Open-Meteo vs WeatherAPI.com
Category: Weather · Updated June 2026
Open-Meteo has a more generous free tier (10,000 calls/day, no key, no credit card) and requires no API key, making it the easier choice for getting started. Open-Meteo currently leads on reliability with 94.86% uptime vs WeatherAPI.com's 0% uptime over the last 30 days. Pick Open-Meteo for hobby projects; consider WeatherAPI.com if you need its specific feature set.
Side-by-side comparison
Open-Meteo
Free weather forecast API with no key required. 10,000 calls/day for non-commercial use.
| Status | 🟢 Online |
| 30-day uptime | 94.86% |
| Response time | 2181 ms |
| Free tier | 10,000 calls/day, no key, no credit card |
| Auth | No key required |
| Tier score | 1.0 — no friction |
WeatherAPI.com
Comprehensive weather API offering current, forecast, historical, marine, and astronomy data with a generous free tier.
| Status | 🔴 Offline |
| 30-day uptime | 0% |
| Response time | 578 ms |
| Free tier | 1,000,000 calls/month, free key, no credit card |
| Auth | API key |
| Tier score | 0.7 — free key, no card |
Which to choose?
- Pick Open-Meteo if…you want zero friction — no account, no key, just call the endpoint. Also good if weather data without signup is a hard requirement.
- Pick WeatherAPI.com if…its feature set (1,000,000 calls/month, free key, no credit card) fits your request volume and you're comfortable with a free API key.
- Use both if…one goes down — they serve the same weather use case from different data sources, so you can implement a quick fallback.
Or use these alternatives
Other top-ranked Weather APIs you might consider:
- NOAA National Weather Service — 🟢 Online · Unlimited (US only), no key, no credit card
- 7Timer! — 🟢 Online · Unlimited, no key, no credit card
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Open-Meteo or WeatherAPI.com more reliable?
Based on our 30-day tracking, Open-Meteo is more reliable with 94.86% uptime compared to WeatherAPI.com's 0%. Both are measured from the same automated hourly checks — no self-reported data.
Which one has a more generous free tier — Open-Meteo or WeatherAPI.com?
Open-Meteo has a more generous free tier. Its plan offers 10,000 calls/day, no key, no credit card vs WeatherAPI.com's 1,000,000 calls/month, free key, no credit card. Open-Meteo also requires no API key at all, making onboarding instant.
Can I use Open-Meteo and WeatherAPI.com together?
Yes, and it's straightforward. Open-Meteo needs no key, while WeatherAPI.com needs a free registration. You can use one as primary and the other as fallback without significant complexity.
What's the cheapest paid alternative if both Open-Meteo and WeatherAPI.com fail?
If you need a paid fallback, WeatherAPI Pro is one of the more affordable options (from $4/mo). You can find the full list of paid alternatives on each API's detail page. Paid tiers typically offer SLA guarantees, higher rate limits, and dedicated support.
See full profiles: Open-Meteo · WeatherAPI.com · All Weather APIs