Best of · Domain data
Best weather and climate data APIs for AI agents
The 10 highest-scoring of 16 weather and climate data APIs on the Anchor benchmark, with a pick for each need and where each one falls short. Scores come from public evidence, re-checked as vendors change.
- 16 ranked
- 0 agent-ready
- 16 hosted endpoints
- Updated 9 October 2026
Top three
Picks by need
Worked out from the scores, prices and facts, so they change when the research does.
Highest score overall
B, 67.1/100 on the benchmark.
Also Google Weather API (Maps Platform), B, 66.8/100.
Schema & documentation
89/100 on schema & documentation, against 83 for the overall leader.
Security & auth
Google Weather API (Maps Platform) B
71/100 on security & auth, against 52 for the overall leader.
Maintenance & community
90/100 on maintenance & community, against 81 for the overall leader.
Transparency & trust
Google Weather API (Maps Platform) B
72/100 on transparency & trust, against 68 for the overall leader.
Lowest paid price per 1,000 requests
$0.0023 per 1,000 requests, the lowest of the 7 listings here with a paid price in this unit (free allowances aside).
Also Google Weather API (Maps Platform), $0.06 per 1,000 requests.
The shortlist
| # | Tool | Grade | Best for | Price | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xweather Weather API Vaisala Oyj |
B 67.1 | Teams that need lightning, hail, road weather or tropical data beside ordinary conditions and forecasts, with an MCP server and an OpenAPI file ready for agents. | Freemium | hosted |
| 2 | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) |
B 66.8 | Best when the answer has to match what users see in Google products, for current conditions and 10-day forecasts with alerts. | $0.15 / 1k req | hosted |
| 3 | Pirate Weather Pirate Weather |
B 65.9 | Agents and apps that want Dark Sky-shaped forecasts, model transparency and deep history on a small budget. | $2 / mo | hosted |
| 4 | WeatherAPI.com WeatherAPI.com (Zoomash Ltd) |
B 65.3 | Cheap, high-volume consumer forecasts where the location arrives as a city, postcode or IP. | $7 / mo | hosted |
| 5 | Open-Meteo Open-Meteo |
B 63.4 | Prototypes, personal agents and non-commercial apps that need forecasts or historical weather with no signup. | Freemium | hosted |
| 6 | meteoblue Weather API meteoblue AG |
C 61.7 | Energy, agriculture and marine applications that need solar, wind, soil, sea or ensemble variables at a point, with history back to 1940 on a paid plan. | Freemium | hosted |
| 7 | Visual Crossing Weather API Visual Crossing |
C 59.9 | History and backfills, climate normals and date-range questions from one endpoint. | $0.10 / 1k req | hosted |
| 8 | Weatherbit API Weatherbit LLC |
C 57.7 | An application that needs forecasts plus specialised datasets (air quality, lightning, soil and degree days) from one paid subscription, queried by coordinates. | Freemium | hosted |
| 9 | OpenWeather One Call API OpenWeather |
C 57.4 | Agents that need a global forecast plus deep history from one vendor at low cost, and for any agent that has to provision its own key. | $1.50 / 1k req | hosted |
| 10 | The Weather Company Data APIs The Weather Company, LLC |
D 52.6 | A business that wants one contract for global forecasts, 4 km current conditions, alerts, imagery, aviation and deep history, and that can go through sales. | $500 / mo | hosted |
6 more are ranked in the full table.
How to choose
- Forecast range and refresh rateCheck how far ahead forecasts run and how often they refresh, since a forecast that updates less often than the agent queries can mislead decisions made near a deadline.
- Historical depthCheck how far back historical data goes, since a short history may not support the seasonal comparisons or baselines an agent needs.
- Licence, attribution and cachingRead the licence terms, attribution and caching limits, since they decide whether an agent may store, redistribute or show the figures without credit.
- Cost per thousand callsCompare the cost per thousand calls at your expected volume, since current, forecast and historical endpoints may each bill differently.
How the benchmark tests this category. The same locations queried for current conditions, a 10-day forecast and a year of history. We check what each returns, how often it updates, the licence terms and the cost per thousand calls.
