Head to head
Open-Meteo vs WeatherAPI.com
As a weather API, WeatherAPI.com rates higher on the APIbenchmarks Index, 80.4 to 79.3, a 1.1-point gap. Here is how they compare on each criterion.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Open-Meteo | WeatherAPI.com |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Ecosystem & SDKs | ||
| Accessibility | ||
| APIbenchmarks Index | 79.3 | 80.4 |
Specifications
| Open-Meteo | WeatherAPI.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Free open-source weather API | Frictionless freemium weather API |
| Free tier | 10k calls/day, no key (non-commercial) | 1M calls/mo (3-day forecast) |
| Pricing | Free non-commercial / per-call commercial | Per call / monthly tiers |
| Official SDKs | 7 languages | 7 languages |
Is Open-Meteo better than WeatherAPI.com?
On the APIbenchmarks Index, WeatherAPI.com rates higher (80.4 vs 79.3). It leads on the four weighted criteria, but price is reported separately, so the best choice still depends on your budget.
Verdict in one line
WeatherAPI.com leads by 1.1 points (80.4 vs 79.3) and wins 2 of 4 criteria; Open-Meteo wins 2.
Winner by criterion
| Criterion | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation & DX | 82 | 80 | |
| Reliability | 66 | 74 | |
| Ecosystem & SDKs | 76 | 78 | |
| Accessibility | 96 | 92 |
Choose Open-Meteo if… / choose WeatherAPI.com if…
- →documentation & dx matters most to you (82 vs 80)
- →accessibility matters most to you (96 vs 92)
- →your use case matches its focus: free open-source weather api
- →reliability matters most to you (74 vs 66)
- →ecosystem & sdks matters most to you (78 vs 76)
- →your use case matches its focus: frictionless freemium weather api
Pricing side by side
- Model
- Free non-commercial / per-call commercial
- Free tier
- 10k calls/day, no key (non-commercial)
- Free / Open-Access (non-commercial)$0
- API Standard$29/mo
- API Professional$99/mo
- API EnterpriseCustom (contact info@open-meteo.com)
- Model
- Per call / monthly tiers
- Free tier
- 1M calls/mo (3-day forecast)
- Free$0/mo
- Starter$7/mo (or $75/yr)
- Pro+$25/mo (or $270/yr)
- Business$65/mo (or $702/yr)
- EnterpriseCustom
Vendor-published pricing, verified 2026-06-27 (Open-Meteo) and 2026-06-27 (WeatherAPI.com).
SDK and language coverage
Both · 2
PythonJava
Only Open-Meteo · 5
TypeScriptSwiftKotlinR (community)Dart (community)
Only WeatherAPI.com · 5
JavaScript/Node (npm, incl. weatherapi-mcp)PHPGoRubySwagger/OpenAPI spec
Strengths and weaknesses
- +No API key or account required for non-commercial use, a single HTTP GET returns JSON
- +Blends 30+ models from 15+ national weather services and auto-selects the best local high-res model per coordinate
- +Exceptionally broad data: forecast, historical (1940-present), marine, air quality, solar/PV, ensemble, seasonal, flood, climate
- –Model data only, no real station observations, so no validated actuals or hyperlocal radar nowcasting
- –Free tier rate limits (600/min, 5k/hr, 10k/day) frustrate some developers with bursty workloads
- –Commercial use legally requires a paid plan even at low volumes
- +Generous free tier (100K calls/month) plus a low $7 paid entry point, among the cheapest in the weather-API market
- +Extremely clean, simple JSON responses that make first integration fast
- +Single API key works across all endpoints and stays the same when you upgrade plans
- –Reported uptime (~99.91-99.93%) sits below a guaranteed 99.9%+ and trails four-nines enterprise rivals
- –Formal SLA is gated to the custom Enterprise tier only
- –Occasional forecast inaccuracies and lighter hyperlocal/minute-level precision than heavier providers like OpenWeatherMap One Call 3.0
Open-Meteo vs WeatherAPI.com: questions
- Which has better documentation, Open-Meteo or WeatherAPI.com?
- Open-Meteo scores higher on documentation and developer experience: 82 vs 80 out of 100.
- Which is more reliable, Open-Meteo or WeatherAPI.com?
- WeatherAPI.com scores higher on reliability: 74 vs 66 out of 100.
- Do Open-Meteo and WeatherAPI.com have a free tier?
- Open-Meteo: yes (10k calls/day, no key (non-commercial)). WeatherAPI.com: yes (1M calls/mo (3-day forecast)).
- How are Open-Meteo and WeatherAPI.com priced?
- Open-Meteo: Free non-commercial / per-call commercial. WeatherAPI.com: Per call / monthly tiers.
- Which has more official SDKs?
- Both list 7 official SDKs.