Head to head · Weather current · October 2026 research run

Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Weatherbit API

Weatherbit API scores 57.7 (C) 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. 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 39

Watch for

No OpenAPI, llms.txt, SDK or MCP server

Weatherbit API C

Good for An application that needs forecasts plus specialised datasets (air quality, lightning, soil and degree days) from one paid subscription, queried by coordinates.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 91 against 48
  • Schema & documentation, 72 against 32
  • Agent ergonomics, 61 against 53
  • Maintenance & community, 21 against 15

Watch for

The key is accepted only as the key query parameter, and the spec lists plain http as a scheme

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMet Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)Weatherbit APIEdge
Reliability16%204891Weatherbit API +43
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.23272Weatherbit API +40
Agent ergonomics13%16.25361Weatherbit API +8
Security & auth14%17.56639Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) +27
Payments & pricing10%12.53030even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.81521Weatherbit API +6
Transparency & trust7%8.86263Weatherbit API +1
Negative events≤1500
Total45.5 · E57.7 · C

Facts side by side

FactMet Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)Weatherbit API
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorMet OfficeWeatherbit LLC
Hosted endpointhttps://data.hub.api.metoffice.gov.uk/sitespecific/v0/pointhttps://api.weatherbit.io/v2.0
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceBSD-3-Clause (utilities)Proprietary service under Weatherbit's terms of service. The free plan's data is under a Creative Commons non-commercial licence. The Python SDK is MIT
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnono
Last releasenone2025-08-01
Terms last updatedcouldn't be read2025-05-01
Privacy policy last updated2024-04-032023-12-26
Customer content may train modelscouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accesscouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingcouldn't be readnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticecouldn't be readnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivercouldn't be readnot found in the text
Popularitynone78 PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (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.

Weatherbit API

A read-only weather API with a Swagger 2.0 spec, quota headers on every response and a status page showing 100 per cent on three API monitors over 90 days. The key travels only in the query string, the free plan allows 50 requests a day for non-commercial use, and the last dated API announcement is 1 August 2025.

Before you call either

Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific)

  1. Register an application and subscribe it to the Global Spot plan first. The key is tied to that order and shown once
  2. Send the key in the apikey header with Accept: application/json, and latitude and longitude as query parameters
  3. Add excludeParameterMetadata=true to drop the parameter descriptions from every response
  4. Pick the timestep by need. hourly covers 48 hours, three-hourly 168, daily 7 days, and each call counts against the daily limit
  5. Stop on a 429. The limit is daily and resets at 00:00 UTC

Weatherbit API

  1. Pass lat and lon. City, postal code and station lookups are accepted, but the docs recommend coordinates and mark station ID as use with caution
  2. Read X-RateLimit-Remaining and X-RateLimit-Reset on each response. Daily quotas reset at 00:00 UTC and a spent quota returns 429 until then
  3. Treat HTTP 204 with an empty body as no data found, not as an error
  4. Split historical requests into ranges of one month or less. History needs the Plus plan or higher and has its own daily quota
  5. Keep the key out of logs. It is part of the URL on every call, so always use https://api.weatherbit.io/v2.0

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) or Weatherbit API?

Weatherbit API scores 57.7 (C) 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.

Do Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) and Weatherbit API need an API key?

Both need an API key.

Can an agent call Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) and Weatherbit 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 Weatherbit API at https://api.weatherbit.io/v2.0.

Other comparisons with Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) or Weatherbit API

Machine-readable

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