specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: Android
providerId: android
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Android
  - Mobile Development
  - Google Play
  - Maps
  - Firebase
  - AdMob
  - SDK
description: >-
  The Android developer surface is a multi-product platform spanning free SDKs
  (Android framework, Jetpack, NDK, ML Kit on-device, CameraX, Health Connect,
  Wear OS, Android TV, Android for Cars) and monetized Google services. Real
  pricing exists for Google Play (one-time $25 developer registration; 15% /
  30% service fee on paid apps and IAP, 15% on subscriptions and on first $1M
  annual revenue), Google Maps Platform (per-1000-call pricing after 10K
  monthly free events), and Firebase (Spark free tier with hard limits; Blaze
  pay-as-you-go on Cloud Storage at $0.026/GB and Realtime Database at $5/GB
  stored, $1/GB downloaded). AdMob is revenue-share, not pay-to-use.
sources:
  - https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622
  - https://developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing
  - https://firebase.google.com/pricing
  - https://developer.android.com/distribute/console/registration
plans:
  - id: android-sdk-free
    name: Android SDK & Jetpack
    type: freemium
    description: >-
      Core Android framework, Jetpack libraries, NDK, Android Studio, ML Kit
      on-device, CameraX, Health Connect, Wear OS, Android for Cars, Android
      TV, Compose, and Gemini Nano on-device APIs are free. No license fee,
      no per-call cost.
    entries:
      - label: Framework / Jetpack / NDK SDKs
        description: All on-device Android SDKs and Android Studio tooling
        name: sdks
        type: flat
        metric: download
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Android Platform APIs
      - name: Jetpack (Compose, Lifecycle, Room, etc.)
      - name: Android NDK
      - name: ML Kit (on-device)
      - name: CameraX
      - name: Health Connect
      - name: Wear OS
      - name: Android for Cars
      - name: Android TV
      - name: Gemini Nano on-device
      - name: Credential Manager
      - name: Accessibility APIs
  - id: android-google-play-publishing
    name: Google Play Console & Distribution
    type: subscription
    description: >-
      Google Play developer account is required to publish apps. One-time
      registration fee, then service fees apply on paid apps, in-app purchases,
      and subscriptions sold through Google Play Billing.
    entries:
      - label: Google Play Developer Registration
        description: One-time fee to create a Google Play developer account
        name: play_developer_registration
        type: flat
        metric: account
        limit: 1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$25'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Paid Apps & In-App Purchases (first $1M annual revenue)
        description: Service fee on the first $1M USD in earnings per developer per year
        name: play_service_fee_15
        type: metered
        metric: transaction
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '15%'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Paid Apps & In-App Purchases (above $1M annual revenue)
        description: Service fee on earnings above $1M USD per developer per year
        name: play_service_fee_30
        type: metered
        metric: transaction
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '30%'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Auto-Renewing Subscriptions
        description: Service fee on auto-renewing subscriptions, regardless of revenue tier
        name: play_subscription_fee
        type: metered
        metric: transaction
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '15%'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Alternative Billing (South Korea / India)
        description: Service-fee reduction when offering alternative billing in eligible regions
        name: play_alt_billing_discount
        type: metered
        metric: transaction
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: 'KR,IN'
        unit: 1
        price: 'standard rate minus 4%'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Google Play Console
      - name: Google Play Billing Library
      - name: Play Integrity API
      - name: Play Asset Delivery
      - name: Internal / Closed / Open Testing Tracks
      - name: Crashlytics + Vitals
  - id: android-maps-platform
    name: Google Maps Platform (Android SDK)
    type: usage-based
    description: >-
      Maps SDK for Android is free unlimited. Places, Geocoding, Directions,
      and Distance Matrix bill per 1,000 calls after a 10,000 monthly free
      event allowance. Pricing reflects the Maps Platform Essentials tier
      (May 2026).
    entries:
      - label: Maps SDK for Android
        description: Mobile map rendering on Android
        name: maps_sdk_android
        type: flat
        metric: request
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1000
        price: '$0 (unlimited)'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Places SDK Autocomplete
        description: Place autocomplete requests after 10K monthly free events
        name: places_autocomplete
        type: metered
        metric: request
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1000
        price: '$2.83'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Places Details
        description: Place details lookups after 10K monthly free events
        name: places_details
        type: metered
        metric: request
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1000
        price: '$5.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Geocoding
        description: Forward / reverse geocoding after 10K monthly free events
        name: geocoding
        type: metered
        metric: request
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1000
        price: '$5.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Directions (Routes Legacy)
        description: Routing requests after 10K monthly free events
        name: directions
        type: metered
        metric: request
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1000
        price: '$5.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Distance Matrix (Routes Legacy)
        description: Distance matrix requests after 10K monthly free events
        name: distance_matrix
        type: metered
        metric: request
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1000
        price: '$5.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Monthly Free Events
        description: Free events per product per month (Essentials tier)
        name: free_events
        type: quota
        metric: request
        limit: 10000
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Maps SDK for Android
      - name: Places SDK for Android
      - name: Geocoding API
      - name: Directions / Routes API
      - name: Distance Matrix API
  - id: android-firebase-spark
    name: Firebase Spark (Free)
    type: freemium
    description: >-
      Firebase Spark plan with no payment method required. Hard caps on
      Firestore, Realtime Database, Cloud Storage, and Authentication.
