{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "nws-api", "name": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)", "vendor": "National Weather Service", "vendorUrl": "https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api", "kind": "http-api", "category": "weather", "summary": "The US government's own forecast, alert and observation feed, free, keyless and public domain.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nws-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nws-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nws-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nws-api.json", "repo": "https://github.com/weather-gov/api", "license": "Public domain (data)", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.weather.gov", "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No key. A User-Agent header that identifies the application, ideally with a contact email, is required and requests without one are refused.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free. The rate limit isn't published but is described as generous for typical use, and a throttled request can be retried after about five seconds (https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api).", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 310, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api", "openapi": "https://api.weather.gov/openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "weather.current", "weather.forecast", "weather.alerts", "data.weather" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "official", "government", "free", "no-key", "open-data", "openapi" ], "lastRelease": "2026-03-19", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 49.6, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 605, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 11, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 8, "payments": 60, "reliability": 25, "schema": 67, "security": 53, "transparency": 63 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Free, no key and no account, with public domain data. US and territories only.", "bestFor": "The authoritative US forecast and alert feed, best for alerting and US-only agents that can tolerate a government service's availability.", "strengths": [ "Free, no key and no account, with public domain data", "Official watches, warnings and text products from the issuing agency, filterable by point, zone, event and severity", "OpenAPI 3.0 document and RFC 7807 error bodies", "Cache-Control and Last-Modified on every response, so conditional requests work" ], "weaknesses": [ "US and territories only", "Rate limit not published, and no status page or SLA", "No dated API change since 17 March 2026, and several 2026 forum questions unanswered", "No SDK, MCP server, llms.txt or security.txt" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set User-Agent to your app name and a contact email or the request is refused with 403", "Cache the /points response per coordinate. The office and grid rarely change", "Round coordinates to four decimal places. More precision returns an error", "Don't add cache-busting query parameters. Unknown parameters return 400", "Back off about five seconds after a throttled request and reuse the last good response" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 4.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 49.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 8, "payments": 60, "reliability": 25, "schema": 67, "security": 53, "transparency": 53 }, "provenanceScore": 72, "dataQualityScore": 67 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -H \"User-Agent: (myagent.example, ops@myagent.example)\" -H \"Accept: application/geo+json\" \"https://api.weather.gov/points/38.8894,-77.0352\"" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/weather.current", "tool": "https://letme.dev/nws-api" }, "area": "domain-data", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "National Weather Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce", "domain": "weather.gov", "domainRegistered": "1999-04-30", "official": true, "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.weather.gov/disclaimer", "privacy": "https://www.weather.gov/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "The disclaimer says NWS information is public domain unless noted, is supplied as is, and that the NWS name and identifier are trademarked.", "The privacy policy says the date, time and originating IP of each request are logged and may be kept indefinitely for security.", "www.weather.gov/.well-known/security.txt returns 404. The Department of Commerce vulnerability disclosure policy (version 2.0, 25 February 2026) covers internet-facing DOC systems and takes reports through Bugcrowd.", "The docs page carries a dated list of API changes. Wider service changes go out as NWS Service Change Notices and Public Information Statements.", "There's no status page. Outages are reported to NCO Tech Control, and the NCEP Senior Duty Meteorologist messages are the nearest public log." ], "score": 72 }, "dataQuality": { "coverage": "United States and its territories, on each forecast office's 2.5 km grid", "coverageRating": 2, "freshness": "Not stated per endpoint. Responses carry Cache-Control and Last-Modified so clients can see the age", "freshnessClass": "hourly", "history": "Recent station observations only. Climate records are at NOAA's NCEI, not this API", "historyYears": 0, "methodology": "https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api", "sourcesDisclosed": true, "licence": "Public domain", "licenceClass": "open", "standing": "The US federal weather service, issuer of official US watches and warnings", "standingClass": "statutory", "reuse": "Public domain and free for any lawful purpose. Cache and redistribute as you like, don't imply NWS endorsement, and note that works built mostly on NWS material can't claim copyright over it.", "score": 67, "checks": null }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nws-api.json", "live": { "slug": "nws-api", "probe": { "target": "https://api.weather.gov", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:53:29.010784413Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 226, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 99.95, "p50ms24h": 200, "p95ms24h": 391, "samples24h": 270, "samples30d": 1962, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 109, "ok": 109 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 246, "ok": 246 } ] }, "githubStars": 311, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://weather.gov/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:42.708901288Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:32.323689074Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:32.323689074Z", "fingerprint": "de49bea1e355" }, { "url": "https://www.weather.gov/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:34.482708851Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "00331ba8517d" }, { "url": "https://www.weather.gov/disclaimer", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:30.140998287Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "f32d8c8c8de4" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:53:29.010784413Z" } }, "answer": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)'s 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "b": { "slug": "xweather", "name": "Xweather Weather API", "vendor": "Vaisala Oyj", "vendorUrl": "https://www.xweather.