# AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Open-Meteo

> Open-Meteo scores 63.4 (B) to AccuWeather Core Weather's 48.4 (D) for weather data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-open-meteo
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-open-meteo.md (~2,800 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-open-meteo.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-open-meteo.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-01

Open-Meteo scores 63.4 (B) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP leads on reliability. Both do weather data.

- AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP: grade D, 48.4/100, rank #814 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/accuweather-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/accuweather-api.json
- Open-Meteo: grade B, 63.4/100, rank #394 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/open-meteo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/open-meteo.json
- Best weather and climate data APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/weather/index.md
- All 120 weather comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weather/index.md
- Best data provider APIs for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/data-providers/index.md
- All 31 data comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/data-providers/index.md

## Which one, for what

### AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP (D)

Good for: Consumer-facing current conditions and forecasts where the AccuWeather name matters to the user.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 65 against 50

Watch for: Terms forbid using the data to train, validate or otherwise inform any AI system

### Open-Meteo (B)

Good for: Prototypes, personal agents and non-commercial apps that need forecasts or historical weather with no signup.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 60
- Agent ergonomics, 85 against 60
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 25
- Maintenance & community, 90 against 13
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 55

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 4.0 against 2.5 out of 5

Watch for: Commercial prices appear only at Stripe checkout


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | Open-Meteo | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 50 | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 77 | Open-Meteo +17 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 85 | Open-Meteo +25 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 39 | 38 | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 50 | Open-Meteo +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 13 | 90 | Open-Meteo +77 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 72 | Open-Meteo +17 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **48.4 · D** | **63.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | Open-Meteo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | AccuWeather | Open-Meteo |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://dataservice.accuweather.com` | `https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | AGPL-3.0 (code), CC BY 4.0 (data) |
| Tools exposed | 26 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-10 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-04-28 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 6.2k stars |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | 4/5 (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.

**Open-Meteo.** 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.

## 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

### Open-Meteo

1. Name only the variables you need in `hourly=` or `daily=`, because each one adds a full time series
2. Credit 'Weather data by Open-Meteo.com' wherever you show the data
3. Use customer-api.open-meteo.com with `&apikey=` for anything commercial, and keep that URL out of logs
4. Read `reason` on a 400. It names the bad parameter
5. Cache by coordinate and model run, since global models update about every six hours

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP or Open-Meteo?

Open-Meteo scores 63.4 (B) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP leads on reliability.

### Do AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP and Open-Meteo need an API key?

AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP needs an API key. Open-Meteo needs no key.

### Can an agent call AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP and Open-Meteo without installing anything?

Yes. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://dataservice.accuweather.com and Open-Meteo at https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast.

### Are AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP and Open-Meteo open source?

No open-source release is listed for AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP. Open-Meteo is open source (AGPL-3.0 (code), CC BY 4.0 (data)).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-open-meteo.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-open-meteo.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "accuweather-api", "b": "open-meteo"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare accuweather-api open-meteo`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/accuweather-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/open-meteo.json

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