# AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Xweather Weather API

> Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do weather current. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-xweather
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-xweather.md (~2,750 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-xweather.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-xweather.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

Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category. 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
- Xweather Weather API: grade B, 67.1/100, rank #219 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/xweather.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/xweather.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.

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

### Xweather Weather API (B)

Good 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.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 74 against 65
- Schema & documentation, 83 against 60
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 60
- Security & auth, 52 against 39
- Payments & pricing, 32 against 25
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 13
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 55

Watch for: The REST API documents `client_id` and `client_secret` only as query parameters, and the MCP server also accepts the key as `?api_key=`


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | Xweather Weather API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 74 | Xweather Weather API +9 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 83 | Xweather Weather API +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 78 | Xweather Weather API +18 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 39 | 52 | Xweather Weather API +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 25 | 32 | Xweather Weather API +7 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 13 | 81 | Xweather Weather API +68 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 68 | Xweather Weather API +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **48.4 · D** | **67.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP | Xweather Weather API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | AccuWeather | Vaisala Oyj |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://dataservice.accuweather.com` | `https://data.api.xweather.com` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary service under the General Conditions of Subscription Services of Vaisala Group. The OpenAPI files and the agent skills on GitHub are MIT |
| Tools exposed | 26 | 19 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `com.xweather/weather` |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-14 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-04-28 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2020-06-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 0 stars, 1.4k npm/wk |
| 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.

**Xweather Weather API.** 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.

## 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

### Xweather Weather API

1. Check `success` and `error.code` on every response. Application errors such as `invalid_location` return HTTP 200 with `success` false
2. Send `fields`, `limit` and `plimit`. The docs put a 15-day hourly forecast at about 600 KB, and about 25 KB with three fields
3. Read `X-Cost-Tokens` after each call. Cost is the endpoint multiplier times the intervals requested, so narrow `from` and `to`
4. For MCP, send `Authorization: Bearer <client_id>_<client_secret>` and avoid the `api_key` query parameter, which puts the secret in the URL
5. Add `include_tags` or `include_tools` to the MCP URL to load only the tool groups the task needs
6. On 429 read `Retry-After` and the `X-RateLimit-Reset-*` headers. `maxhits_min` clears at the next minute, `maxhits` at the period reset

## Questions

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

Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP's 48.4 (D), and leads in every scored category.

### Do AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP and Xweather Weather API need an API key?

AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP needs an API key. Xweather Weather API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

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

Yes. AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://dataservice.accuweather.com and Xweather Weather API at https://data.api.xweather.com.


## For agents

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

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