Pricing overview
QWeather offers a tiered pricing structure designed to accommodate various usage requirements, from individual developers to large enterprises. The core pricing model is based on a monthly or annual subscription, with costs primarily determined by the daily API request limit and the range of available weather data services and features. All plans include access to QWeather's comprehensive Weather API reference and SDKs for multiple programming languages, such as Android and Java. Users manage their subscriptions and monitor usage through the QWeather developer console.
The service provides a free Developer Plan suitable for testing and small-scale projects. Paid plans begin with the Basic Plan and scale up to Enterprise-level solutions, offering progressively higher request volumes, enhanced data precision, and specialized services. While the primary currency for QWeather's pricing is the Chinese Yuan (¥), international users can typically pay using major credit cards, with currency conversion handled by payment processors. QWeather outlines its pricing details on its official pricing page.
Plans and tiers
QWeather organizes its services into several plans, each tailored to different user needs regarding daily request volume, data features, and support. The plans progress from a free tier to advanced enterprise solutions.
Key differences between tiers include:
- Daily Request Limits: This is the primary differentiator, dictating how many API calls can be made within a 24-hour period.
- Data Types and Features: Higher tiers often unlock access to more granular data, historical weather information, specialized forecast models, and advanced alerts.
- Data Freshness and Update Frequency: Premium plans may offer more frequent data updates for real-time information.
- Technical Support: Enterprise plans typically include dedicated support channels and service level agreements (SLAs).
- Commercial Use: While the Developer Plan is generally for non-commercial or testing use, paid plans enable commercial applications.
The following table provides an overview of QWeather's main plans, their pricing (based on monthly subscription in CNY, approximate USD conversion for reference as of May 2026), key limits, and target users:
| Plan Name | Monthly Price (CNY) | Approx. Monthly Price (USD) | Daily Request Limit | Key Features & Data | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer Plan | Free | Free | 1,000 | Basic weather data (current, 3-day forecast), 1-minute update frequency | Testing, personal projects, non-commercial use |
| Basic Plan | ¥99 | $13.70 | 50,000 | Standard weather data (current, 7-day forecast, 24-hour forecast), 5-minute update frequency, commercial use | Small apps, website widgets, startups |
| Pro Plan | ¥399 | $55.20 | 200,000 | All Basic features + 15-day forecast, hourly forecast, historical data, 1-minute update frequency | Growing applications, IoT projects, data analysis |
| Business Plan | ¥999 | $138.30 | 500,000 | All Pro features + advanced alerts, specialized data, higher data freshness, enhanced support | Large-scale applications, enterprise integrations |
| Enterprise Plan | Custom | Custom | Custom | High volume, dedicated resources, custom data solutions, SLAs, priority support | Major corporations, critical infrastructure, specific industry needs |
Note: USD conversions are approximate and subject to daily exchange rate fluctuations. Official pricing is in CNY. Annual subscriptions may offer a discount compared to monthly billing.
Free tier and limits
QWeather provides a free Developer Plan, which allows users to access basic weather data for testing and non-commercial development. This plan is designed to enable developers to evaluate the API's capabilities, integrate it into prototypes, and build small-scale applications without immediate cost commitments. The Developer Plan's primary limit is a maximum of 1,000 API requests per day. This limit resets daily. While it offers essential weather information, such as current conditions and a 3-day forecast, it typically has a slower data update frequency (e.g., once per minute) compared to paid plans.
Key characteristics of the QWeather free tier include:
- Daily Request Limit: 1,000 API calls per day. Exceeding this limit will result in failed requests until the next day.
- Data Scope: Access to core weather data endpoints, including current weather, basic forecasts, and some lifestyle indices.
- Update Frequency: Data updates occur at a lower frequency, which may not be suitable for applications requiring real-time, sub-minute precision.
- Commercial Use Restrictions: The Developer Plan is explicitly for non-commercial use, development, and testing. Production applications with commercial intent require a paid subscription.
- Support: Community-based support or limited general support, without dedicated channels or guaranteed response times.
Developers are encouraged to use the free tier to familiarize themselves with the QWeather documentation and API integration process before considering an upgrade to a paid plan for higher volumes or advanced features.
Real-world cost examples
Understanding QWeather's pricing involves considering typical usage patterns for various applications. The primary factor influencing cost is the daily API request volume, with different plans offering scaled limits. Here are several real-world scenarios illustrating potential costs:
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Small Personal Blog with a Weather Widget: A personal blog that displays the current weather and a 3-day forecast for a single location. If the widget updates every 15 minutes, it would make approximately 96 requests per day (4 requests/hour * 24 hours). If 10 unique visitors load the page within that 15-minute window, and each load triggers an API call, it's 960 requests/day. This usage falls within the Developer Plan's 1,000 request/day limit, making it free.