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "weather", "summary": "Xweather Weather API from Vaisala returns current conditions, forecasts to 15 days, history from 2004, official alerts, lightning, hail, air quality, maritime and road weather. Agents reach it as a REST API or a hosted MCP server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/xweather", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/xweather.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/xweather.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/xweather.json", "repo": "https://github.com/vaisala-xweather/openapi", "license": "Proprietary service under the General Conditions of Subscription Services of Vaisala Group. The OpenAPI files and the agent skills on GitHub are MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://data.api.xweather.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@aerisweather/javascript-sdk" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "A person signs up in a browser, registers an app in the account portal and receives a `client_id` and `client_secret` tied to a domain or app bundle namespace. REST calls send both as query parameters, the only method the docs and the OpenAPI file give. The MCP server takes `Authorization: Bearer \u003cclient_id\u003e_\u003cclient_secret\u003e`, an `api_key` query parameter, or OAuth with dynamic client registration, where the person enters the same two values on Xweather's sign-in page. Keys are regenerated in the dashboard.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free Developer tier of 15,000 accesses a month with no card and no expiry, so an agent's owner can start without a contract. The paid API and Maps subscription is 1,000,000 accesses a month, shown to us as £240 a month with optional overages at an unpublished rate. Enterprise is by quote. One request can cost 1 to 25 accesses or more. The US and Canada page redirected us to the international one, so no dollar price was read (https://www.xweather.com/pricing/weather-api-subscription, checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Freemium", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the OpenAPI file or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 19, "popularity": { "githubStars": 0, "npmWeekly": 1403, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.xweather.com/docs/weather-api", "llmsTxt": "https://www.xweather.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://vaisala-xweather.github.io/openapi/weather-api-3.1.yaml", "registryName": "com.xweather/weather", "capabilities": [ "weather.current", "weather.forecast", "weather.historical", "weather.alerts", "weather.marine", "data.weather" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "free-tier", "closed-source", "openapi", "llms-txt", "mcp", "mcp-registry", "oauth", "agent-skills", "webhooks", "status-page", "lightning", "finland" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-14", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 67.1, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 219, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 81, "payments": 32, "reliability": 74, "schema": 83, "security": 52, "transparency": 68 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "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.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.2 and 3.1 files under MIT, published 30 September 2026, with 213 paths, 236 operations and 401, 404, 429 and 500 responses on each", "Hosted MCP server at `https://mcp.api.xweather.com/mcp` with 19 documented tools, tag and tool filters, and an active entry in the official MCP registry", "Free Developer tier of 15,000 accesses a month with no card and no expiry, per the pricing page", "Every 2xx response carries `X-Cost-Tokens` and `X-RateLimit-*` headers, and 4xx and 5xx responses are not charged", "Dated changelogs for the API (1.43.5 on 14 September 2026) and the MCP server (1.2.2 on 22 June 2026)" ], "weaknesses": [ "The REST API documents `client_id` and `client_secret` only as query parameters, and the MCP server also accepts the key as `?api_key=`", "Per-minute rate limits are not published. The docs refer callers to response headers, support or an account executive", "The group subscription terms prohibit commercial use of freemium plans and bar making data available to third parties unless a service description allows it", "One access is not one request. `/impacts` costs 25 accesses, `/lightning` 10 and air quality 5, multiplied by the time intervals requested", "No overage price or US dollar price was readable. The pricing page served us pounds, £240 a month for 1,000,000 accesses", "The privacy policy is Vaisala's group policy effective 1 June 2020, with no retention period stated and no DPA found" ], "agentNotes": [ "Check `success` and `error.code` on every response. Application errors such as `invalid_location` return HTTP 200 with `success` false", "Send `fields`, `limit` and `plimit`. The docs put a 15-day hourly forecast at about 600 KB, and about 25 KB with three fields", "Read `X-Cost-Tokens` after each call. Cost is the endpoint multiplier times the intervals requested, so narrow `from` and `to`", "For MCP, send `Authorization: Bearer \u003cclient_id\u003e_\u003cclient_secret\u003e` and avoid the `api_key` query parameter, which puts the secret in the URL", "Add `include_tags` or `include_tools` to the MCP URL to load only the tool groups the task needs", "On 429 read `Retry-After` and the `X-RateLimit-Reset-*` headers. `maxhits_min` clears at the next minute, `maxhits` at the period reset" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 67.