Migration to Mapbox Services and Brexit Price Changes

In our previous blog post we mentioned that some of the Google services that Speedy Route is built on now have different licensing terms than in previous years.

Commercial websites such as Speedy Route have to pay to use Google's services by purchasing an (expensive) license, and we have done so annually for the 3 years we've been online (since 2013). Google's new license terms monitor usage of interactive websites such as Speedy Route in a different way than previously, such that the license is 'used up' much more quickly than before. In fact, this year's licence was used up in just 3 weeks instead of lasting a full year, even though Speedy Route had not changed.

Google Maps has been a large part of Speedy Route's story over the last 3 years, and we couldn't have got this far without them. However, Google's new licensing terms are prohibitively expensive, and we would have to at least double our prices (e.g. to $100+ for a monthly subscription) to continue using Google Services.

Speedy Route is therefore pleased to announce we have now migrated to a new mapping platform, provided by Mapbox and OpenStreetMap technology. There should be very little difference to you, our customers, as the functionality and operation of Speedy Route remains exactly the same as before. The displayed map now looks slightly different as it is a Mapbox map and not a Google one. The only casualty is Real Time traffic calculations, which we can no longer offer as Mapbox does not currently provide this information, but this may change in the future.

We have also taken this opportunity to update our British Pound Sterling prices in the wake of Brexit to match our U.S. Dollar subscription prices (which have not changed). As a U.S. corporation our costs are in Dollars, and we occasionally adjust our international prices to match.

Our subscriptions are still excellent value at £38 or $46.50 per month, and we hope the 'peek behind the scenes' above shows how we keep working hard at Speedy Route to provide you with a competitively priced service.

If you have any comments or questions about the new look Speedy Route, please feel free to contact us by email or on Twitter.

Free Route Calculations Limited To One Per 24 Hours

Speedy Route is built on top of several commercial Google services, and due in part to some recent licensing changes, we have now reduced the number of free route calculations offered by Speedy Route to one free route calculation for each visitor, per rolling 24 hour period.

This means visitors can still calculate an optimal route of up to 12 locations in Speedy Route for free, but will then have to wait for 24 hours until another free route calculation can be made.

There is no change to our paid service however. Customers who purchase a Speedy Route subscription can continue to make an unlimited number of optimal route calculations, with each route containing up to 500 locations.

Our subscriptions are fantastic value, starting at just $8.50 for 48 hours' access to unlimited route calculations, or $46.50 for monthly access, so purchase your Speedy Route subscription today!