and load a working map in its preview. The integration brings Maps credentials into the same workspace where Gemini generates the app.

For testing, a free Maps Demo Key allows 100 calls a day to each API. Google says the quotas reset every 24 hours and developers can start without entering a credit card. Running the mapping features in a production app requires a Google Cloud billing account. Developers with a billed Cloud project can select it at the outset.

Store searches and routes in the app preview

Google’s developer blog shows a store finder that displays a map and pulls in search results from the Places API. The sample lets someone filter stores by distance and look up branch details or opening hours. A separate city tour uses a 3D map with place markers and a camera that follows a set path. Google listed both examples in the AI Studio gallery.

A trip planner that looks for restaurants along the way needs both directions and a place search. Google’s Places documentation describes using a route from one API to find matching businesses nearby with another. An app that combines the two can show potential stops along the journey, beyond the area around the starting point.

Demo access varies with Google Cloud account history

Google had already documented a way to obtain a Maps Demo Key without a credit card in a guide last updated on October 22. The November announcement brings the setup into the app builder. AI Studio creates a project and a demo key when someone who is new to Google Cloud takes the free path.

The November 9 integration guide lists different demo coverage for new and existing Cloud users. New users can try the Maps JavaScript, Places and Routes APIs, along with services for data such as air quality and pollen. Google excludes Route Optimization, Solar and Nav Connect from the demo. The Routes API can still calculate directions between locations within the demo’s limits.

For existing Cloud users taking the demo path, the guide lists common prototyping features such as interactive maps, place search, routing, geocoding and weather. Geocoding converts addresses to coordinates. Photos and reviews contributed by users are excluded from their demo access to the Places API. A store directory that shows locations has different data requirements from one that also displays customer photos.

Production moves to monthly usage pricing

Google assigns the daily demo quota to each API separately. A prototype can hit the limit on one service even when it has calls left on another. Google’s demo key guide says usage pauses after the quota is exhausted and resumes after the reset without triggering charges.

Google says developers can attach a Cloud Billing account to a demo project and keep the existing key in their app code. Developers with a billed Cloud project can instead choose it within AI Studio, which connects a standard key from the start. Standard Maps Platform quotas and recurring monthly free usage then apply.

Production Maps pricing depends on the service and its billable events. On Google’s global price list, Compute Routes Essentials includes 10,000 events a month at no charge. The first paid tier, up to 100,000 monthly events, costs $5 per 1,000 billable events beyond the free allowance. Google combines that month’s usage across projects linked to the same billing account to determine the applicable volume tier.

The Routes billing guide counts each Compute Routes request as one event. Compute Route Matrix, which can compare travel times across multiple origins and destinations, counts each origin-destination pair separately. A single request comparing two origins with three destinations therefore counts as six billable events.