Tomorrow.io Weather API vs The Weather Company Data APIs

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.

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.

Tomorrow.io Weather API

1. Send the key in the apikey header, not the query string, so it stays out of URLs and logs
2. Request only the fields and timesteps needed on POST /timelines. Free plans cover 24 hours back and 5 days ahead at 1h and 1d
3. Split archive requests. POST /historical takes at most 31 days per call and deducts tokens, 1 for a point and 10 for a polygon
4. Treat 401 with code 401001 as a missing or bad key. The docs say 403, the live API answered 401 on 8 October 2026
5. On 429 back off without a hint. Retry-After is documented only for 503
6. 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

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.