Ola Maps To Challenge Google Maps with Reduced Pricing & New Features

Krutrim, the AI startup founded by Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal, has unveiled a new pricing structure for Ola Maps, intensifying competition with Google's long-standing dominance in India's digital mapping sector.

Aggarwal's announcement comes just a day after tech giant Google revealed significant price cuts for its Google Maps platform in India at its Google I/O Connect developer event in Bengaluru.

Krutrim's strategy aims to boost the adoption of its mapping and location-based services among developers. It offers a free tier that allows up to 5 million API calls per month. According to Aggarwal, this tier will cover "almost all startups in India." For higher volumes, Ola Maps claims its rates are 50% lower than Google's newly reduced prices.

Krutrim is waiving charges for the first two years for developers who commit to Ola Maps for over three years. The company is also partnering with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to provide three years of free access to Ola Maps APIs for all startups and small businesses building on the ONDC platform.

Krutrim's aggressive pricing strategy follows Google's announcement of up to 90% price reductions for its Maps platform in India, effective August 1, 2024. Google also revealed plans to accept payments in Indian Rupees, a move which Aggarwal criticized as "long overdue."

The company claims solid initial traction, with over 10,000 developers signing up for the platform. Notable adopters include Astro India AI and KPN Fresh Product, which use various Ola Maps services for their operations.

Aggarwal also revealed that Krutrim plans to launch new APIs, SDKs, and features in the coming months. These include advanced routing capabilities, place search functionalities, and map customization tools. The company also aims to release SDKs for web, Android, and iOS platforms, as well as a Map Style Editor and a dedicated test environment