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 81, "payments": 32, "reliability": 74, "schema": 83, "security": 52, "transparency": 51 }, "provenanceScore": 85 }, "connect": { "http": "curl 'https://data.api.xweather.com/places/98109?client_id={client_id}\u0026client_secret={client_secret}'", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http xweather https://mcp.api.xweather.com/mcp --header \"Authorization: Bearer CLIENT_ID_CLIENT_SECRET\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "Xweather": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:XWEATHER_API_KEY}" }, "url": "https://mcp.api.xweather.com/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/weather.current", "tool": "https://letme.dev/xweather" }, "area": "domain-data", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Vaisala Oyj", "domain": "xweather.com", "domainRegistered": "2004-05-31", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://docs.vaisala.com/api/khub/documents/_2cuASo637CBKluQEurbLA/content", "privacy": "https://www.xweather.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.xweather.com", "changelog": "https://www.xweather.com/docs/weather-api/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The terms are the General Conditions of Subscription Services of Vaisala Group, DOC250754-B, dated 1 January 2023, a nine-page PDF. www.xweather.com/terms and the legal page redirect to a script-drawn viewer on docs.vaisala.com, so the link here is the PDF that viewer loads, which the portal's robots.txt allows. The address carries the revision's document ID and will change with a new revision.", "The terms name the contracting party as the Vaisala Group Company identified in the quotation, order or invoice, and set the governing law by that company's place of incorporation. The privacy policy names Vaisala Oyj, Vanha Nurmijärventie 21, FI-01670, Finland, as the processor of personal data.", "The privacy policy at www.xweather.com/privacy is Vaisala's group policy (effective 2020-06-01, Ref. DOC229710-D). It covers online services supplied for a fee or as a free trial.", "The API answers at data.api.xweather.com, the MCP server at mcp.api.xweather.com and its authorisation server at oauth.api.xweather.com.", "www.xweather.com/.well-known/security.txt returns 404 and data.api.xweather.com answers 401 for it. The parent's www.vaisala.com/.well-known/security.txt exists, with security@vaisala.com and a policy link but no Expires field.", "RDAP gives a registration date of 2004-05-31 for xweather.com, with GoDaddy as registrar. The status page runs on Atlassian Statuspage, and status.aerisweather.com redirects to it." ], "score": 85 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/xweather.json", "live": { "slug": "xweather", "probe": { "target": "https://data.api.xweather.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:53:39.062886877Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 279, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 273, "p95ms24h": 315, "samples24h": 28, "samples30d": 28, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 28, "ok": 28 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.xweather.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:58:19.507303806Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:58:19.507303806Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "National Weather Service", "b": "Vaisala Oyj", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.weather.gov", "b": "https://data.api.xweather.com", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Public domain (data)", "b": "Proprietary service under the General Conditions of Subscription Services of Vaisala Group. The OpenAPI files and the agent skills on GitHub are MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "19", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "not listed", "b": "com.xweather/weather", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-03-19", "b": "2026-09-14", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "2020-06-01", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "310 stars", "b": "0 stars, 1.4k npm/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "4.5/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)'s 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) or Xweather Weather API?" }, { "answer": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) needs no key. Xweather Weather API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) and Xweather Weather API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.weather.gov and Xweather Weather API at https://data.api.xweather.com.", "question": "Can an agent call NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) and Xweather Weather API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 32" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it" ], "goodFor": "The authoritative US forecast and alert feed, best for alerting and US-only agents that can tolerate a government service's availability.", "slug": "nws-api", "watchFor": "US and territories only" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 74 against 25", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 83 against 67", "Agent ergonomics, 78 against 66", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 8", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 68 against 63" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "xweather", "watchFor": "The REST API documents `client_id` and `client_secret` only as query parameters, and the MCP server also accepts the key as `?api_key=`" } ], "job": { "capability": "weather.current", "name": "Weather current" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-nws-api.json", "title": "AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-nws-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-xweather.json", "title": "AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-nws-api.json", "title": "Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-nws-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-xweather.json", "title": "Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-nws-api.json", "title": "Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-nws-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-xweather.json", "title": "Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-nws-api.json", "title": "meteoblue Weather API vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-nws-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-xweather.json", "title": "meteoblue Weather API vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-nws-api.json", "title": "Meteomatics Weather API vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-nws-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-xweather.json", "title": "Meteomatics Weather API vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-openweather-one-call.