{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "visual-crossing", "name": "Visual Crossing Weather API", "vendor": "Visual Crossing", "vendorUrl": "https://www.visualcrossing.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "weather", "summary": "Weather API for historical conditions, forecasts and climate data by location and date range.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/visual-crossing", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/visual-crossing.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/visual-crossing.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/visual-crossing.json", "repo": "https://github.com/visualcrossing/WeatherApi", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://weather.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/services/timeline", "packages": [], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "The Timeline API takes the key as the key query parameter. The MCP server takes it in an X-VC-API-Key header, or OAuth (user or machine-to-machine) once Visual Crossing has provisioned it for the account.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Billed in records. A day of daily data is one record, a day of hourly data is 24, and a full 15-day forecast for one location is one record. Free at 1,000 records a day (30,000 a month), no card, one concurrent request, attribution required. Metered at $0.0001 a record above the free 1,000 a day, unlimited records, up to 25,000 records a query. Professional (10 million records a month) shows no price, and Corporate and Enterprise are contact sales. A February 2023 post put Professional and Corporate at $35 and $150 a month. The plan table lists 99.5 per cent uptime on Free and 99.9 on paid plans (https://www.visualcrossing.com/weather-data-pricing/ and https://www.visualcrossing.com/resources/blog/what-will-my-weather-data-cost/).", "priceSummary": "$0.10 / 1k req", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 1, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/resources/documentation/weather-api/timeline-weather-api/", "llmsTxt": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/weather/specs/visualcrossing-weather-api-openapi.json", "capabilities": [ "weather.current", "weather.forecast", "weather.historical", "weather.alerts", "data.weather" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "free-tier", "no-card", "mcp", "closed-source", "usage-priced" ], "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 59.9, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 417, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 6, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 58, "payments": 40, "reliability": 66, "schema": 74, "security": 40, "transparency": 56 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "History from 1970, current conditions and a 15-day forecast from one endpoint. Key only in the query string on the REST API.", "bestFor": "History and backfills, climate normals and date-range questions from one endpoint.", "strengths": [ "History from 1970, current conditions and a 15-day forecast from one endpoint", "$0.0001 a record with 1,000 free a day and no card", "Official MCP server with one tool, key in a header or OAuth", "llms.txt, an OpenAPI spec and a quarterly changelog, most recently 4 September 2026", "Status page and published uptime targets of 99.5 per cent free and 99.9 paid" ], "weaknesses": [ "Key only in the query string on the REST API", "OpenAPI spec defines no enums and no error responses", "Privacy policy states no retention periods or subprocessors", "Storing results needs the right licence level, and the terms carry a non-compete", "No security.txt, disclosure policy or MCP registry entry" ], "agentNotes": [ "Always pass include= and elements=. A bare call returns days, hours and current for every element and burns records", "Count records before a backfill. Hourly data is 24 records a day, so a year for one place is 8,760", "Pass unitGroup=metric. The default is US units", "Use the MCP server with X-VC-API-Key rather than pasting the key into a URL", "Keep to one request at a time on Free and Professional. A second concurrent job returns 429" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 4, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 59.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 58, "payments": 40, "reliability": 66, "schema": 74, "security": 40, "transparency": 31 }, "provenanceScore": 81, "dataQualityScore": 77 }, "connect": { "http": "curl \"https://weather.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/services/timeline/51.51,-0.13/2026-09-01/2026-09-07?unitGroup=metric\u0026include=days\u0026elements=datetime,tempmax,tempmin,precip\u0026contentType=json\u0026key=$VISUALCROSSING_API_KEY\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http visualcrossing https://mcp.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/api/v1/mcp --header \"X-VC-API-Key: $VISUALCROSSING_API_KEY\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "visualcrossing": { "headers": { "X-VC-API-Key": "${VISUALCROSSING_API_KEY}" }, "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/api/v1/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/weather.current", "tool": "https://letme.dev/visual-crossing" }, "area": "domain-data", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Metered record", "unit": "record", "usd": 0.0001, "note": "First 1,000 records a day free" }, { "item": "Metered, 15-day forecast calls", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 0.1, "note": "One record a forecast call, $0.0001 each" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Visual Crossing Corporation", "domain": "visualcrossing.com", "domainRegistered": "2005-10-11", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/weather-services-terms/", "privacy": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/privacy/", "statusPage": "https://status.visualcrossing.com/", "changelog": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/resources/documentation/weather-api/weather-api-changelog/", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "The terms (last updated January 2023) name Visual Crossing Corporation under Virginia law but give no address.", "The privacy policy is at /privacy/ (updated 23 May 2025). The /privacy-policy/ path returns 404.", "The status page at status.visualcrossing.com runs on UptimeRobot.", "/.well-known/security.txt returns 404 per the 30 September check.", "The GitHub repository holds sample code in several languages, not an SDK." ], "score": 81 }, "dataQuality": { "coverage": "Global, any address or coordinate, up to 100 locations a query on Professional", "coverageRating": 4, "freshness": "Stations update every 15 to 30 minutes or hourly per the product page. Forecast refresh cadence not stated", "freshnessClass": "hourly", "history": "From 1970-01-01, hourly and daily, plus archived forecasts through the Historical Weather Forecast API added in Q2 2026", "historyYears": 56, "methodology": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/resources/documentation/weather-api/timeline-weather-api/", "sourcesDisclosed": true, "licence": "Proprietary. Storage by licence level, no resale, non-compete", "licenceClass": "clear", "standing": "", "standingClass": "none", "reuse": "Results may be stored in a database only where the licence level permits it, except for personal use. Resale and redistribution are barred, using the data to replicate a Visual Crossing service is barred, and Enterprise is the plan that adds external data-sharing rights.", "score": 77, "checks": null }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/visual-crossing.json", "live": { "slug": "visual-crossing", "probe": { "target": "https://weather.