HERE vs Google Maps
HERE is a European alternative to Google Maps: same search & internet use case, headquartered in Netherlands and governed by EU GDPR, while Google Maps (Google) is based in the United States.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- Primary privacy law
- EU GDPR
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- No
- Free tier
- No
Google Maps is the default navigation and local search tool for most smartphone users, free for consumers and funded in part by advertising. Developers who embed it pay usage-based API fees. Location histories end up with Google in Mountain View, California, well outside EU jurisdiction.
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
HERE vs Google Maps at a glance
| HERE | Google Maps | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Netherlands | United States |
| Data jurisdiction | EU / EEA | United States |
| Primary privacy law | EU GDPR | Requires DPA + transfer assessment |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Best for | Teams that need search & internet built for European data-protection requirements | Teams already invested in the Google ecosystem |
Choose HERE if…
- You want a provider governed by a European privacy regime
- GDPR or public-sector data-protection requirements apply to you
- You'd rather back the European tech ecosystem
Stick with Google Maps if…
- You depend on integrations only available in the Google ecosystem
- Your organisation has no EU data-residency constraints
- Migration costs outweigh the jurisdiction benefits for now
About HERE
HERE is a Dutch-headquartered location technology platform providing maps, routing, and automotive-grade location data to automakers, logistics operators, and enterprises. It powers navigation, fleet management, and automated driving with a unified live map covering more than 200 countries and territories.
The platform combines HD Live Map for road geometry, traffic signs, and route profiling with a cross-platform SDK, REST APIs, and tools for automated driving, digital cockpits, and anonymization of location data. Partnerships such as the SDV Accelerator with AWS extend HERE into software-defined vehicle architectures.
Key features:
- HD Live Map lane-level geometry for ADAS and autonomous driving
- HERE SDK iOS, Android, Flutter, and web development kits
- Global coverage maps and routing in 200+ countries
- Anonymizer privacy tooling for vehicle and sensor data
- Fleet and logistics APIs routing, matrix, and tolls for enterprise fleets
HERE is headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and operates under EU jurisdiction with a published Privacy Charter and Responsible AI Charter. The platform emphasises data minimisation and GDPR compliance, and its Anonymizer tool is designed to strip personally identifying information from vehicle location streams before processing.
Ranked number one in the Omdia Location Platform Index and used by more than 90 OEM brands, HERE powers over 238 million shipped vehicles for customers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Ford, Bosch, Continental, SAP, Oracle, and Uber, offering a credible European alternative to Google Maps Platform for enterprise and automotive workloads.
Why choose HERE over Google Maps?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. Google Maps is headquartered in the United States, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes: the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
HERE removes that overhead. As a Netherlands-based provider, it operates under EU GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors such as health, public administration, and finance, that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.