Free store locator for Shopify: what "free" covers, and where it stops

Search for a free store locator on Shopify and you land on app listings, forum threads and video tutorials that all use "free" in different ways. For one, it means a map of a single shop. For another, it means an app with room for one location. For a third, it means a free app that sends the map bill to your own Google Cloud account.

Each of these can be the right answer. Start from two facts about your store: how many locations you have today, and what you want visitors to do on the page.

Route 1: embed a Google Map in a Shopify page

Shopify documents this route in its own help center. In Google Maps, find your shop, choose Share, then Embed map, and copy the <iframe> code. In Shopify, go to Online Store > Pages > Add page, switch the content editor to the HTML view and paste the code. The steps sit on the Shopify Help page about creating and editing pages.

On cost, this route holds up well. The Google Maps Platform pricing page lists Maps Embed with an unlimited free usage cap, so traffic never turns into a bill.

The limit is what the map does. An embed shows the one place you mapped. Visitors cannot search a city, sort shops by distance, scroll a list or see whether a shop is open right now. Each address needs its own embed, so a page with several shops becomes a stack of separate maps.

For a brand with one flagship store, that is enough. Add the address and opening hours as text under the map, then add the page to your menu. Shopify's menu documentation asks you to select the page from the list: a pasted URL can break the link and send visitors to a 404.

Route 2: the free plan of a locator app

Most of the store locator apps we checked on the Shopify App Store have a free plan. The location cap is what sets them apart. Here is what the listings showed on September 18, 2026 (Locastore figures come from its home page):

App	Free plan
Progus	1 location
S: Store Locator	1 location
SC Store Locator Map	1 location, map powered by Google Maps
Storemapper	1 location
TA MAPPY	2 locations
Store Locator & Google Map: SE	2 locations, 1 map widget
MS Google Maps & Store Locator	3 locations
MSL: Store Locators	Basic plan, up to 5 stores
Locastore	Up to 5 locations, full widget
MAPMIGO	"Unlimited stores" on the listing

A cap of one location covers the same ground as a Google embed, with a search box on top. With a cap of two to five, a small brand with a few shops or a short list of stockists fits inside the free plan. MAPMIGO stands apart, with unlimited stores listed on its free plan.

Once you pass the cap, the free plan becomes a monthly one. The first paid tiers on the same date:

• MSL: Store Locators Advance: $4.99, unlimited stores.
• Locastore Starter: $5, up to 30 locations.
• MS Google Maps & Store Locator: $5.99, up to 50 locations.
• S: Store Locator: $8.99, up to 100 locations.
• TA MAPPY: $9.99, up to 50 locations.
• Progus: $9.99, up to 100 locations.

Read what each free plan includes beyond the count, since listings describe their features plan by plan. Locastore Free, for example, keeps the full widget with all six display modes, search, geolocation, filters and opening hours. It also includes the one-click import of your Shopify locations and 30 days of analytics.

Locastore plans on the pricing section of the home page. Source: locastore.app, captured September 18, 2026.

For a wider comparison of these apps beyond their free tier, see our roundup of Shopify store locator apps.

The Google Maps catch: a free app can still send a bill

Apps that draw their map with the Google Maps JavaScript API ask for your own API key. That key belongs to a Google Cloud project with a billing account attached. The app plan can stay at $0 while every map load counts against your Google account.

Google's pricing page lists Dynamic Maps (Essentials) as free up to 10,000 map loads per month. Past that, Google charges $7.00 per 1,000 loads up to 100,000, then $5.60 per 1,000 from 100,001 to 500,000.

A locator page that stays under the free allowance costs nothing. A page that crosses it, during a sale or after a press mention, starts producing an invoice from Google, even though the app itself still says "Free". Before you pick a Google-based app, look at your monthly visits to the page where the map will sit.

Our guide on whether you need a Google Maps API key covers when a key applies and what it costs.

Route 3: a map on OpenStreetMap tiles

OpenStreetMap is a world map built by contributors and published as open data under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL). The OpenStreetMap copyright page sets two conditions: credit OpenStreetMap and its contributors, and make clear that the data is available under the ODbL. A library such as Leaflet draws the map in the browser, with no API key and no per-view bill.

The data costs nothing. The public tile servers are another matter. The OpenStreetMap Foundation's tile usage policy says donations and sponsorship fund them, capacity is limited, and service is best effort with no SLA. The Foundation can block heavy use without notice, and the policy asks heavy users to move to an OSM-derived service or run their own servers.

In practice, you rarely handle this yourself: the app that serves the OpenStreetMap map takes care of the tiles. Locastore draws its tiles from OpenStreetMap and renders them with Leaflet, so you set up no Google key, no billing account and no quota. Our OpenStreetMap store locator guide goes further into the licence and the attribution rules.

Which free route fits your store

One shop at a fixed address. The Google Map embed does the job and stays free at any traffic level. Put the hours in text next to it.

Up to five locations, with search and hours. An app free plan fits. Compare the caps in the table above, then check which map provider the app uses.

More than five locations. Most free caps stop before this point. MAPMIGO lists unlimited stores for free; elsewhere, the first paid tiers start at $4.99 or $5 per month.

A busy page on a Google-based app. Keep an eye on the 10,000 free map loads per month, or pick an app built on OpenStreetMap.

Whatever you choose, give the locator its own page and link it from the main menu. Our guide to adding a store locator to Shopify walks through the setup and where to place the page.

Locastore shows your stores, dealers and stockists on an OpenStreetMap map inside your storefront, and the map itself never costs you anything. The Free plan covers up to five locations with the full widget. Starter ($5 per month) goes up to 30 locations and Pro ($24 per month) removes the cap, both with a 14-day free trial.