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/services/timeline", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:25.326650504Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 253, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 260, "p95ms24h": 301, "samples24h": 271, "samples30d": 1955, "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": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 239, "ok": 239 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.visualcrossing.com", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T19:39:19.509705636Z" }, "githubStars": 55, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://visualcrossing.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:44.450892111Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:59.87209822Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "visualcrossing.com", "registered": "2005-10-11", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/visualcrossing.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:06:40.738574234Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/resources/documentation/weather-api/weather-api-changelog/", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:26.954477832Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "77ecfd35a643" }, { "url": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/weather-data-pricing/", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:28.908919562Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "cb8af14c5632" }, { "url": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/privacy/", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:24.247930307Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "0ccd098bba16" }, { "url": "https://www.visualcrossing.com/weather-services-terms/", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:31:30.34526422Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "5225b6169954" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:25.326650504Z" } }, "answer": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Visual Crossing Weather API's 59.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Visual Crossing Weather API 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": "2026-10-08T21:12:26.246184839Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 284, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 271, "p95ms24h": 315, "samples24h": 21, "samples30d": 21, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.xweather.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:06:31.231174608Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:26.246184839Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Visual Crossing", "b": "Vaisala Oyj", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://weather.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/services/timeline", "b": "https://data.api.xweather.com", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "none", "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": "1", "b": "19", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "not listed", "b": "com.xweather/weather", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2026-09-14", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2023-01-01", "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": "yes", "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": "none", "b": "0 stars, 1.4k npm/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "4/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Visual Crossing Weather API's 59.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Visual Crossing Weather API leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Visual Crossing Weather API or Xweather Weather API?" }, { "answer": "Visual Crossing Weather API needs an API key. Xweather Weather API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Visual Crossing Weather API and Xweather Weather API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Visual Crossing Weather API has a hosted endpoint at https://weather.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/services/timeline and Xweather Weather API at https://data.api.xweather.com.", "question": "Can an agent call Visual Crossing Weather API and Xweather Weather API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 32" ], "also": [ "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "History and backfills, climate normals and date-range questions from one endpoint.", "slug": "visual-crossing", "watchFor": "Key only in the query string on the REST API" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 74 against 66", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 83 against 74", "Security \u0026 auth, 52 against 40", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 58", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 68 against 56" ], "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-visual-crossing.json", "title": "AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-visual-crossing.json", "title": "Google Weather API (Maps Platform) vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-visual-crossing.json", "title": "Met Office Weather DataHub (Site Specific) vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-visual-crossing.json", "title": "meteoblue Weather API vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-visual-crossing.json", "title": "Meteomatics Weather API vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-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-xweather.json", "title": "NOAA National Weather Service API (api.weather.gov) vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openweather-one-call-vs-visual-crossing.json", "title": "OpenWeather One Call API vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openweather-one-call-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-visual-crossing.json", "title": "Pirate Weather vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pirate-weather-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-visual-crossing.json", "title": "Tomorrow.io Weather API vs Visual Crossing Weather API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomorrow-io-vs-visual-crossing" }, { "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-weather-company.json", "title": "Visual Crossing Weather API vs The Weather Company Data APIs", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weather-company" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weatherapi-com.json", "title": "Visual Crossing Weather API vs WeatherAPI.com", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weatherapi-com" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weatherbit.json", "title": "Visual Crossing Weather API vs Weatherbit API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weatherbit" }, { "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": 8, "edge": "xweather", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "visual-crossing": 66, "weight": 16, "xweather": 74 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 9, "edge": "xweather", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "visual-crossing": 74, "weight": 13, "xweather": 83 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "visual-crossing": 78, "weight": 13, "xweather": 78 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "xweather", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "visual-crossing": 40, "weight": 14, "xweather": 52 }, { "by": 8, "edge": "visual-crossing", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "visual-crossing": 40, "weight": 10, "xweather": 32 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 23, "edge": "xweather", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "visual-crossing": 58, "weight": 7, "xweather": 81 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "xweather", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "visual-crossing": 56, "weight": 7, "xweather": 68 } ], "summary": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Visual Crossing Weather API's 59.