Azure Maps Search vs SerpApi Google Maps API for AI agents
Azure Maps Search is Microsoft Azure's location search service for geocoding and finding places and businesses by name or category. SerpApi Google Maps API is a third-party API that scrapes Google Maps search results and returns them as structured JSON.
The short answer
- Azure Maps Search: Teams already on Azure who want place search billed on their Azure account under Microsoft's enterprise terms.
- 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
| Azure Maps Search | SerpApi Google Maps API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Addresses, places and businesses by name or category. Search v1.0 (POI, category, nearby search) is superseded by Search 2026-01-01 but still works. | Whatever Google Maps returns for a query and location (ll parameter), including local businesses, place details and reviews. |
| Returns | JSON. Search v1 POI results include name, phone, url, categories, brands and optional opening hours. | JSON local_results with fields such as title, address, phone, website, hours, rating, reviews and description, plus place IDs. |
| Before the first call | An Azure subscription with an Azure Maps account. Authentication is by Shared Key, Microsoft Entra ID or SAS token. | A SerpApi account and API key. |
| Free | 5,000 Search transactions a month. | Free plan: 250 searches a month (50 an hour throughput). Cached, errored and failed searches are not counted. |
| Paid | $4.50 per 1,000 Search transactions (under 500K a month). Volume discounts start at 100,000 transactions. | 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 | v1 POI results include phone and website URL. 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 | Results may be cached only to reduce latency, not to serve multiple users, and for no longer than the header validity or 6 months, whichever is shorter. Geocodes may be kept while the Azure account is active. Results may not be displayed on third-party maps or content. | Not stated on its pages |
| AI in its terms | The Product Terms say the customer may not modify or create a derivative work from any content using machine learning or artificial intelligence unless the terms expressly allow it. They also forbid building a competing or derived database. | Not stated on its pages |
| Coverage | Not stated on its pages | 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 Azure Maps Search and Openpath vs SerpApi Google Maps API.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Azure Maps Search?
An Azure subscription with an Azure Maps account. Authentication is by Shared Key, Microsoft Entra ID or SAS token.
Is Azure Maps Search free?
5,000 Search transactions a month.
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.
Azure Maps Search, read on October 15, 2026:
- azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-maps: “Meters Free <500K 500K+ ... Search 5,000 $4.50 Contact Us”
- azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-maps: “Unless otherwise specified, the prices below are per 1,000 transactions.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/rest-api-azure-maps: “search for places and businesses by name or category”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/migrate-search-v1-api: “Azure Maps Search API version 1.0 has been superseded by Search API version 2026‑01‑01”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/migrate-search-v1-api: “While Search v1 continues to function, new development should use the latest Search API”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/maps/search/get-search-poi: “Details of the returned POI including information such as the name, phone, url address, and classifications.”
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/azure-maps-authentication: “Azure Maps supports three authentication methods: Shared Key, Microsoft Entra ID, and Shared Access Signature (SAS) Token.”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Results may not be stored for longer than: (i) the validity period indicated in returned headers; or (ii) 6 months, whichever is shorter.”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Customer may not cache or store results delivered by the Azure Maps API for the purpose of scaling such Results”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Customer may not modify or create a derivative work based on any content using machine learning or artificial intelligence”
- microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/MicrosoftAzure/MCA: “Customer may not use Azure Maps or any part thereof to create a competing database or service”
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”