Brave has announced an API that competes with the Google Maps API. It obtains information from Brave’s index, which is a growing list of over 200 million places worldwide.

An official blog post from Brave elaborates on the new API and provides statistical comparisons with the Google Maps API. Their premise: Comparable quality to Google’s offering, but a lower price.

This API is already in use for Brave Search, which handles over 2 billion queries monthly. It also powers the Brave Search map. For now, cost is set at $5 (flat) per 1000 requests. Comparatively, Google Maps API starts at $32 to $35 for 1000 requests, making Brave’s option much more affordable.

The article also includes some side-by-side comparisons and demonstrations. You can find the relevant image attached below.

If you don’t have the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, you also have the option to just use the name instead (such as location=tokyo japan). There’s also Explore mode, which displays what’s around a specific point/area.

The results will be returned with:

Name, URL, coordinates, and the full postal address.
Ratings, review counts, categories, cuisine, and price range.
Opening hours, phone, email, and timezone.
Photos and distance.

Brave argues that all of this information comes directly from the $5 tier and that Google charges more for additional attributes. The table below represents the full cost breakdown in tabular format (obtained via Brave).

The post goes on to explain how it’s useful for apps and agents. You can use it to discover places “Near me,” use it as a Travel guide, check out Business directories, and more.

Despite Brave also admitting that Google Maps is the more mature product, the company claims that Brave also has its own strengths. Brave wins in coverage and is apparently better for ambiguous names, streets, and addresses. Those who live in a place that has a very long name, it might work well for them.

Finally, Brave’s Maps is also built on an independent index. Since most search engines just use data from Google, Brave claims that there’s no data retention, no risk of scraping, and more.

Brave Place Search is already live on the Search plan, and for now, there’s $5 in free credit every month. You have to subscribe to get a key.

In other Brave news, the browser recently got a small update with some bug fixes. More on that here. It’s not like they’re just focusing on developers either, since tab workspaces are now available in Nightly testing.

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