{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "google-maps-platform", "name": "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP", "vendor": "Google", "vendorUrl": "https://mapsplatform.google.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "maps", "summary": "Geocoding, Places API (New) for text, nearby and detail search, Routes for routes and matrices, Address Validation, static maps and map tiles.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-maps-platform", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-maps-platform.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-maps-platform.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-maps-platform.json", "repo": "https://github.com/googlemaps/google-maps-services-python", "license": "Apache-2.0 (client libraries)", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://maps.googleapis.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@googlemaps/google-maps-services-js" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "googlemaps" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "An API key per Cloud project. The classic web services (Geocoding, Static Maps) take it as the key query parameter, Places API (New), Routes and Grounding Lite take it in the X-Goog-Api-Key header. Grounding Lite also accepts OAuth 2.0 with the maps-platform.mapstools scope.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Billed per 1,000 events with a free monthly cap on each SKU, 10,000 for Essentials, 5,000 for Pro and 1,000 for Enterprise SKUs. First-tier prices are Geocoding $5, Place Details Essentials $5, Pro $17 and Enterprise $20, Text Search Pro $32 and Enterprise $35, Nearby Search Pro $32, Autocomplete Requests $2.83, Address Validation Pro $17, Compute Routes and Route Matrix $5, $10 or $15 by tier, Static Maps $2, Dynamic Maps $7 and 2D Map Tiles $0.60. Text Search Essentials (IDs Only) is free with no cap. The Maps Grounding Lite SKU is $7 per 1,000 after 10,000 free, stepping down to $2.80 above 5 million (https://developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing).", "priceSummary": "$5 / 1k req", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 5, "popularity": { "githubStars": 5000, "npmWeekly": 1193020, "pypiWeekly": 747555, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation", "capabilities": [ "geo.geocode", "geo.reverse", "geo.places", "geo.routing", "geo.tiles" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "mcp", "official", "oauth", "typescript", "python", "card-required", "enterprise", "closed-source" ], "lastRelease": "2026-08-06", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 68.5, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 123, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 85, "maintenance": 50, "payments": 20, "reliability": 85, "schema": 77, "security": 67, "transparency": 75 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Maps Grounding Lite is GA, hosted, and takes an X-Goog-Api-Key header or OAuth with the maps-platform.mapstools scope. A Cloud billing account with a payment method is required before the free caps apply.", "strengths": [ "Maps Grounding Lite is GA, hosted, and takes an X-Goog-Api-Key header or OAuth with the maps-platform.mapstools scope", "A 99.9 per cent monthly SLA with credits up to 50 per cent", "Field masks size responses and pick the SKU, and Text Search Essentials (IDs Only) is free with no cap", "Keys can be limited to named APIs and server IPs, and OAuth works for server traffic", "A 12-month deprecation policy with a dated deprecations page" ], "weaknesses": [ "A Cloud billing account with a payment method is required before the free caps apply", "Coordinates may be cached for 30 days at most and only shown on a Google map", "No llms.txt at developers.google.com/maps", "Classic Geocoding and Static Maps take the key in the URL", "Places and Grounding Lite return reviews and AI summaries with no prompt-injection guidance" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send X-Goog-FieldMask on every Places (New) and Routes call, since a missing mask is an error and the fields you ask for set the SKU", "Resolve a name with Text Search and an IDs-only field mask (free), then fetch details for the one place you need", "Store place IDs, refetch details, and drop cached coordinates after 30 days", "Retry UNKNOWN_ERROR and OVER_QUERY_LIMIT with exponential backoff, and don't retry INVALID_REQUEST", "Put Google Maps attribution directly after any answer grounded in Grounding Lite results" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 68.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 85, "maintenance": 50, "payments": 20, "reliability": 85, "schema": 77, "security": 67, "transparency": 65 }, "provenanceScore": 85 }, "connect": { "http": "curl \"https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=10%20Downing%20Street%2C%20London\u0026key=$GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http google-maps https://mapstools.googleapis.com/mcp --header \"X-Goog-Api-Key: $GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "google-maps": { "headers": { "X-Goog-Api-Key": "${GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY}" }, "type": "http", "url": "https://mapstools.googleapis.com/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/geo.geocode", "tool": "https://letme.dev/google-maps-platform" }, "sameCompany": [ "gemini-api", "gemini-embedding", "vertex-ai-tuning", "google-model-armor", "google-imagen", "google-veo", "google-lyria", "google-speech-to-text", "google-adk", "google-secret-manager", "google-weather-api", "chrome-devtools-mcp", "google-cloud-translation", "google-calendar-api", "google-drive-api", "gemini-cli" ], "area": "everyday", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Geocoding", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5, "note": "10,000 free a month" }, { "item": "Place Details Essentials", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5, "note": "10,000 free a month" }, { "item": "Place Details Pro", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 17, "note": "5,000 free a month" }, { "item": "Text Search Pro", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 32, "note": "5,000 free a month" }, { "item": "Autocomplete Requests", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 2.83, "note": "10,000 free a month" }, { "item": "Compute Routes Essentials", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 5, "note": "Pro $10, Enterprise $15" }, { "item": "Maps Grounding Lite", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 7, "note": "10,000 free a month, $2.80 above 5 million" }, { "item": "2D Map Tiles", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.6, "note": "100,000 free a month" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Google LLC or a regional Google entity, by billing country", "domain": "google.