Stadia Maps | Google Maps Platform alternative

Hello Dev.to 👋

We're Stadia Maps, a bootstrapped provider of map tiles, static maps, and routing. We've been in operation for about a year, but only open to the public for a few months.

We offer:

• raster & vector map tiles
• static maps
• routing

With the new Google Maps Platform pricing, we want to reiterate our commitment to transparent pricing, simple integration, and privacy-respecting services. I'll be around to answer questions as you have them.

We also want to learn from you:

• How do you use maps?
• What do you wish you could do with a map?
• What is your biggest pain-point with using maps?

Happy mapping! 🗺

Comments

[markuuu]

If your commitment is to transparent pricing, why is it that search engines yield no results with pricing when searching "stadia maps pricing" and your web site does not provide an easy to access pricing, at least not without requiring the user to first have to provide you with their credit card information?

[Luke Seelenbinder]

Hello @markuuu ,

We definitely want our pricing to be simple and transparent. I'm sorry you experienced the opposite. Perhaps this is a deficiency of our marketing site (something we are in the process of completely overhauling).

You can find our pricing readily available on our home page, no signup necessary: stadiamaps.com/#tiers. However, perhaps it's not always obvious there is more content on the page.

I hope this helps!

Luke

[shongololo]

The scalable pricing scheme is great. I wish you the best.

[Kushan Joshi]

It is great to see an alternative to Google Maps, but I can’t see how Stadia differentiates itself from Mapbox ?

[Luke Seelenbinder]

That's a good question, Kushan. I also notice you're a developer at Mapbox. :)

You're right in that differentiation points are not immediately obvious (this is something we need to address in our marketing material).

Here's a few points:

• Price: Mapbox utilizes usage-based billing, which is great, until your bill varies significantly month-to-month and it's impossible to budget. We use tier-based pricing with soft limiting, which means if you exceed your limits for a day or two, nothing happens, because we understand usage will vary from month-to-month. This allows consistent prices every month without worrying a spike in traffic will take your maps down. We also do not require a enterprise plan ($500 / month + usage) for applications such as asset tracking or login-protected pages.
• Goals: Mapbox is a venture-funded startup, so their goal is to capture as much of the user-base as possible, and then extract as much value as possible from it for their investors (I don't mean this in the negative, it's just the reality of venture-funded startups). We are a bootstrapped startup. Our goal is to consistently create value for customers and slowly grow in a sustainable way. We plan to be here in 10 years by keeping our customers happy—if Mapbox doesn't keep their investors happy, it doesn't really matter if their customers are happy.