Apple Maps Server API vs SerpApi Google Maps API for AI agents
Apple Maps Server API is Apple's REST API for geocoding, place and POI search, autocomplete, directions and ETAs, using Apple Maps data. SerpApi Google Maps API is a third-party API that scrapes Google Maps search results and returns them as structured JSON.
The short answer
- Apple Maps Server API: Apps already in the Apple ecosystem that show results on an Apple map and fit within the free daily quota.
- SerpApi Google Maps API: Getting Google Maps listing data (phone, website, hours, ratings) as JSON without Google's billing or display rules. Legal risk from the scraping model sits partly with you.
Side by side
| Apple Maps Server API | SerpApi Google Maps API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Places and points of interest by name or criteria, with POI category include/exclude filters and country limits. | Whatever Google Maps returns for a query and location (ll parameter), including local businesses, place details and reviews. |
| Returns | JSON Place objects with name, formatted and structured address, coordinate, country code, display map region and a Place ID. | JSON local_results with fields such as title, address, phone, website, hours, rating, reviews and description, plus place IDs. |
| Before the first call | An Apple Developer account with a Maps ID and private key, which you use to sign JWTs. The API is governed by the Apple Developer Program License Agreement (the program costs 99 USD a year). | A SerpApi account and API key. |
| Free | Up to 25,000 service calls a day per team, shared between the Apple Maps Server API and MapKit JS. | Free plan: 250 searches a month (50 an hour throughput). Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted. |
| Paid | Not stated on its pages | Starter costs $25 a month for 1,000 searches. Developer costs $75 a month for 5,000. Production costs $150 a month for 15,000. |
| Acting on a result | The Place object documentation lists no phone or website field. There is no way to message a business through the API. | Results include the business phone and website as shown on Google Maps. There is no messaging. |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | Map Data may be cached or stored only on a temporary, limited basis. When Map Data is shown on a map it must be an Apple map, and surfaced results must show the corresponding Apple map. Building a substitute service is not allowed. | Not stated on its pages |
| Coverage | Apple says the service may not be available in all countries, regions or languages. | Follows Google Maps. SerpApi warns that results are not guaranteed to fall within the location given. |
| MCP server | No official server listed | SerpApi MCP Server, hosted at https://mcp.serpapi.com/mcp (API key) and open source at https://github.com/serpapi/serpapi-mcp |
Where Openpath fits
If the agent needs a local business to message in Austin, Texas, Openpath returns the listings themselves, free and with no key. See Openpath vs Apple Maps Server API and Openpath vs SerpApi Google Maps API.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Apple Maps Server API?
An Apple Developer account with a Maps ID and private key, which you use to sign JWTs. The API is governed by the Apple Developer Program License Agreement (the program costs 99 USD a year).
Is Apple Maps Server API free?
Up to 25,000 service calls a day per team, shared between the Apple Maps Server API and MapKit JS.
What do I need before I can use SerpApi Google Maps API?
A SerpApi account and API key.
Is SerpApi Google Maps API free?
Free plan: 250 searches a month (50 an hour throughput). Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Apple Maps Server API, read on October 15, 2026:
- developer.apple.com/documentation/applemapsserverapi: “The service provides up to 25,000 service calls per day per team between Apple Maps Server API and MapKit JS.”
- developer.apple.com/documentation/applemapsserverapi: “If your app requires a larger daily quota, submit a”
- developer.apple.com/documentation/applemapsserverapi: “It requires authorization using a JSON Web Token (JWT) for API calls.”
- developer.apple.com/documentation/applemapsserverapi: “You obtain a key for creating the token when you complete the setup in your Apple Developer account.”
- developer.apple.com/programs/whats-included: “The Apple Developer Program is 99 USD per membership year”
- developer.apple.com/documentation/applemapsserverapi/-v1-search: “Find places by name or by specific search criteria.”
- developer.apple.com/documentation/applemapsserverapi/place: “An object that describes a place in terms of a variety of spatial, administrative, and qualitative properties.”
- developer.apple.com/support/terms/apple-developer-program-license-agreement: “Map Data may not be cached, pre-fetched, or stored by You ... other than on a temporary and limited basis”
- developer.apple.com/support/terms/apple-developer-program-license-agreement: “when displaying it on a map, You agree that it will be displayed only on an Apple map”
- developer.apple.com/support/terms/apple-developer-program-license-agreement: “The Apple Maps Service may not be available in all countries, regions, or languages”
SerpApi Google Maps API, read on October 15, 2026:
- serpapi.com/google-maps-api: “Scrape Google Maps data with our Google Maps API.”
- serpapi.com/google-maps-api: “Results are not guaranteed to be within the geographic location provided in the ll parameter.”
- serpapi.com/google-maps-api: “"phone": "(646) 559-4878", "website": "http://joespizzanyc.com/"”
- serpapi.com/pricing: “Free $ 0 / month Get Started 250 searches per month 50 throughput per hour”
- serpapi.com/pricing: “Starter $ 25 / month Get Started 1,000 searches per month”
- serpapi.com/pricing: “Only successful searches are counted toward your monthly searches. Cached, errored, and failed searches are not.”
- serpapi.com/legal: “SerpApi assumes liability for the lawful collection of public search data ... but not for how that data is ultimately used.”
- github.com/serpapi/serpapi-mcp: “SerpApi MCP Server is available as a hosted service at mcp.serpapi.com”