OpenWeatherMap Requires a Credit Card Now — Here Are 3 Free Weather APIs That Don't

Doushabao — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:30:49 +0000

OpenWeatherMap Requires a Credit Card Now — Here Are 3 Free Weather APIs That Don't

If you've tried signing up for OpenWeatherMap recently, you've probably noticed something annoying — they now require a credit card just to access the free tier. That's a dealbreaker for many developers, especially those building side projects or learning APIs.

I ran into this exact problem last week. I was building a small weather widget for a project and didn't want to hand over my card details for something I wasn't even sure I'd keep using. So I went looking for alternatives.

Here are three free weather APIs that actually work without a credit card.

1. Open-Meteo

This one quickly became my favorite. Open-Meteo is completely free for non-commercial use, no API key required, and the documentation is clean.

How to use it:

const lat = 52.52;
const lon = 13.41;

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast?latitude=${lat}&longitude=${lon}&current_weather=true`
);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.current_weather);

What you get:

Current weather conditions
7-day forecast
Hourly predictions
Air quality data
Historical data going back decades

Pros:

No API key needed
No rate limits for reasonable usage
Data from multiple weather models (DWD, NOAA, ECMWF)
JSON format, easy to parse

Cons:

Free for non-commercial use only
No built-in geocoding (you need lat/lon)

2. WeatherAPI

WeatherAPI is another solid option. It offers a generous free tier that doesn't require a credit card.

Basic request:

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.weatherapi.com/v1/current.json?key=YOUR_KEY&q=Berlin`
);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.current.temp_c);

What you get:

Current weather
Forecast up to 10 days
Hourly forecast
Historical data
Astronomy info (sunrise/sunset)

Pros:

Simple API structure
Built-in geocoding (city names work directly)
Good documentation

Cons:

Requires a free API key
Free tier has monthly limits

3. Pirate Weather

Pirate Weather is a newer option that aims to be a free replacement for the old Dark Sky API.

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.pirateweather.net/forecast/YOUR_KEY/52.52,13.41`
);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.currently);

What you get:

Current conditions
Hourly and daily forecasts
Alerts and warnings

Pros:

Dark Sky API compatible (easy migration)
Open source
No credit card required

Cons:

Smaller community
Still developing

Quick Comparison

Feature	Open-Meteo	WeatherAPI	Pirate Weather
API Key Required	No	Yes	Yes
Credit Card Required	No	No	No
Forecast Days	7	10	7
Air Quality	Yes	Yes	No
Rate Limits	Fair use	Monthly quota	Generous

My Recommendation

For most projects, I'd start with Open-Meteo. It's the easiest to get started with — no sign up, no keys, just make a request. The data quality is excellent, and it pulls from multiple weather models.

If you need city name lookup without dealing with coordinates, go with WeatherAPI. The geocoding is built right in.

What weather APIs have you used? Any others worth checking out? Let me know in the comments.

DEV Community: Doushabao

OpenWeatherMap Requires a Credit Card Now — Here Are 3 Free Weather APIs That Don't

OpenWeatherMap Requires a Credit Card Now — Here Are 3 Free Weather APIs That Don't

1. Open-Meteo

2. WeatherAPI

3. Pirate Weather

Quick Comparison

My Recommendation