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-09-15", "endpointOnVendorDomain": false, "terms": "https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms", "privacy": "https://policies.google.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.cloud.google.com/maps-platform/", "changelog": "https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/release-notes", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "The terms name the contracting party through Google's entity table, and Section 21 lists regional entities for Australia, India, Indonesia and Mexico among others.", "The API and MCP endpoints sit on googleapis.com, Google's API domain, not google.com.", "google.com/.well-known/security.txt lists security@google.com and expires 2030-04-01.", "The Maps Platform terms were last modified 26 August 2026 and the service terms 10 June 2026." ], "score": 85 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-maps-platform.json", "live": { "slug": "google-maps-platform", "probe": { "target": "https://maps.googleapis.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-05T03:17:26.578955485Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 371, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 498, "p95ms24h": 1058, "samples24h": 273, "samples30d": 938, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 109, "ok": 109 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 38, "ok": 38 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.cloud.google.com/maps-platform", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:40:05.913318971Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "googlemaps/google-maps-services-python", "version": "v4.10.0", "released": "2023-01-26", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:28:40.84537334Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@googlemaps/google-maps-services-js", "version": "3.4.2", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:28:40.418204053Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "googlemaps", "version": "4.10.0", "released": "2023-01-26", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:28:40.663056189Z" } ], "githubStars": 4981, "npmWeekly": 1210327, "pypiWeekly": 773659, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://google.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2030-04-01T00:00:00z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:53.387118101Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "google.com", "registered": "1997-09-15", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/google.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:50.737985829Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/release-notes", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:42:53.389791399Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "fd6cce07e750" }, { "url": "https://developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:42:50.88150349Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "b114dc62bf50" }, { "url": "https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:41:55.601480532Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "b64404e45856" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-05T03:17:26.578955485Z" } }, "b": { "slug": "stadia-maps", "name": "Stadia Maps", "vendor": "Stadia Maps", "vendorUrl": "https://stadiamaps.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "maps", "summary": "Geocoding, reverse geocoding, autocomplete and place details, routing, matrix, isochrones, static maps and hosted vector, raster and satellite tiles, sold in credits on plans from $20 a month.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stadia-maps", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stadia-maps.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stadia-maps.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stadia-maps.json", "repo": "https://github.com/stadiamaps/stadiamaps-mcp-server-ts", "license": "BSD-3-Clause (MCP server)", "transports": [ "http", "stdio" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.stadiamaps.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@stadiamaps/api" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "stadiamaps" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "API key as the api_key query parameter or in an `Authorization: Stadia-Auth \u003ckey\u003e` header. Browser apps can use domain-based auth with no key, checked against the Origin and Referer headers. The MCP server reads API_KEY.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free 200,000 credits a month for development, testing and demos only, no commercial use. Starter $20 a month (1 million credits), Standard $80 (7.5 million), Professional $250 (25 million), with overage at $0.03, $0.02 and $0.015 per 1,000 credits. A forward, reverse or structured geocode, a place lookup, an Autocomplete v1 search or a route is 20 credits, Autocomplete v2 is 1, a matrix element 10, a map tile 1 and a satellite tile 4, so Starter covers 50,000 geocodes. New accounts get a 14-day Professional trial with no card (https://stadiamaps.com/pricing/). When credits run out you get 429 until the next cycle unless pay-as-you-go is on (https://stadiamaps.com/faqs/).", "priceSummary": "$20 / mo", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 6, "popularity": { "githubStars": 23, "npmWeekly": 6058, "pypiWeekly": 192, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.stadiamaps.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.stadiamaps.