AI Studio now builds Google Maps apps, 100 free calls a day

Google AI Studio can now build apps on Google Maps Platform straight from a prompt and set up the API keys itself, with no credit card needed to start, Google said on its developers blog on November 9. The free route is a sandbox capped at 100 calls a day per API. An app that goes to production needs a linked Google Cloud billing account, which moves it onto standard Maps Platform pricing, monthly free usage included.

You start by describing the app. Google’s example prompt is “Build an interactive 3D tour of NYC showcasing iconic landmarks”. AI Studio recognises geospatial requests, such as finding nearby places, showing an interactive map or calculating a route, and automatically configures Maps Platform recommendations and skills. Google says that with zero redirects AI Studio sets up Maps Platform without a credit card, or auto-connects an existing Google Cloud project. A live map then loads in the preview pane. The Maps Platform documentation says the credentials are provisioned in the background and stored in the app’s secrets settings, so the generated code runs right away.

What you get for free depends on whether you already use Google Cloud. New users get a free project and a Maps Demo Key with every Maps Platform API except Route Optimization, Solar and Nav Connect. Existing Cloud users can either prototype on a demo key or connect a billed project for production quotas. Their demo key covers a smaller set: the Maps JavaScript API with Places UI Kit, the Routes API and Compute Routes Matrix, Geocoding, Weather, the Maps Experience agent tools, and the Places API without user-generated content such as photos and reviews.

Google’s post puts the sandbox quota at 100 calls a day for each API, reset every 24 hours, and presents it as protection against unexpected charges while you experiment. A higher cap means billing.

The post sorts what’s available into four API groups:

• Maps: custom-styled map interfaces, photorealistic 3D cityscapes, dynamic data overlays
• Places: conversational local search, rich place profiles, photo galleries, context-aware recommendations
• Routes: multi-stop road trips, commute calculators, transit-aware day planners
• Environment: clean-air route finders, live pollen alerts, hyper-local environmental monitors

Three working examples in the AI Studio gallery can be remixed as starting points. City Immersive Tour flies a camera along custom paths over 3D city maps. Store Locator & Near Me Finder combines vector maps with the Places API to filter branches by distance and opening hours. The most specific is Pet Grooming Route Optimizer, which plans multi-stop routes for a mobile service fleet with the Routes API. It handles fixed appointment times, priority stops and driver shift limits, and plays a simulated drive along the route.

Maps wasn’t new to AI Studio. Build mode already let you add Google Maps data to a prompt through AI Chips. It generates a full-stack app, by default a React client with a Node.js server that makes the secure API calls. What changes is the setup: AI Studio now handles the Maps Platform configuration and API key management.

The documentation says Maps Demo Keys are governed by the Maps Demo Project Terms of Service and intended for prototyping, testing and AI Studio web apps. Production web and mobile apps use a standard Google Cloud API key with custom HTTP referrer, IP or app restrictions.