Updated Oct 2026

Google Maps Reviews API

What Places API really gives you, and how to get every review of your own locations instead.

The Google Maps reviews API is Places API: request a place’s reviews field and Google returns a maximum of 5 reviews, sorted by relevance, billed at $25 per 1,000 requests at list price. It’s read-only and its content can’t be stored beyond Google’s exceptions. If the places are your own, the Google Business Profile API (or Prisma, which handles that API for you) returns every review and lets you reply.

Get API key

Own the locations? Get all their reviews, not 5. 2 locations free.

How the official Google Maps reviews API (Places API) works

Reviews you see on Google Maps are exposed to developers through Places API (New), part of Google Maps Platform. There’s no standalone “Maps reviews” endpoint: reviews are one field of a Place.

The request

You call Place Details with a place ID, an API key and a field mask. The field mask is mandatory: Google returns an error if you omit it.

curl "https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places/ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4" \
  -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: $GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-Goog-FieldMask: displayName,rating,userRatingCount,reviews"

Each review includes the rating, the text, the author’s display name and photo, and the publish time. rating and userRatingCount give you the overall score and total count, even though only 5 reviews come back.

The 5-review limit

Google’s reference is explicit: “A maximum of 5 reviews can be returned”, sorted by relevance. There is no page token for reviews. Asking again tomorrow may return the same 5, or a different 5, at Google’s discretion.

Google Places API pricing for reviews

Field masks decide your bill. Basic fields are cheap; reviews (and the AI reviewSummary) pushes the request into the Place Details Enterprise + Atmosphere SKU:

Storage and display rules

From Google’s Places API policies: you must not pre-fetch, cache or store Places content beyond the allowed exceptions, though place IDs can be stored indefinitely. When you display reviews, you must credit the author, ideally with avatar, name and profile link, and at minimum the avatar when space is tight.

What Google Maps reviews via Places API don’t tell you

You can’t see your newest bad review. Relevance sorting means a one-star review from an hour ago may not be in the 5. Alerting and response workflows built on Places will miss exactly the reviews that matter.

You can’t reply. Places API is read-only. No endpoint exists there to answer a review.

You can’t build history. Because the content can’t be stored beyond the policy exceptions, a dashboard of “reviews over time” or an export to your warehouse is off the table. If you need a spreadsheet, see the owner route below or our tool to export Google reviews from connected locations.

Polling costs add up quietly. 100 places checked every hour is 72,000 requests a month. At $25 per 1,000 that’s about $1,775 after the free tier, for at most 5 reviews per place.

Widgets are the one place it fits. Showing 5 recent-ish reviews next to a map, with proper attribution, is what Places was designed for. If that’s your goal, our Google Maps reviews widget and the guide to embed Google reviews cover it.

Scrapers fill the gap, with risk. Plenty of tools sell “Google Maps reviews scraper” access to get past the 5-review limit for any business. Before you go there, read Google Reviews API vs scraper.

Read and reply to Google Maps reviews with Prisma

If the places are yours (or your clients’, with their authorization), you don’t need Places at all. Prisma connects each location by OAuth through the Google Business Profile API, which returns every review and supports replies. We already have Google’s approval, so you skip the access queue.

curl: all reviews, not 5

curl "https://api.prismareviews.com/v1/reviews?location_id=loc_8f2a&platform=google" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PRISMA_API_KEY"

Node.js: reply to the low ratings

const API = "https://api.prismareviews.com/v1";
const headers = {
  Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.PRISMA_API_KEY}`,
  "Content-Type": "application/json"
};

const { data } = await (await fetch(`${API}/reviews?platform=google&since=2026-10-01`, { headers })).json();
for (const r of data.filter(r => r.rating <= 3 && !r.reply)) {
  await fetch(`${API}/reviews/${r.id}/reply`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers,
    body: JSON.stringify({ text: `Thanks for telling us, ${r.author}. We're on it.` })
  });
}

Python: migrate a Places integration

import os, requests

# Before: places.googleapis.com/v1/places/{place_id} with X-Goog-FieldMask: reviews  -> max 5
# After: every review for each connected location
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['PRISMA_API_KEY']}"}
locations = requests.get("https://api.prismareviews.com/v1/locations", headers=headers).json()["data"]
for loc in locations:
    reviews = requests.get(
        "https://api.prismareviews.com/v1/reviews",
        params={"location_id": loc["id"], "platform": "google"},
        headers=headers,
    ).json()["data"]
    print(loc["id"], len(reviews))

Every review arrives with id, platform, location_id, rating, text, author, created_at, reply and url. Subscribe to the review.created webhook instead of polling. Useful for multi-location brands running dozens of Maps listings.

Places API vs Prisma for Google Maps reviews

Keep Places API for maps, directories and travel apps that show a few reviews of places you don’t own, with attribution.

Use Prisma when the places are yours and you need every review, replies or history. For a broader comparison of both official routes, see the Google Reviews API page, and pricing for per-location costs.

FAQ

How many reviews does the Google Maps Places API return?

A maximum of 5 per place, sorted by relevance. There’s no pagination to get more.

How do I get all Google Maps reviews for a place?

If you own or manage the place, through the Google Business Profile API (directly or via Prisma), which paginates through every review. For places you don’t manage, Places API stops at 5.

How much does the Google Maps reviews API cost?

Requesting the reviews field bills the Place Details Enterprise + Atmosphere SKU: $25 per 1,000 requests at list price, with 1,000 free requests per month.

Can I store Google Maps reviews from Places API in my database?

Not beyond the exceptions in Google’s Places API policies. Place IDs can be stored indefinitely; review content can’t be pre-fetched, cached or stored outside those exceptions.

Can I reply to Google Maps reviews with an API?

Not with Places API. Replies go through the Google Business Profile API, which requires owner or manager access. Prisma exposes it as one POST call.