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://api.stadiamaps.com/openapi.yaml", "capabilities": [ "geo.geocode", "geo.reverse", "geo.places", "geo.routing", "geo.tiles" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "mcp", "llms-txt", "official", "typescript", "python", "free-tier", "no-card", "open-data" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-30", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 65.5, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 171, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 452, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.3", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 40, "reliability": 63, "schema": 86, "security": 40, "transparency": 79 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Public OpenAPI spec (11.1.0) with generated TypeScript and Python SDKs. Free plan is for development, testing and demos only.", "strengths": [ "Public OpenAPI spec (11.1.0) with generated TypeScript and Python SDKs", "Published credit costs, with 50,000 geocodes for $20 a month on Starter", "Header auth keeps the key out of URLs, and keys rotate through an API", "Server logs kept about 7 to 14 days, and a DPA", "14 dated changelog entries between June and September 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "Free plan is for development, testing and demos only", "The same 429 signals a burst or a spent month of credits, with no Retry-After", "No SLA, no security.txt and no disclosure policy found", "MCP server has no release, no CI and no commits since 29 July 2025", "The terms forbid benchmarking against competitors without written permission" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send the key as `Authorization: Stadia-Auth \u003ckey\u003e` rather than in the URL", "Try Autocomplete v2 (1 credit) before a full geocode (20 credits) when a name is enough", "Check the dashboard's credit balance before retrying a 429, since it may mean the month is spent", "Don't write geocodes to a database on Free or Starter", "Use bulk-geocode for addresses only, not POI names" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.3", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 65.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 40, "reliability": 63, "schema": 86, "security": 40, "transparency": 72 }, "provenanceScore": 86 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -H \"Authorization: Stadia-Auth $STADIA_API_KEY\" \"https://api.stadiamaps.com/geocoding/v1/search?text=10%20Downing%20Street%2C%20London\u0026size=1\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/geo.geocode", "tool": "https://letme.dev/stadia-maps" }, "area": "everyday", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Starter plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 20, "note": "1 million credits, about 50,000 geocodes" }, { "item": "Standard plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 80, "note": "7.5 million credits, permanent geocode storage" }, { "item": "Professional plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 250, "note": "25 million credits" }, { "item": "Geocoding within Starter", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.4, "note": "20 credits each, $20 for 1 million credits" }, { "item": "Geocoding overage on Starter", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.6, "note": "20 credits each at $0.03 per 1,000 credits" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Stadia Maps, Inc.", "domain": "stadiamaps.com", "domainRegistered": "2016-11-30", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://stadiamaps.com/terms-of-service/", "privacy": "https://stadiamaps.com/privacy/privacy-policy/", "statusPage": "https://status.stadiamaps.com", "changelog": "https://stadiamaps.com/changelog/", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "The terms name Stadia Maps, Inc., a Delaware corporation with an address in East Lansing, Michigan, under Delaware law. Last updated 18 March 2026.", "Pages showing Traffic Products must carry \"© Stadia Maps © TomTom\".", "stadiamaps.com/.well-known/security.txt returns 404." ], "score": 86 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stadia-maps.json", "live": { "slug": "stadia-maps", "probe": { "target": "https://api.stadiamaps.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-05T03:17:33.384047933Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 42, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 41, "p95ms24h": 97, "samples24h": 273, "samples30d": 938, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 109, "ok": 109 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 38, "ok": 38 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.stadiamaps.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:40:29.876509141Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@stadiamaps/api", "version": "9.1.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:40:38.572907535Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "stadiamaps", "version": "8.1.0", "released": "2026-04-27", "seenAt": "2026-10-04T16:40:39.017901266Z" } ], "githubStars": 25, "npmWeekly": 7307, "pypiWeekly": 247, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://stadiamaps.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:15:49.354792712Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.stadiamaps.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:18:15.966617081Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "stadiamaps.com", "registered": "2016-11-30", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/stadiamaps.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:06:24.947269949Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://stadiamaps.com/changelog/", "kind": "changelog", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:48:05.926794914Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "fb379c6fd6fb" }, { "url": "https://stadiamaps.com/pricing/", "kind": "pricing", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:48:08.015926136Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "aeba9483f45f" }, { "url": "https://stadiamaps.com/privacy/privacy-policy/", "kind": "privacy", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:48:10.017233686Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "22f042b735db" }, { "url": "https://stadiamaps.com/terms-of-service/", "kind": "terms", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T15:48:12.02067172Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "9252c6ede41d" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-05T03:17:33.384047933Z" } }, "summary": "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP has a score of 68.5 (B) against Stadia Maps's 65.5 (B). