There are dozens of tools that promise to let you scrape Google Maps for free. Most of them have significant limitations buried in the fine print — a low record cap, no email enrichment, or a free trial that expires after a week.
We tested six of the most popular options to give you an honest picture of what's actually free, what you get, and where the paywalls kick in.
What we tested
For each tool, we ran the same test: search for "restaurants in Chicago" and try to collect 100+ records with business name, phone, website, and email. We noted:
- How many records the free tier actually allows
- Whether email addresses are included in the free plan
- How easy it is to get started without a credit card
- Data accuracy and completeness
The tools, compared
LeadsMap — Chrome Extension
- Free tier: 100 leads/scrape, CSV export, basic email scan
- Paid: Unlimited leads, deep email scan, Excel, cloud sync from $4.9/mo
- Best for: Sales reps and marketers who want a simple no-code tool
- Verdict: Best overall free option
Apify Google Maps Scraper — Cloud (API / UI)
- Free tier: $5 free credit on sign-up (~1,250 records)
- Paid: Pay-per-record (~$0.004/record)
- Best for: Developers and large bulk jobs
- Verdict: Best for scale, not truly free
Outscraper — Cloud (web UI)
- Free tier: Limited free tier (requires sign-up)
- Paid: Pay-per-record
- Best for: Non-technical users who need a simple web interface
- Verdict: Easy to use but expensive at scale
G Maps Extractor — Chrome Extension
- Free tier: Basic data, limited records
- Paid: Full features from ~$9.99/mo
- Best for: Users who want a desktop app feel
- Verdict: Works well but free tier is restrictive
gosom/google-maps-scraper (GitHub) — Open source (CLI)
- Free tier: Fully free, unlimited
- Paid: N/A
- Best for: Developers comfortable with the command line
- Verdict: Best free option for technical users
Scrap.io — Cloud (web UI)
- Free tier: Trial only, no ongoing free tier
- Paid: Subscription plans
- Best for: Teams needing pre-built databases
- Verdict: Not a free option
The honest truth about "free" Google Maps scrapers
Most tools market themselves as free but gate the useful features immediately. The pattern is consistent: you can sign up and try with a handful of records, but anything beyond a basic data dump requires a paid plan.
The main things that get paywalled are:
- Volume — most free tiers cap at 50–200 records per day or per search
- Email enrichment — extracting emails by visiting business websites is almost always a paid feature
- Export formats — CSV is usually free; Excel and Google Sheets export is often paid
- Concurrency / speed — free tiers run slow; paid plans are faster
Which is actually the best free option?
For non-technical users: LeadsMap
LeadsMap gives you 100 leads per scrape with full data fields including phone and website, plus a basic email scan of each business's homepage — all for free. You don't need to sign up to download your CSV. For sales reps and marketers who need targeted lists of local businesses, this covers most real-world use cases at no cost.
For developers: gosom/google-maps-scraper
The open-source CLI tool by gosom on GitHub is genuinely unlimited and free. It requires some technical setup (Go installation, running from the terminal) but produces clean structured output and has no record caps. If you're comfortable with the command line, this is the best truly free option.
When does it make sense to pay?
A paid tool makes sense when:
- You need to scrape more than 500 records per day regularly
- Email enrichment is critical to your workflow (deep scanning of contact pages)
- You need to run automated, scheduled jobs without manual intervention
- Your team needs cloud sync and shared access to lead lists
At $4.9/month, LeadsMap' Starter plan removes all record limits, adds deep email scanning (visiting contact and about pages, not just the homepage), and syncs your leads to the cloud. That's a fraction of the per-record cost you'd pay with Apify or Outscraper for any meaningful volume.
Bottom line
If you want to try Google Maps scraping without spending anything, start with LeadsMap (Chrome extension, 100 free leads per search, no sign-up) or the open-source gosom scraper if you're technical. Both will give you a clear picture of whether this approach works for your use case before you commit to a paid plan.