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs OpenWeather One Call API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-openweather-one-call" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-pirate-weather.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Pirate Weather", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-pirate-weather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-tomorrow-io.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Tomorrow.io Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-tomorrow-io" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-visual-crossing.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weather-company.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs The Weather Company Data APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weather-company" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weatherapi-com.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs WeatherAPI.com", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weatherapi-com" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weatherbit.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Weatherbit API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weatherbit" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openweather-one-call-vs-xweather.json", "title": "OpenWeather One Call API vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openweather-one-call-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pirate-weather-vs-xweather.json", "title": "Pirate Weather vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pirate-weather-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomorrow-io-vs-xweather.json", "title": "Tomorrow.io Weather API vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomorrow-io-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather.json", "title": "Visual Crossing Weather API vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weather-company-vs-xweather.json", "title": "The Weather Company Data APIs vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weather-company-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weatherapi-com-vs-xweather.json", "title": "WeatherAPI.com vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weatherapi-com-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weatherbit-vs-xweather.json", "title": "Weatherbit API vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weatherbit-vs-xweather" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 49, "edge": "xweather", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "nws-api": 25, "weight": 16, "xweather": 74 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 16, "edge": "xweather", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "nws-api": 67, "weight": 13, "xweather": 83 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "xweather", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "nws-api": 66, "weight": 13, "xweather": 78 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "nws-api", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "nws-api": 53, "weight": 14, "xweather": 52 }, { "by": 28, "edge": "nws-api", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "nws-api": 60, "weight": 10, "xweather": 32 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 73, "edge": "xweather", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "nws-api": 8, "weight": 7, "xweather": 81 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "xweather", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "nws-api": 63, "weight": 7, "xweather": 68 } ], "summary": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)'s 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do weather current.", "verdicts": { "nws-api": "Free, no key and no account, with public domain data. US and territories only.", "xweather": "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." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather.min.md" }, "markdown": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)'s 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do weather current.\n\n- NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov): grade D, 49.6/100, rank #605 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nws-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nws-api.json\n- 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\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) (D)\n\nGood for: The authoritative US forecast and alert feed, best for alerting and US-only agents that can tolerate a government service's availability.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 32\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n\nWatch for: US and territories only\n\n### Xweather Weather API (B)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 74 against 25\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 83 against 67\n- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 66\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 8\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 68 against 63\n\nWatch 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=`\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) | Xweather Weather API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 74 | Xweather Weather API +49 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 83 | Xweather Weather API +16 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 78 | Xweather Weather API +12 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 53 | 52 | NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) +1 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 32 | NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) +28 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 8 | 81 | Xweather Weather API +73 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 68 | Xweather Weather API +5 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **49.6 · D** | **67.1 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) | Xweather Weather API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | National Weather Service | Vaisala Oyj |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.weather.gov` | `https://data.api.xweather.com` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | None | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Free | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Public domain (data) | Proprietary service under the General Conditions of Subscription Services of Vaisala Group. The OpenAPI files and the agent skills on GitHub are MIT |\n| Tools exposed | none | 19 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | `com.xweather/weather` |\n| Last release | 2026-03-19 | 2026-09-14 |\n| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2020-06-01 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Popularity | 310 stars | 0 stars, 1.4k npm/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 4.5/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov).