# AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs The Weather Company Data APIs

> The Weather Company Data APIs scores 52.6 (D) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP leads on agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do…

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-weather-company
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-weather-company.md (~2,800 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-weather-company.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-weather-company.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: 2026-10-08

The Weather Company Data APIs scores 52.6 (D) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP leads on agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do weather current.

- AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP: grade D, 48.4/100, rank #620 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/accuweather-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/accuweather-api.json
- The Weather Company Data APIs: grade D, 52.6/100, rank #565 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/weather-company.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/weather-company.json

## 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:
- Agent ergonomics, 60 against 54
- Payments & pricing, 25 against 20
- Transparency & trust, 55 against 49

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

### The Weather Company Data APIs (D)

Good 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.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 73 against 65
- Schema & documentation, 67 against 60
- Security & auth, 48 against 39
- Maintenance & community, 36 against 13

Watch for: 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.


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | The Weather Company Data APIs | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 73 | The Weather Company Data APIs +8 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 67 | The Weather Company Data APIs +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 54 | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 39 | 48 | The Weather Company Data APIs +9 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 20 | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 13 | 36 | The Weather Company Data APIs +23 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 49 | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **48.4 · D** | **52.6 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | The Weather Company Data APIs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | AccuWeather | The Weather Company, LLC |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://dataservice.accuweather.com` | `https://api.weather.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service. Use is under a content licensing agreement with The Weather Company, which is not published |
| Tools exposed | 26 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-14 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-04-28 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |

## 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.

**The Weather Company Data APIs.** 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.

## 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

### The Weather Company Data APIs

1. Send `units`, `language` and `format=json` with a location on every v3 call, plus `Accept-Encoding: gzip`, which the usage guide marks as required.
2. Keep the key out of logs and client-side code, because it travels in the query string as `apiKey`.
3. Treat a 401 as either a bad key, an endpoint outside the key's package or an exceeded limit, and treat a 204 as no data for the query.
4. Each forecast duration (`3day` to `15day`) is a separate entitlement. Request only durations the contract covers.
5. Use `/v3/aggcommon` to combine up to 10 products in one request. Each product and each location still counts as one call.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP or The Weather Company Data APIs?

The Weather Company Data APIs scores 52.6 (D) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP leads on agent ergonomics, payments & pricing and transparency & trust.

### Do AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP and The Weather Company Data APIs need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP and The Weather Company Data APIs without installing anything?

Yes. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://dataservice.accuweather.com and The Weather Company Data APIs at https://api.weather.com.


## For agents

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

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