Each one in detail
Xweather Weather API
B 67.1/100Xweather Weather API from Vaisala returns current conditions, forecasts to 15 days, history from 2004, official alerts, lightning, hail, air quality, maritime and road weather. Agents reach it as a REST API or a hosted MCP server.
Verdict A public OpenAPI file with 236 operations, a hosted MCP server in the official registry and a free tier of 15,000 accesses a month suit agents. REST credentials travel only in the query string, per-minute limits are unpublished, and the group terms bar commercial use of free plans and passing data to third parties unless a service description allows it.
Choose it for Teams that need lightning, hail, road weather or tropical data beside ordinary conditions and forecasts, with an MCP server and an OpenAPI file ready for agents.
Strengths
- OpenAPI 3.2 and 3.1 files under MIT, published 30 September 2026, with 213 paths, 236 operations and 401, 404, 429 and 500 responses on each
- Hosted MCP server at
https://mcp.api.xweather.com/mcpwith 19 documented tools, tag and tool filters, and an active entry in the official MCP registry - Free Developer tier of 15,000 accesses a month with no card and no expiry, per the pricing page
Weaknesses
- The REST API documents
client_idandclient_secretonly as query parameters, and the MCP server also accepts the key as?api_key= - Per-minute rate limits are not published. The docs refer callers to response headers, support or an account executive
- The group subscription terms prohibit commercial use of freemium plans and bar making data available to third parties unless a service description allows it
Price FreemiumAuth OAuth or keyx402 nohosted
Google Weather API (Maps Platform)
B 66.8/100Google Maps Platform's API for weather data.
Verdict Covered by the Maps Platform SLA, 99.9 per cent with service credits. History is 24 hours only, and bulk data isn't available.
Choose it for Best when the answer has to match what users see in Google products, for current conditions and 10-day forecasts with alerts.
Strengths
- Covered by the Maps Platform SLA, 99.9 per cent with service credits
- No Weather API incidents on the status dashboard in the last 90 days
- Discovery document with enums and descriptions on every parameter
Weaknesses
- History is 24 hours only, and bulk data isn't available
- Storing data outside the service and training or testing models on it are barred
- A Cloud project with billing is needed before production use
Price $0.15 / 1k reqAuth API keyx402 nohosted
Pirate Weather
B 65.9/100Open-source weather API with Dark Sky-compatible responses, forecasts, alerts and historical data from public weather models.
Verdict Named model sources and a documented priority order for every field. No SLA, and the terms call it best effort.
Choose it for Agents and apps that want Dark Sky-shaped forecasts, model transparency and deep history on a small budget.
Strengths
- Named model sources and a documented priority order for every field
- OpenAPI 3.1 spec at version 2.10.2 and a dated changelog with a pull request per change
- Four releases between 9 July and 23 September 2026
Weaknesses
- No SLA, and the terms call it best effort
- Key in the URL path by default, and only in the query string for the MCP server
- Plans above $2 a month sit behind a JavaScript-only portal, and signup needs a person
Price $2 / moAuth API keyx402 nohosted
WeatherAPI.com
B 65.3/100Weather API for current conditions, forecasts, history, marine data, alerts and air quality, queried by location.
Verdict 3 million calls for $7 a month, and 100,000 a month free with no card. Key only in the query string, and no security.txt.
Choose it for Cheap, high-volume consumer forecasts where the location arrives as a city, postcode or IP.
Strengths
- 3 million calls for $7 a month, and 100,000 a month free with no card
- OpenAPI 3.1 spec with structured errors, plus llms.txt
- Field filters (current_fields, day_fields, hour_fields) to trim responses
Weaknesses
- Key only in the query string, and no security.txt
- Privacy policy undated, with template placeholders and transfers to Russia and China
- SDKs for Node.js, Java, PHP and Go untouched since 2020 and 2021
Price $7 / moAuth API keyx402 nohosted
Open-Meteo
B 63.4/100Open-source weather API over 30+ national and global weather models, with forecasts, historical reanalysis back to 1940 and no key for non-commercial use.
Verdict No key or account for non-commercial use, at 600 calls a minute and 10,000 a day. Commercial prices appear only at Stripe checkout.
Choose it for Prototypes, personal agents and non-commercial apps that need forecasts or historical weather with no signup.
