Information about the weather has always been an important part of our lives, and we can’t stop checking on it, especially during commuting. From rain, fog and snow to hurricane, tornado, and cyclone, the weather can be unpredictable. That’s why people like you and me turn to weather information apps that inform us beforehand about the day’s weather forecast. Companies like Google and Yahoo are great at providing this kind of information, which is just another reason why they’re so successful. If you don’t have a weather information app or product for your business, you’re missing out on an incredible element. And now is a great time to have one using the solutions mentioned in this article. Let’s first learn how weather API can help you build weather-related products and mobile apps.
Benefits of using weather APIs to build products
Using weather APIs have a lot of benefits and advantages over building your weather application. Some of them are highlighted below:
Cuts your effort by half
Instead of spending hours building an app from scratch, using weather APIs can significantly reduce that amount of effort. With the solutions mentioned in this article, you get access to large databases of weather and historical information that can be easily incorporated in your application.
Cost-effective
We all know the kind of investment that goes into building something from scratch. It can be huge and denting for any business. On the other hand, using weather APIs can be extremely budget-friendly.
Automatic updates
When you use weather APIs, your application automatically receives updates regarding the latest weather forecast and other information without you having to engineer it.
Weatherstack
With real-time weather stats and historical data, Weatherstack is a fantastic weather API that is trusted by more than 75,000 brands worldwide, including Microsoft, Schneider Electric, and Warner Bros. Their API is filled with weather information from the multi-year history to the very current weather forecast. Some of the notable features of this API include:
Easy checking on millions of location data Super-fast uptime speed clocking almost a 100 percent Accurate and dependable information Ability to handle more than a billion requests in a day And a lot more!
This API has a 100% free plan to start with, but you can always pick one of their paid plans, starting at just $9.99/month. It is really simple to integrate this into your application. What you need to do is, access the API endpoint and configure the data to display weather information to the world. And it supports all major programming languages, including PHP, Python, JQuery, etc.
Dark Sky
Dark Sky is a super-friendly weather API for developers made for information such as:
Current forecast and conditions Historical data Serious weather warnings
It supports data coverage of the whole world, and you get minute by minute information, eliminating unnecessary wait-time. This API has straightforward documentation that can be followed concisely for smooth integration. It supports all major programming languages + various spoken languages like English, Arabic, French, etc. Dark Sky is free until 1,000 calls per day. After that, it costs only $0.0001/call, and you can choose to pay as you go. There is also an Enterprise plan with greater features for which you can contact them and inquire about it.
OpenWeather
Probably one of the most popular out there, OpenWeather API is great for weather data such as forecasts, current conditions, historical, weather warnings, and much more. They also have past and present air pollution data like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone. To integrate this weather API, all you need to do is sign up on their website and get your API key via email. After a few hours, the key will get activated and ready to be used on your applications. However, you need to keep in mind about not processing requests without the API key. Be sure to use your API key in every API call. They have a completely free plan to start with, but you can upgrade anytime, starting at $40/month if you wish to access more features.
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is another great option for weather APIs that have accurate minute by minute and hourly forecasts about any location on Earth. They have a set of 9 APIs that you can make use of, such as:
Current weather updates Forecast Alerts
The data of AccuWeather can be presented in more than 40 languages and dialects. It comes with a free trial of 50 calls per day and an allowance of only one key/developer. After that, you can choose any of their paid plans, starting at $25/month. The free trial is sufficient to check integration and performance as a sample.
Weatherbit
With the Weatherbit API, you get access to a ton of exciting features like:
Current and historical weather data Super speed response time Machine learning forecast accuracy Up to 99.9% uptime Collection of data from various sources including stations
It supports over 30 languages and comes with a free plan as well as paid ones starting at $35/month. However, the free one cannot be used for commercial purposes. You can instantly access your API key in the dashboard when you sign up for an account. Depending upon which plan you chose, the features will act upon that, but you can upgrade it anytime.
Meteomatics
Meteomatics provides global weather data from 1979 history to the very current along with forecast. All of that with accuracy! It is a “platform as a service” for businesses to quickly deploy the API into their applications without any hassle, all credit to their connectors, and 100 percent uptime. You can get instant access to their API using the free trial that allows up to 500 queries in a day. They also have an Enterprise plan that has many more features, and it’s worth checking out.
HERE
As per the Ovum report, HERE is ranked highest when it comes to location platforms. Kudos to their great overall features which includes their weather API, that lets you access:
Forecast reports Current weather conditions Severe weather alerts Important information about sun and moon rotations 90+ languages including Thai, Arabic, and Russian
You can get access to the API by either signing up for their freemium plan or one of their paid ones starting at $449/month. It is slightly on the expensive side, but then it includes a suite of location APIs that justifies it. On a side note, it is trusted by brands like Samsung, Intel, Bing Maps, AWS, and many others.
Conclusion
There were many other weather APIs available that I could have included in this list. However, I’ve tried to focus only on the best ones. The above list of weather APIs is all you need to choose from.
