Is Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Creating it, claiming it, verifying it and running it cost nothing, and Google has never charged for any of it. If you are being billed, you are being billed by somebody else. Here is what that somebody is charging for, which parts of it are real work, and what it is reasonable to pay.
Free from Google, permanently
- • Creating a Business Profile, or claiming one that already exists
- • Verification, by postcard, phone, email or video
- • Your name, address, phone number, hours and website on the listing
- • Photos, posts, products, services and the menu
- • Reading and replying to every review you get
- • Messages from customers, and the basic performance numbers
- • Appearing in Google Maps and in local search results
The only thing Google sells around a listing is advertising, and that is a separate product you choose to buy. A profile with no ad spend at all is not throttled, hidden or downgraded.
So what are Indian businesses actually paying for?
Four things turn up on almost every quote. Two of them are worth money, one is being sold back to you free, and one cannot be delivered by anyone.
Setting up and verifying the listing
Commonly billed as a one-time fee of two to ten thousand rupees. This is the free part. The work is real, in that somebody has to sit and do it, but it is an afternoon, and once it is verified it does not need doing again.
Monthly listing management
Two and a half to twenty-five thousand rupees a month is the usual range quoted in India, and it is that wide because what is inside it varies enormously. At the bottom it is often one GBP post a month and nothing else. At the top it can include real photography, replies to every review, and local rank tracking.
Review collection
Worth paying for if it means a QR code, printed material and messages after a visit. Not worth paying for if the reviews are supplied rather than collected, which is a different product being sold under the same word, and it gets your listing restricted.
Ranking guarantees
Nobody controls where Google ranks a business, and the local pack is three slots in a city full of competitors. A guaranteed number one is a claim the seller cannot honour, and the usual way out is a keyword nobody searches for.
What you should never pay for
- Anyone who phones claiming to be from Google and asks for money to keep your listing live
- Verification itself, in any form. Google does not charge for it and cannot be paid to speed it up
- Reviews, in bundles or one by one. They get removed and the profile can be restricted
- Getting a genuine review deleted. It cannot be bought, and the attempt is what gets reported
- A number found in search results advertising Google Business customer care in India
What is genuinely worth paying for
Everything on this list is free to do yourself. None of it gets done, which is the honest reason software exists for it.
Somebody actually asking for reviews
The single thing that changes a listing. Not a reminder to ask, but a system that asks every customer, in their language, without anyone having to remember.
Replies that go out the same day
Free to do, expensive in attention. What you are buying is the draft already waiting when you open your phone, not the typing.
Being told when something happens
A one-star review at 9pm on a Saturday is worth knowing about on Saturday. Checking the listing manually is how a complaint sits unanswered for three weeks.
The work you will not do yourself
Photos kept current, hours right before every holiday, categories and attributes that match what you do. Each is small and free, and together they are the reason one listing outranks another.
And what Sunaam costs
Monthly, cancellable, and priced for a single-outlet business rather than for a retainer. Yearly works out at ten months, so two are free.
Lite
₹99
per month
Standard
₹299
per month
Growth
₹799
per month
Business
₹1,499
per month
What you are buying is the asking, the drafting, the alerting and the keeping current, not the listing. The Business Profile stays free and stays yours: connect Sunaam and you can disconnect it again, and the listing is untouched.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Creating, claiming, verifying and managing a Google Business Profile costs nothing, and Google has never charged for it. Your listing appearing on Google Maps and in local search is free too. What costs money is either advertising, which is a separate Google product, or someone doing the work for you.
What are the charges for a Google My Business listing?
Google charges nothing. The bills people see come from agencies and freelancers. In India, setup is commonly quoted at two to ten thousand rupees one time and management at two and a half to twenty-five thousand rupees a month. Before paying either, ask exactly what is done each month, because at the lower end it is often a single post.
Google par free listing kaise kare?
Search for your business on Google while signed in. If a listing already exists, claim it; if not, create one. Fill in the name exactly as it is on your signage, the address, the phone number and the category, then complete whichever verification Google offers you. All of it is free. Sunaam can walk you through the same steps in Hindi or Bengali, but the listing itself never costs anything.
Someone called saying my Google listing will be deleted unless I pay. Is that real?
No. Google does not phone Indian businesses asking for payment to keep a listing live, and there is no 24x7 Google Business helpline in India for anyone to be calling from. Do not pay, and never read out a verification code or an OTP to a caller, because that code is what hands over control of your listing.
So why would I pay for a tool like Sunaam?
For the work, not for the listing. Sunaam asks every customer for a review, drafts your replies in the language the review was written in, alerts you when a low rating lands, and keeps the listing itself current. Plans start at ₹99 a month. The Google Business Profile underneath stays free whether you use Sunaam or not.
Do I need to pay Google Ads to show up on Maps?
No. Ranking in Maps and the local pack is unpaid, and it is driven by relevance, distance and how well known the business is, which includes your reviews. Ads can buy a slot above those results, but they are a separate spend and they stop the day you stop paying.
Next: how to verify your Business Profile, the free review link generator and how the review tools compare.
Sunaam is an independent service operated by Teknesya Networks Pvt Ltd, and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Google. Google Business Profile is available directly from Google at no charge. Sunaam charges only for its own software, AI drafting, alerts and management tools. Third-party prices quoted above are typical market rates in India, not Sunaam's, and are given for comparison.