Analytics and monitoring decision
Google Maps Timeline
A single technical user can build and maintain a client-side visualizer replacement in about a week; the site itself is static/browser-only and prior-art self-hostable projects exist.
Visit website↗Not priced
No pricing page we fetched carried a figure, so there is nothing to compare against. The build side is still real.
$50one-off25 h to build
$0/mo1 h/mo upkeep
No published price to break even against.
No open-source build does this yet
Nothing published replaces this one, so a replacement starts from an empty file. Here is what it would have to cover.
What a replacement has to do
- User uploads Google Maps Location History JSON → app parses and validates the file → render routes/places on an interactive map and timeline → allow export/share of visualizations
What it still won’t have
- Hosted site and domain convenience (someone else running the public instance)
- Donations/sponsor infrastructure provided by the project's maintainer
- Any guaranteed uptime, CDN, or packaged analytics the hosted site provides
- Built-in support for a hosted Google API key (the site notes self-hosting may require one)
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
No published price
Google Maps Timeline does not publish a price we could read, so there is nothing to compare against. What building costs is below.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a single-page web app (React + TypeScript + Vite) that runs entirely client-side and visualizes Google Location History JSON. Core features in scope: (1) drag-and-drop or file-picker upload and strict validation of Google Location History JSON, (2) parse locations/activities/timestamps into normalized GeoJSON, (3) interactive map rendering with Leaflet (vector tiles) showing routes, markers, and day/time filters, (4) timeline playback controls (play/pause/speed) and date-range selector, (5) client-side export to KML/GeoJSON and PNG snapshot, (6) privacy: do not send files off-device and clear state on reload. Out of scope: multi-user backend storage, server-side processing, paid map tile hosting. Require robust error handling for malformed JSON, unit tests for parsing logic, end-to-end tests for upload→render flow, and CI to build a static bundle suitable for Netlify or GitHub Pages.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Build verdict base78
- 4 cited sources+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score85
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productGoogle Maps Timeline Visualizer — Upload Your Location History
- official productGoogle Maps Timeline Visualizer — privacy/backend claim
- official productGoogle Maps Timeline Visualizer — open source claim
- official productGoogle Maps Timeline Visualizer — pricing/donation claim
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