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 30 points." }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-stadia-maps", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-stadia-maps.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-stadia-maps.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-stadia-maps.min.md" }, "markdown": "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP has a score of 68.5 (B) against Stadia Maps's 65.5 (B). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 30 points.\n\n- Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP: grade B, 68.5/100, rank #123 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-maps-platform.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-maps-platform.json\n- Stadia Maps: grade B, 65.5/100, rank #171 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stadia-maps.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stadia-maps.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\nPick Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP for reliability (+22), agent ergonomics (+5), security \u0026 auth (+27).\n\nPick Stadia Maps for schema \u0026 documentation (+9), payments \u0026 pricing (+20), maintenance \u0026 community (+30).\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP | Stadia Maps | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 63 | Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP +22 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 86 | Stadia Maps +9 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 80 | Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP +5 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 67 | 40 | Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP +27 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | Stadia Maps +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 50 | 80 | Stadia Maps +30 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 79 | Stadia Maps +4 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **68.5 · B** | **65.5 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP | Stadia Maps |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Google | Stadia Maps |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://maps.googleapis.com` | `https://api.stadiamaps.com` |\n| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, stdio |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 (client libraries) | BSD-3-Clause (MCP server) |\n| Tools exposed | 5 | 6 |\n| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |\n| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-08-06 | 2026-09-30 |\n| Popularity | 5k stars, 1.2M npm/wk, 748k PyPI/wk | 23 stars, 6.1k npm/wk, 192 PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP.** Maps Grounding Lite is GA, hosted, and takes an X-Goog-Api-Key header or OAuth with the maps-platform.mapstools scope. A Cloud billing account with a payment method is required before the free caps apply.\n\n**Stadia Maps.** Public OpenAPI spec (11.1.0) with generated TypeScript and Python SDKs. Free plan is for development, testing and demos only.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP\n\n1. Send X-Goog-FieldMask on every Places (New) and Routes call, since a missing mask is an error and the fields you ask for set the SKU\n2. Resolve a name with Text Search and an IDs-only field mask (free), then fetch details for the one place you need\n3. Store place IDs, refetch details, and drop cached coordinates after 30 days\n4. Retry UNKNOWN_ERROR and OVER_QUERY_LIMIT with exponential backoff, and don't retry INVALID_REQUEST\n5. Put Google Maps attribution directly after any answer grounded in Grounding Lite results\n\n### Stadia Maps\n\n1. Send the key as `Authorization: Stadia-Auth \u003ckey\u003e` rather than in the URL\n2. Try Autocomplete v2 (1 credit) before a full geocode (20 credits) when a name is enough\n3. Check the dashboard's credit balance before retrying a 429, since it may mean the month is spent\n4. Don't write geocodes to a database on Free or Starter\n5. Use bulk-geocode for addresses only, not POI names\n\n## Other comparisons with Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP or Stadia Maps\n\n- [Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/geoapify-vs-google-maps-platform.md)\n- [Geoapify Location Platform + MCP vs Stadia Maps](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/geoapify-vs-stadia-maps.md)\n- [Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs LocationIQ](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-locationiq.md)\n- [Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs Mapbox APIs + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-mapbox.md)\n- [Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs OpenCage Geocoding API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-opencage.md)\n- [Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-tomtom.md)\n- [LocationIQ vs Stadia Maps](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/locationiq-vs-stadia-maps.md)\n- [Mapbox APIs + MCP vs Stadia Maps](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mapbox-vs-stadia-maps.md)\n- [OpenCage Geocoding API vs Stadia Maps](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencage-vs-stadia-maps.md)\n- [Stadia Maps vs TomTom Maps APIs + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/stadia-maps-vs-tomtom.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-05", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.3", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs Stadia Maps", "url": "" } ], "description": "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP has a score of 68.5 (B) against Stadia Maps's 65.5 (B). Both do geo geocode. The largest gap is maintenance \u0026 community, 30 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP B 68.5", "Stadia Maps B 65.5", "scores" ], "h1": "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs Stadia Maps", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-google-maps-platform-vs-stadia-maps.png", "path": "/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-stadia-maps", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Google Maps Platform + Grounding Lite MCP vs Stadia Maps for AI agents", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-05", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-maps-platform-vs-stadia-maps" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 1550, "slim": 380 }, "version": 1 }