Overview
The OpenWeather API offers a suite of meteorological data endpoints designed for developers who need to integrate global weather information into their applications. Founded in 2014, OpenWeather provides access to real-time weather conditions, multi-day forecasts, and historical data, making it suitable for a range of use cases from simple website widgets to complex geospatial data analysis platforms. The API's architecture relies on standard HTTP requests, returning data in JSON format, which facilitates integration across various programming environments.
Developers commonly use OpenWeather for applications requiring current weather observations, such as displaying local conditions in a mobile application or on a smart device. Its forecasting capabilities support planning-oriented applications, offering predictions for temperature, precipitation, and wind speeds over several days. The historical data endpoints enable analysis of past weather patterns, which can be valuable for industries like agriculture, logistics, or academic research. For instance, analyzing historical temperature trends could inform optimal planting schedules, while past precipitation data might be used in flood risk assessments.
OpenWeather also provides specialized data points, including air pollution information and weather maps, which can be integrated into mapping services or environmental monitoring systems. The API is designed with a free tier that allows for up to 60 calls per minute and a million calls per month, accommodating many small-scale projects and prototypes. For applications with higher traffic or more advanced data requirements, paid plans offer increased call limits and access to additional features. The developer experience is characterized by straightforward integration and comprehensive documentation with clear examples, which assists in quickly implementing various weather data functionalities.
Key features
- Current Weather Data: Provides up-to-date weather observations for any location, including temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, and atmospheric conditions. This data is updated frequently to reflect real-time changes.
- One Call API: A consolidated endpoint that delivers current weather, minute-by-minute forecasts for 1 hour, hourly forecasts for 48 hours, daily forecasts for 8 days, and weather alerts. This reduces the number of API calls needed for comprehensive weather information, as detailed in the OpenWeather One Call API reference.
- Weather Forecast: Offers both 3-hour step forecasts for up to 5 days and daily forecasts for up to 16 days, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind conditions, and weather descriptions.
- Historical Weather Data: Access to past weather conditions for specific locations, allowing developers to retrieve data for analysis, research, or trend identification. This can include hourly and daily historical records.
- Weather Maps: Provides tile layers for various weather parameters, such as temperature, precipitation, clouds, and wind, which can be overlaid on mapping services. This feature is useful for visualizing weather patterns geographically.
- Air Pollution API: Delivers current and forecasted air quality data, including concentrations of pollutants like CO, O3, NO2, and SO2, which is relevant for environmental and health-related applications.
Pricing
OpenWeather offers a tiered pricing structure that includes a free plan and several paid subscription levels, designed to accommodate different usage volumes and feature requirements. As of May 2026, the pricing is structured as follows:
| Plan Name | Monthly Cost | Calls Per Minute | Calls Per Month | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 60 | 1,000,000 | Current weather, 5-day/3-hour forecast, geocoding API, limited historical data |
| Starter | $40 | 1,000 | 2,000,000 | All Free features, One Call API, 16-day/daily forecast, Weather Maps, Air Pollution API |
| Developer | $100 | 2,000 | 10,000,000 | All Starter features, additional historical data access, increased data update frequency |
| Professional | $600 | 10,000 | 20,000,000 | All Developer features, more extensive historical data, enterprise-grade support |
Further details on plan specifics, including additional features and higher-volume enterprise options, are available on the official OpenWeather pricing page.
Common integrations
OpenWeather APIs are commonly integrated into various platforms and applications. Here are some typical integration scenarios:
- Mobile Applications: Developers embed current weather conditions and forecasts into iOS and Android apps using native SDKs or direct HTTP requests. For example, a travel app might display weather at destination cities.
- Website Widgets: Many websites use OpenWeather to power dynamic weather widgets, showing local conditions or forecasts for visitor locations. This often involves client-side JavaScript fetching data and rendering it.
- IoT Devices: Smart home devices or agricultural sensors can integrate OpenWeather data to inform operations, such as adjusting irrigation based on precipitation forecasts or displaying indoor/outdoor temperature comparisons.
- Data Analytics Platforms: Historical weather data can be fed into business intelligence tools to correlate weather patterns with sales, energy consumption, or supply chain disruptions.
- Geospatial Information Systems (GIS): Weather map tiles and air pollution data from OpenWeather can be integrated into GIS platforms like Esri ArcGIS, enhancing spatial analysis with environmental context. For example, the ArcGIS Mapping APIs and services can consume such tile layers.
- Notification Systems: Applications can use weather alerts to trigger notifications for severe weather events, advising users to take precautions.
Alternatives
- AccuWeather API: Offers a wide range of weather data products, including minute-by-minute forecasts, severe weather alerts, and lifestyle forecasts, often used for professional and media applications.
- Tomorrow.io: Known for its hyperlocal, minute-by-minute forecasts and advanced weather intelligence, utilizing proprietary sensing technology and AI models.
- Weatherbit.io: Provides current, forecast, and historical weather data, including air quality and marine weather, with a focus on ease of integration and global coverage.
Getting started
To get started with the OpenWeather API, you typically need to sign up for an API key on their website. Once you have an API key, you can make HTTP requests to their endpoints. The following cURL example demonstrates how to retrieve current weather data for London, UK, using the Current Weather Data API. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual OpenWeather API key.
curl "https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=London&appid=YOUR_API_KEY"
This request will return a JSON object containing current meteorological data for London, including temperature, pressure, humidity, and weather conditions. For more complex queries or different data types, such as forecasts or historical data, consult the OpenWeather API documentation, which provides detailed endpoint specifications and parameters for each service.