Google Places API vs Foursquare Places API for AI agents
Google Places API is a paid Google Maps Platform web service that returns place data (search, details, photos, autocomplete) from Google Maps. Foursquare Places API is Foursquare's pay-as-you-go API for searching and reading point-of-interest data from its global places database.
The short answer
- Google Places API: The broadest, freshest global place data, with ratings, reviews, hours and photos, for teams that can pay per call and follow Google's display rules.
- Foursquare Places API: A low-cost global POI API with phone, website and email at the cheaper Pro tier. Good for place lookup and matching where Google-style display rules are too tight.
Side by side
| Google Places API | Foursquare Places API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Places worldwide from Google Maps: businesses, points of interest, addresses, through Text Search, Nearby Search, Place Details and Autocomplete. | POIs worldwide: Place Search, Place Details, Autocomplete, Place Match, Tips and Photos. |
| Returns | JSON. You pick fields with a field mask, and the most expensive field you ask for sets the price tier (Essentials, Pro, Enterprise). Fields include place ID, name, address, location, phone numbers, website, hours, ratings, photos and reviews. | JSON place records. Pro fields include fsq_place_id, name, coordinates, address, categories, chains, tel, website, email and social handles. Premium fields add hours, rating, price, photos, tips and popularity. |
| Before the first call | A Google Cloud project with billing enabled, plus an API key or OAuth token. | A Foursquare developer account and a Service API key. Usage beyond the free calls is paid through credits or a card on file. |
| Free | A free monthly usage cap for each SKU: 5,000 Text Search Pro or Nearby Search Pro calls, 1,000 at the Enterprise tier, 10,000 Place Details Essentials, and unlimited ID-only searches. The pricing page does not mention the old $200 monthly credit. | 500 free Pro calls a month since June 1, 2026, by its docs; the pricing page also says “up to 10,000 free calls on Pro endpoints” |
| Paid | Text Search Pro and Nearby Search Pro cost $32 per 1,000 calls (up to 100,000 a month). Enterprise, the tier that includes phone and website, costs $35 per 1,000. Place Details Pro costs $17 per 1,000. | Pro endpoints: $15.00 per 1,000 calls (501 to 100,000), falling to $9.00 at volume. Premium endpoints: $18.75 per 1,000 (up to 100,000). Ask endpoints: $30 (Pro) or $36 (Premium) per 1,000. |
| Acting on a result | Phone numbers and website are Enterprise-tier fields. There is no way to message a business through the API. | Phone (tel), website and email are Pro fields. There is no way to message a business through the API. |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | No pre-fetching, caching or storing beyond the stated exceptions. Place IDs may be stored indefinitely, and latitude/longitude for up to 30 days. Results may be shown without a map, but then the Google logo is required. When shown on a map it must be a Google Map, never a non-Google map. | The Developer Master Terms forbid creating derivative works of the service or its underlying data. They also treat place data as Foursquare Confidential Information, even where the facts are public. No specific cache period was found. |
| AI in its terms | The Maps Platform Terms forbid using Google Maps Content to improve ML or AI models, including to train, test, validate or fine-tune them. Grounding an LLM is allowed only through Maps Grounding Lite, which requires source links and forbids using Grounded Output to train models. | The terms forbid accessing the service "to develop or improve any point-of-interest or venue dataset, algorithm, or machine learning operation(s)." The product page markets the API for AI agents through MCP. |
| Coverage | Worldwide (Google Maps place data). | Foursquare says 100M+ POI across 200+ countries. |
| MCP server | Maps Grounding Lite, a Google-hosted MCP endpoint at https://mapstools.googleapis.com/mcp (tools include search_places). Docs: https://developers.google.com/maps/ai/grounding-lite | foursquare/foursquare-places-mcp on GitHub (https://github.com/foursquare/foursquare-places-mcp). The README says MCP is currently supported for local use only. |
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 Google Places API and Openpath vs Foursquare Places API.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Google Places API?
A Google Cloud project with billing enabled, plus an API key or OAuth token.
Is Google Places API free?
A free monthly usage cap for each SKU: 5,000 Text Search Pro or Nearby Search Pro calls, 1,000 at the Enterprise tier, 10,000 Place Details Essentials, and unlimited ID-only searches. The pricing page does not mention the old $200 monthly credit.
