Free tool
What will Google Maps or Mapbox actually cost you?
Move the sliders to your expected monthly map loads, geocoding requests and autocomplete sessions to see an itemized cost estimate for both providers, side by side.
Every time a visitor views your locator, that is one load.
Addresses turned into coordinates. Usually a one-time cost on import.
The suggestions that appear while a visitor types in the search box.
Google Maps Platform
$280.00
per month
- Maps JS API
- $280.00
- Geocoding
- $0.00
- Autocomplete
- $0.00
Free: 10,000 per API per month
Mapbox
Cheaper$86.25
per month
- Maps SDK
- $0.00
- Geocoding (stored)
- $0.00
- Search sessions
- $86.25
Free: 50,000 map loads/mo, 100,000 geocoding requests/mo, 2,500 search sessions/mo
Handled Locator is built on the cheaper primitives in these tables: raster tiles instead of billed map loads, and per-request geocoding instead of search sessions. At the volumes above, a locator on your own Mapbox key typically stays inside the free tiers entirely, on any plan.
Every rate here was checked against both providers' published pricing pages on 25 September 2026, band by band. Providers change pricing and offer volume discounts above these ranges without much notice, so verify against Google's pricing page and Mapbox's pricing page before committing to either.
Want a locator that runs on your own key at provider cost, never marked up? Try Handled Locator free.
How this is calculated
Both providers give a free monthly allowance, then charge per 1,000 units past it, and both get cheaper per unit as volume grows: Google Maps Platform's pay-as-you-go pricing steps down across five volume bands per API, and Mapbox steps its map loads and search sessions down the same way. Nothing here is a single flat rate regardless of usage.
Two line items are worth reading closely. Mapbox geocoding is priced here at the standard tier every self-serve account gets, with its 100,000 free requests a month. Mapbox also sells a storage-licensed geocoding tier at $5.00 per 1,000 with no free allowance, gated behind contacting sales; if your use demands that licence, your geocoding line will be far higher than shown. And Mapbox currently lists two different rates for its address-search product side by side, a lower one and a higher one, with no stated cutoff for which a new account gets. This calculator uses the higher one, since it's the safer number to plan around if you're signing up fresh.
For the full arithmetic and what to check before you commit to a provider, read the Google Maps versus Mapbox cost guide.
Questions about map pricing
- How accurate is this calculator?
- It uses published list pricing from Google Maps Platform and Mapbox, checked directly against both providers' pricing pages. Actual bills can differ with volume discounts, promotional pricing, or a plan negotiated directly with the provider, and both providers change pricing without much notice. Verify against the official pricing pages before you commit to either.
- Why does Mapbox geocoding show no free tier here?
- Mapbox prices geocoding two ways: a cheap tier for results you display once and discard, and a separate tier with no free allowance for results you store. A store locator geocodes an address on import and keeps the coordinates, which is the storage case, so that is the rate this calculator uses. A calculator that quotes the cheaper display-only rate for a store locator will understate the real Mapbox bill.
- What counts as a map load?
- Each time a visitor's browser renders the map, whether that is a fresh page view or a widget reopened after being closed. It does not include searches or filter changes on an already-loaded map.
- Do I need both geocoding and autocomplete?
- Geocoding runs once per location, usually when you import or update your list, so its volume tracks your location count rather than your traffic. Autocomplete only applies if visitors type an address into a search box; a locator with only a browse-and-filter interface may not use it at all.
- Does Handled Locator mark up map costs?
- No. Handled Locator runs on your own Google Maps or Mapbox key, so map usage is billed to your provider account at the rates on this page, not at a marked-up rate through Handled.