Meteorologisk Institutt Pricing: Free & Commercial Use (2026)

Pricing overview

Meteorologisk Institutt, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, provides access to its weather data APIs with a pricing model centered on usage intent. The core principle is that access is free for non-commercial purposes and for commercial applications that fall within specific, limited usage criteria. This approach makes its data accessible for a broad range of users, from hobbyists and researchers to developers building small-scale applications. For commercial use cases that exceed these defined limits, users are required to directly engage with Meteorologisk Institutt to establish a formal licensing agreement, as detailed in their official terms and conditions.

The institute's dedication to providing open access to meteorological data supports innovation and public service, aligning with broader open data initiatives seen in meteorology globally. This model contrasts with purely commercial API providers by prioritizing public availability while also establishing a framework for larger-scale commercial exploitation. All users, regardless of their usage tier, are required to provide proper attribution to Meteorologisk Institutt, acknowledging the source of the weather data used in their applications or services.

Plans and tiers

Meteorologisk Institutt does not offer predefined, tiered subscription plans with fluctuating prices based on request volume, unlike many commercial API providers. Instead, its model operates on two primary categories: free usage and licensed commercial usage. The distinction hinges on the nature and scale of the application.

Free Usage (Non-Commercial & Limited Commercial)

This category encompasses the majority of users and applications. It is designed to support:

• Personal projects: Individuals developing applications for their own use or learning.
• Academic and research purposes: Universities, researchers, and students utilizing data for studies, publications, or educational tools.
• Non-profit organizations: Groups providing public services or information without commercial intent.
• Limited commercial use: Small-scale commercial applications where the data is not the primary value proposition and usage volumes remain low. Specific thresholds for 'limited commercial use' are outlined in the Meteorologisk Institutt terms and conditions, which developers should review carefully. For example, their documentation specifies that applications generating revenue from advertising or subscriptions, or those with significant user bases, may fall outside the limited commercial use definition.

All free usage requires prominent attribution to Yr/Meteorologisk Institutt.

Licensed Commercial Usage

When an application's usage goes beyond the scope of 'limited commercial use,' a licensing agreement becomes necessary. This typically applies to:

• Large-scale commercial applications: Businesses where weather data is a core component of their commercial product or service, or where data integration contributes significantly to revenue.
• High-volume data requests: Applications that generate substantial API traffic, potentially impacting the institute's infrastructure.
• Redistribution of raw data: Commercial entities seeking to redistribute or resell Meteorologisk Institutt's raw weather data.

For these scenarios, prospective users must directly contact Meteorologisk Institutt to discuss specific requirements and negotiate a custom licensing fee. The cost for a commercial license is not publicly disclosed and depends on factors such as the scope of use, data volume, and the commercial value derived from the data.

Here's a comparison of the primary usage categories:

Free tier and limits

Meteorologisk Institutt offers a significant free tier that serves as its primary mode of operation for many users. This free access is explicitly designed for non-commercial use and for commercial applications that remain within specific, limited boundaries. The key advantage of this model is its low barrier to entry for developers and innovators. Users can access current weather data, forecasts, and other meteorological information via APIs such as the Locationforecast API without direct monetary cost.

However, this free access comes with essential requirements and implicit limits:

• Attribution: All uses of Meteorologisk Institutt's data, whether commercial or non-commercial, must prominently display attribution to "Yr" or "Meteorologisk Institutt". The developer documentation provides specific guidelines on how to implement this attribution correctly.
• Usage Volume: While not strictly quota-enforced in a typical commercial API sense, Meteorologisk Institutt expects users to maintain "reasonable" request volumes for their free tier. Excessive or abusive request patterns may lead to temporary or permanent blocking of API access. The specific definition of "reasonable" is not an explicit number but implies usage that does not unduly strain their infrastructure or resemble data scraping for commercial purposes without a license.
• Commercial Scope: The free tier supports "limited commercial use." This generally means applications where Meteorologisk Institutt's data is supplementary, where the application generates minimal direct revenue from the weather data, or has a small user base. For example, a local news website displaying weather might qualify, but a large-scale agricultural planning service relying heavily on detailed forecasts for profit might not.
• Terms of Service Adherence: Users must comply with the full terms and conditions, which are subject to change. These terms define acceptable use and the boundaries between free and licensed commercial offerings.

The free tier is particularly attractive for developers in personal projects, educational settings, and small-scale community initiatives where weather data can enhance an application without incurring significant operational costs.