What do I need before I can use Foursquare Places API?
A Foursquare developer account and a Service API key. Usage beyond the free calls is paid through credits or a card on file.
Is Foursquare Places API free?
500 free Pro calls a month since June 1, 2026, by its docs; the pricing page also says “up to 10,000 free calls on Pro endpoints”.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Google Places API, read on October 15, 2026:
- developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing: “Places API Text Search Pro 4FDA-34B1-A910 5,000 $32.00”
- developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing: “Places API Text Search Enterprise E967-44BC-B44D 1,000 $35.00”
- developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing: “Places API Place Details Pro 4ED6-464A-2AFC 5,000 $17.00”
- developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing: “Places API Text Search Essentials (IDs Only) 635D-A9DD-C520 Unlimited”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/usage-and-billing: “To use the Places API, you must enable billing on each of your projects and include an API key or OAuth token”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/usage-and-billing: “if you select fields in both the Essentials and the Pro SKUs, you are billed based on the Pro SKU”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/data-fields: “International phone number internationalPhoneNumber Place Details Enterprise Text Search Enterprise Nearby Search Enterprise”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/data-fields: “Website URI websiteUri Place Details Enterprise Text Search Enterprise Nearby Search Enterprise”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/overview: “returns a JSON response. Places API (New) supports authorization by API key and OAuth token.”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/policies: “You must not pre-fetch, cache, or store Places API content beyond the allowed exceptions.”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/policies: “You can therefore store place ID values indefinitely.”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/policies: “When displaying Places API data without a Google Map, you must include the Google logo”
- cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/maps-service-terms: “Customer may temporarily cache latitude and longitude values from the Places API for up to 30 consecutive calendar days”
- cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/maps-service-terms: “Customer may use Google Maps Content from the Places API in Customer Applications without a corresponding Google Map.”
- cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms: “use Google Maps Content to improve machine learning and artificial intelligence models, including to train, test, validate or fine-tune the models”
- cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/maps-service-terms: “use Grounded Output to train, develop, or improve any machine learning models or artificial intelligence systems”
- developers.google.com/maps/ai/grounding-lite: “a service with Model Context Protocol (MCP) support”
- developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/overview: “built on one of the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive place models of the real world”
Foursquare Places API, read on October 15, 2026:
- foursquare.com/pricing: “0 – 500 Calls 501 to 100,000 Calls 100,001 to 500,000 Calls 500,001+ Calls $0.00 CPM $15.00 CPM $12.00 CPM $9.00 CPM”
- foursquare.com/pricing: “0 – 100,000 Calls 100,001 to 500,000 Calls 500,001+ Calls $18.75 CPM $15.00 CPM $11.25 CPM”
- foursquare.com/pricing: “Pro Premium $30.00 CPM $36.00 CPM”
- foursquare.com/pricing: “Enjoy up to 10,000 free calls on Pro endpoints.”
- docs.foursquare.com/developer/reference/upcoming-changes: “Beginning June 1, 2026, the following Places API & V2 Pro endpoint rates go into effect for all users”
- docs.foursquare.com/developer/reference/upcoming-changes: “You will now receive 500 free Pro calls.”
- docs.foursquare.com/data-products/docs/places-pro-and-premium: “tel: Telephone number of a POI with local formatting”
- docs.foursquare.com/data-products/docs/places-pro-and-premium: “email: Primary contact email address of organization, if available”
- foursquare.com/legal/terms/enterprise-developermasterterms: “access the Foursquare Service to develop or improve any point-of-interest or venue dataset, algorithm, or machine learning operation(s)”
- foursquare.com/legal/terms/enterprise-developermasterterms: “create derivative works of the Foursquare Service or any underlying data”
- foursquare.com/legal/terms/enterprise-developermasterterms: “point of interest data for New York City would be confidential, even if individual venue commercial addresses are public”
- foursquare.com/products/places-api: “100M+ POI across 200+ countries”
- foursquare.com/products/places-api: “Build AI Agents that are situationally aware and tailored to the user's surroundings with a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server”
- github.com/foursquare/foursquare-places-mcp: “Currently MCP is only supported for local use”