How to scrape Google Maps with Python
One endpoint, every business as clean JSON, saved to CSV.
How do you scrape Google Maps?
Scraping Google Maps yourself means driving a browser and parsing a page that keeps changing. Here you send one HTTP request and get clean JSON back, or the same rows as CSV.
- 1
Create a free account. Try it free, no card needed.
- 2
Copy your key from the dashboard. One key works for every endpoint.
- 3
Run the curl below, or the Python after it. Every business lands as a clean row.
First a quick test with curl:
Then the same call in Python with the requests library. Install it with pip install requests, drop in a key, and run:
Here are two of the businesses that came back, shown as CSV so they drop straight into Sheets or a CRM:
Change q to any search you would type into the Maps box, like plumbers in Miami or dentists near 90210.
What data do you get?
Every place comes complete, so you build a lead list or a dataset with no second call. The same record as CSV, ready for Sheets or a database:
Or the same record as JSON, exactly as the API returns it:
vs writing your own scraper
You can build a Maps scraper yourself, and plenty of tutorials show how. The trade is maintenance; here is the difference in practice.
| Writing it yourself | CrustAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Install a headless browser, handle blocks and page changes | One GET request, no browser |
| Output | Parse the HTML yourself; fields break when the layout changes | Clean JSON with every field named, or the same rows as CSV |
| Maintenance | Fix the scraper each time the page changes | We keep it working |
| Free tier | Free, but you pay in time and blocked requests | $6 of free usage each month |
| Cost model | Server, proxy, and developer time | The Maps rate per business returned; empty searches free |
| Storing the data | Yours to manage | No storage limits. Export to CSV or a database |
How much does scraping Google Maps cost?
You pay the Maps rate for each business a search returns. Twenty businesses cost $0.0392 at standard Maps prices; a search that returns none costs nothing.
| Deposit | Google Search / 1,000 requests | Maps / 1,000 businesses | LinkedIn reads / 1,000 requests | People, Jobs, Refresh / 1,000 units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10+ | $1.00 | $1.96 | $6.00 | $1.96 |
| $149+ | $0.76 | $1.49 | $4.50 | $1.49 |
| $549+ | $0.56 | $1.10 | $3.30 | $1.10 |
| $1,999+ | $0.41 | $0.80 | $2.45 | $0.80 |
| $6,500+ | $0.33 | $0.65 | $1.95 | $0.65 |
| $27,500+ | $0.28 | $0.55 | $1.65 | $0.55 |
| $50,000+ | $0.26 | $0.50 | $1.50 | $0.50 |
| $100,000+ | $0.20 | $0.40 | $1.50 | $0.40 |
Every eligible account gets $6 of free usage monthly. Each deposit keeps its prices until spent; paid funds never expire. People and Jobs bill per successful search, Refresh per accessible profile. Full profiles in People use the read rate per full profile. See all billing details.
Larger deposits unlock lower endpoint prices. Each deposit keeps its prices until spent. See the full deposit table on the pricing page. Prices in USD, ex-tax.
Funds are prepaid and never expire, so an unused pack is still yours next year.
Who scrapes Google Maps?
- Lead gen teams. Pull every business in a niche with phone and website, straight into a CSV.
- Developers. Feed a CRM or app with fresh business data from one scheduled script.
- SEO agencies. Track map rank, rating, and review count for clients and rivals, per city.
- Analysts. Count a market: how many coffee shops, their ratings, and which areas are growing.
Save the results to a CSV file
Because the response is plain JSON, Python's built-in csv module writes it to a file in a few lines, no extra libraries. This reads every business and writes one row each:
Open places.csv in Sheets or Excel and you have a finished lead list. Swap the query, run it again, and append to build a bigger dataset.
Related: Google Maps Scraper API · Google Search API · Google News API · API docs
When a different tool fits better: live driving directions, real-time traffic, or a contract with a formal SLA are Google Cloud products, not scraping. This endpoint returns the public business listing anyone sees on the map, which is what most lead-gen and research work needs, but it is not the official Places API.
Common questions
No. With the CrustAPI endpoint you send one HTTP request with the requests library and get clean JSON back. There is no browser to drive and no HTML to parse, so the code above is the whole scraper.
Name, full address, phone, website, category, star rating, review count, price level, coordinates, opening hours, a photo thumbnail, booking links, and the result's rank position. Enough to build a lead list or a dataset without a second call.
Logged-out, public-only collection has repeatedly defeated computer-fraud and contract claims. What you get is the same public business listing anyone sees on the map.
A search returns the places Google shows for that query. At standard Maps prices, 20 businesses cost $0.0392. Empty results cost nothing. Larger deposits get lower rates.
The response is plain JSON, so Python's built-in csv module writes it to a file in a few lines. The Save to CSV section above has the exact code, no extra libraries.
Yes. Try it free, no credit card, and paid funds never expire. That is enough to pull several full result pages while you build.
Clay
Try it on a city you know
the free plan covers a real search. Run one query and look at the JSON that comes back.
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