Strengths
- No key or account for non-commercial use, at 600 calls a minute and 10,000 a day
- OpenAPI 3.1 files for nine APIs with an enum for every weather variable
- Five releases between 11 July and 10 September 2026, AGPL-3.0 code and CC BY 4.0 data
Weaknesses
- Commercial prices appear only at Stripe checkout
- The commercial key is sent as
&apikey=in the URL - Status page is uptime monitors with no incident write-ups we could read
Price FreemiumAuth Nonex402 nohosted
meteoblue Weather API
C 61.7/100Weather data APIs from meteoblue AG of Basel, Switzerland. The Forecast API returns point forecasts in packages by coordinates, with History, Warnings, Dataset, Image and Maps APIs beside it, over HTTPS with an API key.
Verdict Eight of the APIs publish OpenAPI 3.1 specs, and the Forecast API spec lists the credit cost of every package. A public Pingdom page shows monthly uptime per API. The key travels only in the query string, the free trial covers nine forecast packages, and no security.txt, certification or DPA was found.
Choose it for Energy, agriculture and marine applications that need solar, wind, soil, sea or ensemble variables at a point, with history back to 1940 on a paid plan.
Strengths
- OpenAPI 3.1 specs for the Forecast (54 paths), History, Dataset, Image, Warnings, Measurements, Accounting and Model-Run Archive APIs, each at
openapi.jsonbeside its ReDoc page - The Forecast API spec lists credits per package, 4,000 for
basic-dayandcurrent, 8,000 forbasic-1h, and each response carries anMB-Credits-Accountedheader - Free Weather API with 10 million credits for one year from a self-serve account, with no purchase obligation stated
Weaknesses
- The key is accepted only as the
apikeyquery parameter, so it appears in URLs and logs unless request signing is switched on - The free trial covers nine forecast packages at hourly or coarser steps. Current conditions, sea, history, warnings and the Dataset API need a paid plan
- No security.txt, disclosure policy, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 was found. The only certificate published is ISO 9001:2015
Price FreemiumAuth API keyx402 nohosted
Visual Crossing Weather API
C 59.9/100Weather API for historical conditions, forecasts and climate data by location and date range.
Verdict History from 1970, current conditions and a 15-day forecast from one endpoint. Key only in the query string on the REST API.
Choose it for History and backfills, climate normals and date-range questions from one endpoint.
Strengths
- History from 1970, current conditions and a 15-day forecast from one endpoint
- $0.0001 a record with 1,000 free a day and no card
- Official MCP server with one tool, key in a header or OAuth
Weaknesses
- Key only in the query string on the REST API
- OpenAPI spec defines no enums and no error responses
- Privacy policy states no retention periods or subprocessors
Price $0.10 / 1k reqAuth API keyx402 nohosted
Weatherbit API
C 57.7/100Weather data API from Weatherbit LLC of North Carolina. It returns current conditions, daily, hourly and minutely forecasts, severe weather alerts, historical weather, air quality and agricultural and energy datasets by coordinates, over HTTPS with an API key.
Verdict A read-only weather API with a Swagger 2.0 spec, quota headers on every response and a status page showing 100 per cent on three API monitors over 90 days. The key travels only in the query string, the free plan allows 50 requests a day for non-commercial use, and the last dated API announcement is 1 August 2025.
Choose it for An application that needs forecasts plus specialised datasets (air quality, lightning, soil and degree days) from one paid subscription, queried by coordinates.
Strengths
- Status page with three API monitors, each at 100 per cent over the 90 days to 8 October 2026
- Swagger 2.0 spec at /static/swagger.json with 21 GET endpoints, typed response models and 400, 403, 429 and 500 bodies
- Every response carries X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining and X-RateLimit-Reset, and /subscription/usage returns the same counters
Weaknesses
- The key is accepted only as the
keyquery parameter, and the spec lists plain http as a scheme - Free plan is 50 requests a day, non-commercial, with a 7-day daily forecast and no hourly forecast or history
- The last dated API announcement on the blog is 1 August 2025, and the Python SDK was last released in February 2024
Price FreemiumAuth API keyx402 nohosted
OpenWeather One Call API
C 57.4/100Current weather, minute, hourly and daily forecasts, government alerts and history back to 1979 in one call, billed per call with 1,000 free a day.