Real-world cost examples

Given Meteorologisk Institutt's free-for-most-use model, direct monetary cost examples are primarily relevant for the licensed commercial tier. However, it is useful to illustrate scenarios for both free and potentially licensed use:

Scenario 1: Personal Weather Dashboard (Free)

• Use Case: A developer creates a personal web dashboard that displays local weather conditions and a 7-day forecast for their home and a few favored travel destinations. The dashboard fetches data from the Locationforecast API every hour.
• API Calls: Approximately 5 locations * 24 calls/day = 120 calls per day.
• Revenue Generation: None.
• Attribution: Clearly displays "Weather data from Yr/Meteorologisk Institutt."
• Cost: 0 NOK (Norwegian Krone). This falls squarely within the non-commercial free use policy.

Scenario 2: Small Community Event App (Free/Limited Commercial)

• Use Case: A local non-profit develops a mobile app for a community festival, offering a schedule and real-time weather updates using Meteorologisk Institutt's data. The app has a few thousand users during the event week and displays sponsored messages from local businesses (not directly monetizing weather data).
• API Calls: Potentially a few hundred thousand requests over the event week, concentrated on specific locations.
• Revenue Generation: Indirect (sponsorships for the event, not directly from weather data).
• Attribution: Visible attribution within the app.
• Cost: Likely 0 NOK. This would typically qualify as limited commercial or non-profit use, provided the usage volume remains within reasonable limits and the monetization isn't directly tied to the weather data itself. If the app grew significantly and prominently featured weather as a paid premium feature, it might move towards a licensing requirement.

Scenario 3: Commercial Agricultural Planning Platform (Licensed Commercial)

• Use Case: A startup develops a precision agriculture platform that provides detailed, hyper-local weather forecasts and historical data to thousands of commercial farms across a region, helping them optimize planting, irrigation, and harvesting. The weather data is a critical, revenue-generating component of their subscription service.
• API Calls: Millions of requests per day for specific coordinates and time ranges, high volume across various APIs (e.g., Frost API for historical data, Locationforecast for predictions).
• Revenue Generation: Direct and significant through subscriptions to the platform.
• Attribution: Included, but the primary concern is the commercial scale.
• Cost: Custom license fee (e.g., X NOK per month/year). This scenario clearly exceeds the "limited commercial use" threshold. The company would need to contact Meteorologisk Institutt to negotiate a bespoke licensing agreement, where the cost would depend on the scope, volume, and commercial value derived from the data. This could range from tens of thousands to potentially hundreds of thousands of NOK annually, depending on the scale agreed upon.

How the pricing compares

Meteorologisk Institutt's pricing model stands out in the weather data API landscape due to its strong emphasis on free and open access for non-commercial and limited commercial applications. This contrasts significantly with many commercial weather API providers, which typically employ tiered subscription models based on request volume, data features, or access to premium endpoints.

Consider the following alternatives:

• OpenWeatherMap: Offers a freemium model with a generous free tier (current weather, 5-day forecast, 1,000 requests/day, 60 calls/minute) and then scales into various paid subscription plans (e.g., Developer, Professional, Enterprise) that increase API call limits, data granularity, and access to advanced features like historical data and 16-day forecasts. Its costs are transparently published, with monthly fees for increased usage.
• AccuWeather: Primarily a commercial provider, AccuWeather offers a free developer plan with very limited requests (50 calls/day for some endpoints). Its core business revolves around paid API subscriptions, which offer higher request volumes, more granular data, and specialized endpoints for enterprise use. Their pricing is structured in tiers, often requiring direct contact for enterprise-level solutions.
• Tomorrow.io: Positioned as an enterprise-grade weather intelligence platform, Tomorrow.io provides a free tier for non-commercial use with basic forecasts and a limited call volume (e.g., 20,000 requests/month for specific endpoints). Beyond this, their commercial plans are subscription-based, offering significantly higher call volumes, real-time data, and specialized sector-specific insights, typically at a higher price point reflecting their advanced features and data resolution.

In comparison:

• Accessibility: Meteorologisk Institutt is arguably one of the most accessible for new developers and non-commercial projects due to its largely free model. This removes the cost barrier often present even with freemium tiers that have strict daily limits.
• Predictability of Cost: For non-commercial and limited commercial users, the cost is consistently zero. For extensive commercial use, the cost is less predictable upfront as it requires negotiation, unlike the published tiers of many competitors.
• Attribute Requirement: All Meteorologisk Institutt users must provide attribution, which is also a common requirement for free tiers of other providers but is less uniformly enforced or required for high-tier commercial plans elsewhere.
• Features vs. Cost: While Meteorologisk Institutt provides robust standard meteorological data, commercial alternatives often offer more specialized data points, higher resolution, or unique forecasting models (e.g., minute-by-minute forecasting, weather alerts for specific industries) that might come with a premium price. If these advanced features are critical, a commercial alternative might be necessary despite Meteorologisk Institutt's free offerings.

Overall, Meteorologisk Institutt excels for projects prioritizing cost-effectiveness and open data principles, while commercial alternatives may be preferred for large enterprises requiring specific, high-volume premium features and predictable, transparent scaling costs.