Finding the right price for a weather API

Meteosource Weather API

Weather API

loginSign up for free

English

English

Čeština

Español

Menu

English

English

Čeština

Español

loginSign up for free

Meteosource Weather API

Weather API

List all articles

Blog

All articles

Weather data application

Meteorology

Data providers comparison

How to migrate from Dark Sky API

Weather and Self-Driving Vehicles

A Comprehensive Guide to Global Weather Models

Finding the right price for a weather API

Why pricing a digital product is harder than it looks.

05. 08. 2026

Pricing a digital product is a strange kind of problem. There's no shelf to stock, and the cost of serving each customer isn't fixed. It grows with how much they use it. Usage is unpredictable, value is hard to see upfront, and a weather forecast can feel like a commodity, something buyers assume is all the same and shop for on price alone, even when the accuracy behind it isn't (in our case, 40 models blended with machine learning).

Price it too high, and it's out of reach for a hobby developer building something small. Price it too low, and it can't support what a business running thousands of locations actually needs. We ran into this from three different angles, and changed our pricing to deal with each one.

Challenge 1: usage is all over the place

A subscription API was always our way of letting a solo developer and a global operations team build on the same forecasts. But a fixed call limit doesn't work for both. One project makes 5,000 calls a day, another makes 500,000. Same plan, wildly different needs.

So to solve this, we split the offer into subscription levels, from Startup to Standard, and gave each level its own tier of call volumes. It works a bit like a table: pick your subscription for the features you need, then pick the call volume that matches how much you actually use, and find where you sit best.

The details are on our pricing page, but the short version is: a side project and a scaling product don't have to fit in the same box anymore, and moving up as you grow is a lot more incremental.

Challenge 2: historical data doesn't fit neatly into a tier

Twenty years of historical weather data is one of the most valuable things we offer, and one of the hardest to price fairly. Bundle it into a plan, and people download the archive once and leave. Put it behind its own tier, and the price climbs until only the biggest customers can justify it. Neither worked.

We made it a metered add-on instead: $0.005 per day, per location, covering 20 years back, on any plan. You pay for exactly what you pull. A small project can dip into the archive without upgrading to an expensive tier, and the cost scales with actual usage instead of a flat guess.

Challenge 3: no tier existed for renewables forecasting

We kept hearing from people forecasting energy production (solar and wind) who needed something none of our existing plans covered: power-production forecasts per location, at hourly or 15-minute resolution.

So we built a Renewables tier from $19/location, covering PV systems and wind farms. It works whether you're modeling a few rooftop panels or a full farm. Past 20 sites, we set up custom pricing directly.

What stayed the same

Free is still 400 calls/day, no credit card, just an email. Enterprise is still fully custom, with parameters, data volume, SLAs, and applied-AI models built around the use case. Existing subscribers keep their current plan. We kept what was working, and moved around what needed a change.

We'll keep adjusting further if the need appears, and of course keep adding features to cover more of what people actually need. That's really the goal behind all of it.

But we're happy we cracked the logic of it, and it seems to be working well. What do you think about this change? What's your experience with the prices? Share it with us.

Do you like this article?<br>Please share it with your friends

Share

Tweet

Copy link

You could also like

Data providers comparison

The Best Weather APIs for Your Business in 2026

Whether you work in agriculture, retail, or another industry, you know that weather has a significant impact on your business. Accurate weather forecasts can help you plan better, minimize losses from unexpected weather events, and prepare for changes in demand.

Read more

12. 1. 2026

Data providers comparison

Google Weather API - What To Consider

As Google introduces its weather API service within its Maps platform, it’s important for API users to carefully compare this service with those of other providers. Here are a few key points to consider if you are thinking about using Google’s service.

Read more

16. 5. 2025

Data providers comparison

The European Alternative to US Weather Data, APIs, and Weather Apps

As more users seek accurate, hyper-local weather data, there is growing interest in exploring Europe-based alternatives to American weather API providers.

Read more

10. 4....