Head to head · Weather current · October 2026 research run
Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Tomorrow.io Weather API
Tomorrow.io Weather API scores 51.4 (D) on agent readiness against Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)'s 45.5 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) leads on security & auth and payments & pricing. Both do weather current.
Which one, for what
Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) E
Good for Best when a UK answer has to come from the national weather service, and when the licence to republish matters.
Ahead on
- Security & auth, 66 against 34
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
Also in its favour
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
No OpenAPI, llms.txt, SDK or MCP server
Good for Teams that need minute-level and route or polygon forecasts, alert webhooks and a hosted MCP server, and will buy through sales.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 55 against 48
- Schema & documentation, 75 against 32
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 53
- Maintenance & community, 27 against 15
Watch for
No public price for paid use. The plan table lists Free and Enterprise, the second by quote
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) | Tomorrow.io Weather API | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 48 | 55 | Tomorrow.io Weather API +7 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 32 | 75 | Tomorrow.io Weather API +43 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 53 | 73 | Tomorrow.io Weather API +20 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 66 | 34 | Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 30 | 20 | Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) +10 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 15 | 27 | Tomorrow.io Weather API +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 62 | 63 | Tomorrow.io Weather API +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 45.5 · E | 51.4 · D |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) | Tomorrow.io Weather API |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Met Office | The Tomorrow Companies Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | https://data.hub.api.metoffice.gov.uk/sitespecific/v0/point | https://api.tomorrow.io/v4 |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | BSD-3-Clause (utilities) | Proprietary service under Tomorrow.io's subscription terms |
| Tools exposed | none | 11 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-07-14 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2024-04-03 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |
Verdicts
Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)
Statutory UK weather service, with a FAQ licence to copy, publish and adapt the data. No OpenAPI, llms.txt, SDK or MCP server.
Tomorrow.io Weather API
A public OpenAPI 3.1 file, Markdown docs with llms.txt and a hosted MCP server with 11 tools suit agents, and a free plan exists. Paid prices are by quote only, free keys are barred from commercial use, the docs give no numeric rate limits, and the status page lists 50 incidents in 85 days, mostly stale or degraded data.
Before you call either
Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)
- Register an application and subscribe it to the Global Spot plan first. The key is tied to that order and shown once
- Send the key in the apikey header with Accept: application/json, and latitude and longitude as query parameters
- Add excludeParameterMetadata=true to drop the parameter descriptions from every response
- Pick the timestep by need. hourly covers 48 hours, three-hourly 168, daily 7 days, and each call counts against the daily limit
- Stop on a 429. The limit is daily and resets at 00:00 UTC
Tomorrow.io Weather API
- Send the key in the
apikeyheader, not the query string, so it stays out of URLs and logs - Request only the
fieldsandtimestepsneeded on POST /timelines. Free plans cover 24 hours back and 5 days ahead at1hand1d - Split archive requests. POST /historical takes at most 31 days per call and deducts tokens, 1 for a point and 10 for a polygon
- Treat 401 with code 401001 as a missing or bad key. The docs say 403, the live API answered 401 on 8 October 2026
- On 429 back off without a hint.
Retry-Afteris documented only for 503 - Check the plan's terms before storing or reselling responses. Free accounts are limited to non-commercial use with a Powered by Tomorrow.io link
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) or Tomorrow.io Weather API?
Tomorrow.io Weather API scores 51.4 (D) on agent readiness against Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)'s 45.5 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) leads on security & auth and payments & pricing.
Do Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) and Tomorrow.io Weather API need an API key?
Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) needs an API key. Tomorrow.io Weather API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.
Can an agent call Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) and Tomorrow.io Weather API without installing anything?
Yes. Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) has a hosted endpoint at https://data.hub.api.metoffice.gov.uk/sitespecific/v0/point and Tomorrow.io Weather API at https://api.tomorrow.io/v4.
Other comparisons with Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) or Tomorrow.io Weather API
- AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)
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- Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)
- Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Tomorrow.io Weather API
- Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)
- Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs OpenWeather One Call API
- Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Pirate Weather
- Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Visual Crossing Weather API
- Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs WeatherAPI.com
- Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Weatherbit API
- NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Tomorrow.io Weather API
- OpenWeather One Call API vs Tomorrow.io Weather API
- Pirate Weather vs Tomorrow.io Weather API
- Tomorrow.io Weather API vs Visual Crossing Weather API
- Tomorrow.io Weather API vs WeatherAPI.com
- Tomorrow.io Weather API vs Weatherbit API
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-tomorrow-io.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/met-office-datahub.json·/api/v1/tools/tomorrow-io.json - From a terminal
anchor compare met-office-datahub tomorrow-io(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "met-office-datahub", "b": "tomorrow-io"}at/mcp, no key