    entries:
      - label: Cloud Firestore Storage
        description: Document storage cap on Spark
        name: firestore_storage_spark
        type: quota
        metric: gb
        limit: 1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Cloud Firestore Reads
        description: Document reads per day on Spark
        name: firestore_reads_spark
        type: quota
        metric: read
        limit: 50000
        timeFrame: day
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Cloud Firestore Writes
        description: Document writes per day on Spark
        name: firestore_writes_spark
        type: quota
        metric: write
        limit: 20000
        timeFrame: day
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Realtime Database Storage
        description: RTDB storage cap on Spark
        name: rtdb_storage_spark
        type: quota
        metric: gb
        limit: 1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Realtime Database Connections
        description: Simultaneous connections on Spark
        name: rtdb_connections_spark
        type: quota
        metric: connection
        limit: 100
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Cloud Storage
        description: Storage cap on Spark (legacy buckets)
        name: storage_cap_spark
        type: quota
        metric: gb
        limit: 5
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Authentication MAUs
        description: Monthly Active Users on Spark
        name: auth_mau_spark
        type: quota
        metric: user
        limit: 50000
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Cloud Firestore
      - name: Realtime Database
      - name: Cloud Storage
      - name: Firebase Authentication
      - name: Firebase Hosting
      - name: Cloud Messaging
  - id: android-firebase-blaze
    name: Firebase Blaze (Pay-As-You-Go)
    type: usage-based
    description: >-
      Firebase Blaze plan billed at the underlying Google Cloud rates.
      Eligible accounts may receive $300 in free credit on signup.
    entries:
      - label: Realtime Database Storage
        description: Per-GB stored beyond the 1 GiB Spark allowance
        name: rtdb_storage_blaze
        type: metered
        metric: gb
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$5'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Realtime Database Downloads
        description: Per-GB downloaded beyond the 10 GiB Spark allowance
        name: rtdb_download_blaze
        type: metered
        metric: gb
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$1'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Cloud Storage
        description: Per-GB stored beyond the 5 GB Spark allowance
        name: storage_blaze
        type: metered
        metric: gb
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '$0.026'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Cloud Firestore (above Spark)
        description: Reads / writes / storage above Spark limits, billed at Google Cloud rates
        name: firestore_blaze
        type: metered
        metric: varies
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: 'see Google Cloud Firestore pricing'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Authentication (above Spark)
        description: MAUs above 50K Spark cap, billed at Identity Platform rates
        name: auth_blaze
        type: metered
        metric: user
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: 'see Google Cloud Identity Platform pricing'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: New Account Credit
        description: One-time signup credit for eligible accounts
        name: blaze_signup_credit
        type: flat
        metric: USD
        limit: 300
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '-$300'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: All Spark Features
      - name: Cloud Functions
      - name: Cloud Run Integration
      - name: Higher Quotas
      - name: BigQuery Export
  - id: android-admob-revenue-share
    name: Google AdMob (Revenue Share)
    type: usage-based
    description: >-
      AdMob is monetized for the developer (not paid by them). Google retains
      a small share of ad revenue; the rest is paid to the publisher per
      AdMob's published payment terms.
    entries:
      - label: Ad Revenue Share
        description: Revenue share retained by Google (rest paid to publisher); rate published in AdMob terms
        name: admob_revshare
        type: metered
        metric: impression
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: 'see AdMob terms (revenue share)'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Banner / Interstitial / Native / Rewarded Ad Formats
      - name: Mediation
      - name: Audience Reporting
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com
x-canonical:
  generated: '2026-10-08'
  vocabulary: all/0-working/economics/plans-canonical.yml
  models:
  - free
  - metered
  - subscription
  units:
  - data
  - money
  - negotiated
  - object
  - request
  - seat
  - transaction
  plans:
  - name: Android SDK & Jetpack
    access: freemium
    model: subscription
    model_how: derived
    units:
    - object
    periods:
    - per-use
  - name: Google Play Console & Distribution
    access: other
    model: subscription
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - object
    - transaction
    periods:
    - per-use
    - year
  - name: Google Maps Platform (Android SDK)
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - request
    periods:
    - month
  - name: Firebase Spark (Free)
    access: freemium
    model: free
    model_how: derived
    units:
    - data
    - object
    - other
    - seat
    periods:
    - day
    - month
    - per-use
  - name: Firebase Blaze (Pay-As-You-Go)
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - data
    - money
    - negotiated
    - seat
    periods:
    - month
    - per-use
  - name: Google AdMob (Revenue Share)
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - other
    periods:
    - per-use