** Free, no key and no account, with public domain data. US and territories only.\n\n**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.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)\n\n1. Set User-Agent to your app name and a contact email or the request is refused with 403\n2. Cache the /points response per coordinate. The office and grid rarely change\n3. Round coordinates to four decimal places. More precision returns an error\n4. Don't add cache-busting query parameters. Unknown parameters return 400\n5. Back off about five seconds after a throttled request and reuse the last good response\n\n### Xweather Weather API\n\n1. Check `success` and `error.code` on every response. Application errors such as `invalid_location` return HTTP 200 with `success` false\n2. Send `fields`, `limit` and `plimit`. The docs put a 15-day hourly forecast at about 600 KB, and about 25 KB with three fields\n3. Read `X-Cost-Tokens` after each call. Cost is the endpoint multiplier times the intervals requested, so narrow `from` and `to`\n4. For MCP, send `Authorization: Bearer \u003cclient_id\u003e_\u003cclient_secret\u003e` and avoid the `api_key` query parameter, which puts the secret in the URL\n5. Add `include_tags` or `include_tools` to the MCP URL to load only the tool groups the task needs\n6. On 429 read `Retry-After` and the `X-RateLimit-Reset-*` headers. `maxhits_min` clears at the next minute, `maxhits` at the period reset\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) or Xweather Weather API?\n\nXweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)'s 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) leads on payments \u0026 pricing.\n\n### Do NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) and Xweather Weather API need an API key?\n\nNOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) needs no key. Xweather Weather API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) and Xweather Weather API without installing anything?\n\nYes. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.weather.gov and Xweather Weather API at https://data.api.xweather.com.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"nws-api\", \"b\": \"xweather\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare nws-api xweather`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nws-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/xweather.json\n\n## Other comparisons with NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) or Xweather Weather API\n\n- [AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-nws-api.md)\n- [AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-nws-api.md)\n- [Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-nws-api.md)\n- [Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-xweather.md)\n- [meteoblue Weather API vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-nws-api.md)\n- [meteoblue Weather API vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Meteomatics Weather API vs NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-nws-api.md)\n- [Meteomatics Weather API vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-xweather.md)\n- [NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs OpenWeather One Call API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-openweather-one-call.md)\n- [NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Pirate Weather](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-pirate-weather.md)\n- [NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Tomorrow.io Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-tomorrow-io.md)\n- [NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-visual-crossing.md)\n- [NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs The Weather Company Data APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weather-company.md)\n- [NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs WeatherAPI.com](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weatherapi-com.md)\n- [NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Weatherbit API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-weatherbit.md)\n- [OpenWeather One Call API vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openweather-one-call-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Pirate Weather vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pirate-weather-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Tomorrow.io Weather API vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomorrow-io-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Visual Crossing Weather API vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather.md)\n- [The Weather Company Data APIs vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weather-company-vs-xweather.md)\n- [WeatherAPI.com vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weatherapi-com-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Weatherbit API vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/weatherbit-vs-xweather.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "" } ], "description": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov)'s 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do weather current.…", "facts": [ "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) D 49.6", "Xweather Weather API B 67.1", "scores" ], "h1": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Xweather Weather API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-nws-api-vs-xweather.png", "path": "/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Xweather…", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2850, "slim": 830 }, "version": 1 }