Pro version subscription fee goes from $399 to free of charge

oke efagene 11:44 - 02 February 2015

What's so different about Google Earth Pro that once made it $400 a year? It is primarily useful for project planning and tinkering with data.

Google has slashed the subscription fee for Google Earth Pro, dropping it from $400 a year to free of charge.

However, you will still need a key from Google to unlock the Pro features, after filling out a quick form.

Despite the "free trial" indicated in the URL, the new free license should work indefinitely. Then you can download the free Pro client from right here.

You may want to ask: what's so different about Google Earth Pro that once made it $400 a year? It is primarily useful for project planning and tinkering with data.

Then again, it's not exactly something everyone would need, but it's free now so you just might want to try it out.

Below are some of the things it can do that the non-Pro version can't:

Print images at 4800×3200; non-Pro is capped at 1000×1000.
Automatically import a few thousand addresses at once to be pinned on a map
Capture HD videos of what's on screen.
Measure distances/areas using lines, paths, polygons, circles, and more. Non-pro can only handle lines/paths.