Compare the best free weather APIs: Open-Meteo, OpenWeatherMap, WeatherAPI, Tomorrow.io, Visual Crossing. Code examples, pricing, and feature comparison.
Weather data is essential for mobile apps, travel platforms, agriculture tech, logistics dashboards, and countless other applications. In 2026, developers have access to several high-quality weather APIs with generous free tiers. This guide reviews the five best free weather APIs available today, with code examples, pricing comparisons, and practical advice to help you pick the right one for your project.
Building a weather data pipeline from scratch means collecting raw meteorological observations, running numerical weather models, and maintaining massive infrastructure. Weather APIs abstract all of that away behind a simple REST interface. With a single HTTP request you can retrieve current conditions, hourly forecasts, 7-to-16 day outlooks, and historical weather archives.
Common use cases include:
| API | Free Tier | API Key Required? | Forecast Range | Historical Data | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo | Unlimited (non-commercial) | No | 16 days hourly | Yes (1940–present) | Open-source projects, prototyping |
| OpenWeatherMap | 1,000 calls/day | Yes | 5 days / 3-hour | Paid only | Wide ecosystem, legacy integrations |
| WeatherAPI | 1,000,000 calls/month | Yes | 3 days hourly | Yes (since 2010) | Generous limits, sports & marine data |
| Tomorrow.io | 500 calls/day | Yes | 6 days hourly | Limited | Minute-by-minute nowcasting |
| Visual Crossing | 1,000 records/day | Yes | 15 days | Yes (since 2000) | Historical analytics, CSV export |
Open-Meteo stands out as the only major weather API that requires no API key at all for non-commercial use. It sources data from national weather services (DWD, NOAA, ECMWF, JMA, and others) and provides high-resolution forecasts globally.
OpenWeatherMap is one of the most established weather APIs, with millions of developers using it worldwide. The free tier gives you 1,000 API calls per day, which is sufficient for personal projects and prototypes.
WeatherAPI offers one of the most generous free tiers in the industry: up to 1,000,000 calls per month. It covers current conditions, forecasts, historical data, marine weather, astronomy, and sports weather.
Tomorrow.io differentiates itself with minute-by-minute precipitation nowcasting and hyperlocal forecasts. Its proprietary MicroWeather technology combines traditional sources with cell tower and IoT sensor data.
Visual Crossing is a strong choice if you need both forecasts and deep historical weather data. It allows up to 1,000 result records per day on the free tier, and the data goes back to 2000.
The following Python script fetches the current temperature and a 7-day forecast for New York City using Open-Meteo. No API key or signup is required.
import requests
# Open-Meteo: No API key required
url = "https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast"
params = {
"latitude": 40.7128,
"longitude": -74.0060,
"current_weather": True,
"hourly": "temperature_2m,precipitation_probability",
"daily": "temperature_2m_max,temperature_2m_min,precipitation_sum",
"timezone": "America/New_York",
"forecast_days": 7
}
response = requests.get(url, params=params)
data = response.json()
# Current conditions
current = data["current_weather"]
print(f"Current temperature: {current['temperature']}°C")
print(f"Wind speed: {current['windspeed']} km/h")
print(f"Weather code: {current['weathercode']}")
# 7-day daily forecast
daily = data["daily"]
print("\n7-Day Forecast:")
for i, date in enumerate(daily["time"]):
high = daily["temperature_2m_max"][i]
low = daily["temperature_2m_min"][i]
rain = daily["precipitation_sum"][i]
print(f" {date}: High {high}°C, Low {low}°C, Rain {rain}mm")
Sample output:
Current temperature: 8.2°C
Wind speed: 15.3 km/h
Weather code: 3
7-Day Forecast:
2026-02-21: High 10.1°C, Low 3.4°C, Rain 0.0mm
2026-02-22: High 12.5°C, Low 5.2°C, Rain 2.1mm
2026-02-23: High 9.8°C, Low 2.7°C, Rain 0.0mm
...
Here is a quick decision guide:
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Sign Up Free →Open-Meteo is the best completely free weather API for non-commercial use. It requires no API key, no signup, and has no daily rate limits. For commercial projects, WeatherAPI offers the most generous free tier at 1,000,000 calls per month.
Yes. Open-Meteo is the only major weather API that does not require an API key. You can start making requests immediately with just a URL and coordinates.
Accuracy depends on your region and use case. Open-Meteo aggregates data from multiple national weather services (ECMWF, GFS, JMA) and lets you choose the model. Tomorrow.io excels at short-range precipitation nowcasting. For most general-purpose applications, all five APIs in this list provide reliable data.
It varies widely: Open-Meteo is unlimited for non-commercial use, WeatherAPI gives 1M/month, OpenWeatherMap gives 1,000/day, Tomorrow.io gives 500/day, and Visual Crossing gives 1,000 records/day.
Open-Meteo requires a paid plan for commercial use. OpenWeatherMap, WeatherAPI, Tomorrow.io, and Visual Crossing all allow commercial use on their free tiers, subject to their terms of service. Always check the specific provider's license before launching.
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