# AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Google Weather API (Maps Platform)

> Google Weather API (Maps Platform) has a score of 67 (B) against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.8 (D). Both do weather current. The largest gap is security & auth, 32 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-05

Google Weather API (Maps Platform) has a score of 67 (B) against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.8 (D). Both do weather current. The largest gap is security & auth, 32 points.

- AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP: grade D, 48.8/100, rank #372 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/accuweather-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/accuweather-api.json
- Google Weather API (Maps Platform): grade B, 67/100, rank #151 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-weather-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-weather-api.json

## Which one, for what

Pick AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

Pick Google Weather API (Maps Platform) for reliability (+20), schema & documentation (+22), agent ergonomics (+19), security & auth (+32), maintenance & community (+7), transparency & trust (+15).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 85 | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 82 | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) +22 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 79 | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) +19 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 39 | 71 | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 25 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 13 | 20 | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 75 | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) +15 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **48.8 · D** | **67 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | Google Weather API (Maps Platform) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | AccuWeather | Google |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://dataservice.accuweather.com` | `https://weather.googleapis.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | none |
| Tools exposed | 26 | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | none | 2025-11-18 |
| Popularity | none | none |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP.** Official hosted MCP server, 26 read-only tools, same key as the REST API. Terms forbid using the data to train, validate or otherwise inform any AI system.

**Google Weather API (Maps Platform).** Covered by the Maps Platform SLA, 99.9 per cent with service credits. History is 24 hours only, and bulk data isn't available.

## Before you call either

### AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP

1. Cache location keys. They don't change, and the lookup is the call worth saving
2. Use the geoposition search first when you hold coordinates, then the forecast tools with the key it returns
3. Send the key as a Bearer header, not in the MCP URL, so it stays out of logs
4. Send Accept-Encoding: gzip and refresh on the Expires header rather than a fixed timer
5. Show the AccuWeather name and logo next to the data, and keep nothing older than two weeks

### Google Weather API (Maps Platform)

1. Ask for only the days or hours you need, one location a call. Every call is one billable event
2. Page with pageSize and pageToken rather than asking for 240 hours at once
3. Check the coverage page before promising alerts. Coverage is by country
4. Refetch rather than cache. The Maps terms give no caching window for weather content
5. Restrict the key to the Weather API and your server IPs in the Cloud console

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