Is Google map mobile SDK no longer free?
Yes and no. You'll need an API key and a valid billing method. That being said, the first 200$ (I assume USD) of usage is free
We’ve heard that you want simple, easy to understand pricing that gives you access to all our core APIs. That’s one of the reasons we merged our Standard and Premium plans to form one pay-as-you go pricing plan for our core products. With this new plan, developers will receive the first $200 of monthly usage for free. We estimate that most of you will have monthly usage that will keep you within this free tier.
From https://mapsplatform.googleblog.com/2018/05/introducing-google-maps-platform.html
After that, your credit card will be charged. To estimate your usage you can refer to this pricing table: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/sheet/
All the below points are taken from the official documentation.
@Marco's answer is correct on one point: you need an API key to have full access to the service.
Also, in June 2016 we announced that we would stop supporting keyless usage, meaning any request that doesn’t include an API key or Client ID. This will go into effect on June 11th, and keyless access will no longer be supported. At that time, keyless calls to the Maps JavaScript API and Street View API will return low-resolution maps watermarked with “for development purposes only.” Keyless calls to any of the following APIs will return an error: Maps Static API (including Static Street View), Directions API, Distance Matrix API, Geocoding API, Geolocation API, Places API, Roads API, and Time Zone API.
Here they are talking about the Javascript API but I could not find contradictory information about other APIs (iOS, Android) so I believe this applies to all APIs.
About billing
This page says the following:
Is a credit card or billing account required?
Yes. Even though the first $200 a month is free, we ask for your credit card or billing account to cover any amount you spend over this free credit. When you’re billed, we'll credit your account for the first $200 of monthly usage. If your estimated usage will be above $200 a month and you don’t have a credit or debit card to set up a billing account, a local Google Maps Partner may be able to help.
In other words: YES, you need a billing account and a credit card (or a Google Maps Partner).
This page is the guide for existing users and it says:
Is a credit card or billing account required?
Even though your first $200 of monthly usage is free, all Google Cloud Platform services require a credit card and billing account, to cover any amount you spend over this free credit. If you are billed, we'll credit your account for the first $200 of monthly usage. If you choose not to add a billing account, there is a risk that if your usage exceeds $200 in a given month, your Maps API implementation will be degraded or other API requests will return an error. If your estimated usage will be above $200 a month and you don't have a credit or debit card to set up a billing account, a local Google Maps Partner may be able to help.
In other words: NO, existing users don't need a billing account although it's strongly advised to have one.
Clarification is needed from Google! Hopefully this topic will get updated soon.
To add to the other answers, pricing is different for the "google map SDK for mobile devices", aka Mobile Native Dynamic/Static Maps for Android and iOS (which you mentioned in your question, and it's tagged with).
From the Google Maps pricing sheet, it seems that all use of the Mobile Native APIs is free, while the traditional (web based) Dynamic and Static maps are chargeable as others described above.
- $200 MONTHLY CREDIT EQUIVALENT FREE USAGE: Unlimited loads
- 0—100,000 MONTHLY VOLUME RANGE (PRICE PER THOUSAND CALLS): $0.00
- 100,001-500,000 MONTHLY VOLUME RANGE (PRICE PER THOUSAND CALLS): $0.00
And it's possible to add usage caps to force your usage of the web-based (chargeable) APIs to stay within the free tier. This does mean that your maps will stop working if your users cause you to exceed the usage caps, but at least you won't be charged.