Verdict 1,000 free calls a day, then $0.0015 a call, or $0.001 on the agent lane. The main API takes the key only as the appid query parameter.
Choose it for Agents that need a global forecast plus deep history from one vendor at low cost, and for any agent that has to provision its own key.
Strengths
- 1,000 free calls a day, then $0.0015 a call, or $0.001 on the agent lane
- An agent can sign up with one POST and an email, and failed calls aren't billed on that lane
- Official hosted MCP server in the registry as org.openweathermap/agents
Weaknesses
- The main API takes the key only as the appid query parameter
- 3.0 is marked deprecated with no shutdown date, and 4.0 needs new paths
- No status page, public changelog or OpenAPI for the main API
Price $1.50 / 1k reqAuth API keyx402 nohosted
The Weather Company Data APIs
D 52.6/100The Weather Company Data APIs return current conditions, forecasts to 15 days, historical data, government alerts, imagery and aviation weather from the company behind weather.com. Access is by API key at api.weather.com, sold in packages to businesses.
Verdict A wide weather data API with 168 API references built from OpenAPI documents, global 4 km current conditions, hourly history from June 2015 and a status page with component history. Keys come only through a sales-reviewed trial or contract, travel only in the URL, and the terms that govern the API are not published.
Choose it for A business that wants one contract for global forecasts, 4 km current conditions, alerts, imagery, aviation and deep history, and that can go through sales.
Strengths
- 168 API reference sections on developer.weather.com are generated from OpenAPI documents, with enums, patterns, required fields, example responses and 13 response codes per operation.
- The Standard package covers current conditions, daily and hourly forecasts to 15 days, alerts from six national agencies, imagery, marine tiles, tides and air quality.
- History on Demand returns hourly gridded history at about 4 km from June 2015, in JSON, CSV or Parquet, with paging, field selection and a compact mode.
Weaknesses
- No self-serve signup. The trial is requested through a form, is limited to enterprise customers, and the Buy now button opens a contact form.
- The API key is accepted only as the
apiKeyquery parameter, so it appears in every request URL. No header option is documented. - The website terms of use say they do not apply to the data APIs and point to separate terms, which we did not find published.
Price $500 / moAuth API keyx402 nohosted
Head to head
- Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Xweather Weather API B 66.8 vs B 67.1
- Pirate Weather vs Xweather Weather API B 65.9 vs B 67.1
- WeatherAPI.com vs Xweather Weather API B 65.3 vs B 67.1
- Open-Meteo vs Xweather Weather API B 63.4 vs B 67.1
- Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Pirate Weather B 66.8 vs B 65.9
- Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs WeatherAPI.com B 66.8 vs B 65.3
- Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Open-Meteo B 66.8 vs B 63.4
- Pirate Weather vs WeatherAPI.com B 65.9 vs B 65.3
- Open-Meteo vs Pirate Weather B 63.4 vs B 65.9
- Open-Meteo vs WeatherAPI.com B 63.4 vs B 65.3
Questions
What are the highest-rated weather and climate data APIs for AI agents?
Xweather Weather API has the highest benchmark score of the 16 ranked weather and climate data APIs, 67.1 (B). Google Weather API (Maps Platform) is second with 66.8 (B).
How many weather and climate data APIs are agent-ready?
0 of the 16 ranked here grade BB or better, the bar for agent-ready on the Anchor benchmark.
Which weather and climate data APIs accept x402 payments?
None of the ranked listings here accepts x402 for its main call yet.
Which of these weather and climate data APIs is cheapest?
By published paid prices, WeatherAPI.com, at $0.0023 per 1,000 requests, the lowest of the 7 listings here with a paid price in this unit (free allowances aside). Plans, volume tiers and free allowances change the sum, so check the listing's price table.
How is this list ranked?
By the Anchor benchmark score out of 100, a weighted mean of the scored categories minus deductions for negative events, from public evidence re-checked as vendors change. Listings cannot pay for a place. The latest assessment behind this page is from 9 October 2026.
How this list is made
The order is the Anchor benchmark score, the same number as on each listing and in the top list. Each listing is graded from public evidence against the benchmark checklist, and the picks above are worked out from those grades, prices and facts. No listing pays for its place, and paid audits or listing help never change a score.
Full ranked table · 120 head-to-head comparisons · Best tools in every category