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Local Business Website with City-Wide Forecast: A local news website requires a real-time weather display for its city and a 7-day forecast. If the site serves 5,000 unique visitors daily, and each visitor triggers 2-3 API calls (e.g., current weather, 7-day forecast), the total requests could be 10,000-15,000 per day. This usage exceeds the free tier but comfortably fits within the Basic Plan's 50,000 request/day limit, costing ¥99 (approx. $13.70 USD) per month.
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Mobile Weather Application for a Specific Region: A mobile app focused on a specific geographic region, providing current weather, hourly, and 15-day forecasts for multiple locations. With 20,000 active users, and each user making an average of 5-7 API calls per day (e.g., when opening the app, refreshing data, checking new locations), the total requests could range from 100,000 to 140,000 per day. This scenario would require the Pro Plan at ¥399 (approx. $55.20 USD) per month, which offers a 200,000 request/day limit.
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IoT Device Network for Agricultural Monitoring: An IoT network deploying 5,000 weather stations across a large agricultural area. Each station reports localized weather data, including temperature, humidity, and precipitation, every hour. This translates to 120,000 requests per day (5,000 stations * 24 requests/day). If the system also calls for a 15-day forecast for each station once daily, that's an additional 5,000 requests. The total of approximately 125,000 requests per day would necessitate the Pro Plan at ¥399 (approx. $55.20 USD) monthly.
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Large-Scale Logistics Platform with Route Optimization: A logistics company uses weather data to optimize delivery routes across a continent, requiring hourly forecasts, severe weather alerts, and historical data for thousands of locations. With continuous route recalculations and data analysis, the system might generate 300,000-400,000 API calls daily. This volume would typically fall under the Business Plan at ¥999 (approx. $138.30 USD) per month, which provides a 500,000 request/day limit. For even higher volumes or specialized data needs, an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing would be necessary.
How the pricing compares
When evaluating QWeather's pricing, it is useful to compare it against other prominent weather API providers. Pricing models generally vary, encompassing request-based, feature-based, or hybrid approaches. Key alternatives include OpenWeatherMap, AccuWeather, and Tomorrow.io.
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OpenWeatherMap:
OpenWeatherMap offers a similar tiered structure, with a free plan providing 1,000,000 calls per month (approximately 33,333/day) for current weather and 5-day forecasts. Its paid plans, like the One Call API, start at around $40/month for 1,000,000 calls per month, including more detailed forecasts and historical data. Compared to QWeather's Basic Plan (¥99 / month for 50,000 requests/day), OpenWeatherMap's entry-level paid tiers often provide a higher volume of requests for a similar or slightly higher price point. For instance, OpenWeatherMap's Medium plan offers 2,000,000 calls/month for $100/month, which is significantly more requests than QWeather's Pro Plan (200,000 requests/day or 6,000,000/month) at ¥399 (approx. $55.20 USD) per month. However, direct feature comparisons for data granularity and global coverage are necessary. More details can be found on the OpenWeatherMap pricing page.
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AccuWeather:
AccuWeather Developer API provides a free tier with 50 calls per day, which is substantially lower than QWeather's 1,000 daily requests. Paid plans, such as the Standard plan, typically start from around $25/month for 50,000 calls per month (approx. 1,666/day), offering current conditions and various forecasts. AccuWeather's pricing tends to be higher per request for comparable data sets, especially at lower volumes, reflecting its brand recognition and potentially specialized data offerings. For high-volume enterprise use, AccuWeather also offers custom pricing. The AccuWeather developer packages provide further information.
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Tomorrow.io:
Tomorrow.io (formerly ClimaCell) focuses on hyper-local, street-level weather data and offers a free tier with 1,000 calls per day. Their paid plans, such as the Basic plan, start at around $69/month for 100,000 calls per month (approx. 3,333/day), including 15-day forecasts and historical data. Tomorrow.io's unique selling proposition is its high-resolution data, which can justify a higher price point per request for applications requiring micro-level weather insights. This makes it potentially more expensive than QWeather for general use cases but competitive for specific, high-precision needs. More information is available on the Tomorrow.io pricing page.
In summary, QWeather generally positions itself competitively, especially for developers and small to medium-sized applications requiring a substantial daily request volume without the premium cost of hyper-local data providers. Its free tier is more generous than AccuWeather's, and its paid tiers offer a good balance of features and request limits compared to some OpenWeatherMap plans, particularly when considering the feature set provided at each price point.