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Visual Crossing Weather API leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do weather current.", "verdicts": { "visual-crossing": "History from 1970, current conditions and a 15-day forecast from one endpoint. Key only in the query string on the REST API.", "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/visual-crossing-vs-xweather", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather.min.md" }, "markdown": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Visual Crossing Weather API's 59.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Visual Crossing Weather API leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do weather current.\n\n- Visual Crossing Weather API: grade C, 59.9/100, rank #417 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/visual-crossing.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/visual-crossing.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### Visual Crossing Weather API (C)\n\nGood for: History and backfills, climate normals and date-range questions from one endpoint.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 32\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: Key only in the query string on the REST API\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 66\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 83 against 74\n- Security \u0026 auth, 52 against 40\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 81 against 58\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 68 against 56\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 | Visual Crossing Weather API | Xweather Weather API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 66 | 74 | Xweather Weather API +8 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 83 | Xweather Weather API +9 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 78 | even |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 40 | 52 | Xweather Weather API +12 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 32 | Visual Crossing Weather API +8 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 81 | Xweather Weather API +23 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 56 | 68 | Xweather Weather API +12 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **59.9 · C** | **67.1 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Visual Crossing Weather API | Xweather Weather API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Visual Crossing | Vaisala Oyj |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://weather.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/services/timeline` | `https://data.api.xweather.com` |\n| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| 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 |\n| Tools exposed | 1 | 19 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| MCP registry | not listed | `com.xweather/weather` |\n| Last release | none | 2026-09-14 |\n| Terms last updated | 2023-01-01 | 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 | yes | 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 | none | 0 stars, 1.4k npm/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 4/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Visual Crossing Weather API.** History from 1970, current conditions and a 15-day forecast from one endpoint. Key only in the query string on the REST API.\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### Visual Crossing Weather API\n\n1. Always pass include= and elements=. A bare call returns days, hours and current for every element and burns records\n2. Count records before a backfill. Hourly data is 24 records a day, so a year for one place is 8,760\n3. Pass unitGroup=metric. The default is US units\n4. Use the MCP server with X-VC-API-Key rather than pasting the key into a URL\n5. Keep to one request at a time on Free and Professional. A second concurrent job returns 429\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, Visual Crossing Weather API or Xweather Weather API?\n\nXweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Visual Crossing Weather API's 59.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Visual Crossing Weather API leads on payments \u0026 pricing.\n\n### Do Visual Crossing Weather API and Xweather Weather API need an API key?\n\nVisual Crossing Weather API needs an API key. Xweather Weather API takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Visual Crossing Weather API and Xweather Weather API without installing anything?\n\nYes. Visual Crossing Weather API has a hosted endpoint at https://weather.visualcrossing.com/VisualCrossingWebServices/rest/services/timeline 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/visual-crossing-vs-xweather.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"visual-crossing\", \"b\": \"xweather\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare visual-crossing xweather`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/visual-crossing.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/xweather.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Visual Crossing Weather API or Xweather Weather API\n\n- [AccuWeather Core Weather API + MCP vs Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/accuweather-api-vs-visual-crossing.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 Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-weather-api-vs-visual-crossing.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 Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/met-office-datahub-vs-visual-crossing.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 Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-visual-crossing.md)\n- [meteoblue Weather API vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteoblue-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Meteomatics Weather API vs Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meteomatics-vs-visual-crossing.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 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 Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nws-api-vs-xweather.md)\n- [OpenWeather One Call API vs Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openweather-one-call-vs-visual-crossing.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 Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pirate-weather-vs-visual-crossing.md)\n- [Pirate Weather vs Xweather Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pirate-weather-vs-xweather.md)\n- [Tomorrow.io Weather API vs Visual Crossing Weather API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomorrow-io-vs-visual-crossing.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 The Weather Company Data APIs](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weather-company.md)\n- [Visual Crossing Weather API vs WeatherAPI.com](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weatherapi-com.md)\n- [Visual Crossing Weather API vs Weatherbit API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-weatherbit.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": "Visual Crossing Weather API vs Xweather Weather API", "url": "" } ], "description": "Xweather Weather API scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Visual Crossing Weather API's 59.9 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Visual Crossing Weather API leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do weather current. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side…", "facts": [ "Visual Crossing Weather API C 59.9", "Xweather Weather API B 67.1", "scores" ], "h1": "Visual Crossing Weather API vs Xweather Weather API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-visual-crossing-vs-xweather.png", "path": "/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Visual Crossing Weather API vs Xweather Weather API for AI agents", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/visual-crossing-vs-xweather" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2750, "slim": 780 }, "version": 1 }