Can I use Visual Crossing Weather for commercial projects? Can I save the data? Can I build an app or display a forecast on my website?
Yes, yes, and yes!
At Visual Crossing, we want developers, businesses, students, researchers, and weather enthusiasts to get real value from our weather data, even when using our free plan.
Unlike some weather data services that restrict free access to personal projects or noncommercial testing, the Visual Crossing Weather free plan encourages a wide variety of real-world uses, including commercial applications.
Whether you’re building your first weather widget, analyzing historical weather patterns, developing a business application, or experimenting with a new idea, there’s a good chance you can do it with our free weather data.
Let’s look at some of the most common questions about what you can do with your Visual Crossing Weather account.
Can I use Visual Crossing Weather data for commercial purposes?
Yes! Commercial use is permitted on every Visual Crossing plan, even on our free plan.
You can use Visual Crossing Weather data in a commercial project, whether you’re an independent developer, startup, small business, or established company.
For example, you can:
- Build a weather-aware feature into an application you sell.
- Display forecasts and current conditions on your business website.
- Use historical weather data to analyze sales, demand, or business operations.
- Create a commercial dashboard that incorporates weather information.
- Develop a paid mobile application that uses weather data.
- Use forecasts to help make business decisions.
You don’t need to upgrade to a paid subscription simply because your project generates revenue.
The free plan has usage limits and attribution requirements, but commercial use itself is allowed.
Can I display weather data on my website or blog?
Yes!
You can display current weather conditions, daily forecasts, hourly forecasts, historical weather information, and other available weather data on your website.
For example, you might add:
- A local weather forecast to a community website.
- Current conditions to a hotel or vacation rental website.
- A weather widget to a personal blog.
- A forecast to an outdoor events website.
- Weather information to an agriculture or gardening website.
Your website can be commercial, supported by advertising, or entirely noncommercial.
Just remember to provide appropriate attribution to Visual Crossing Weather near the displayed weather information.
Can I build a weather widget or mobile application?
Yes!
Visual Crossing Weather is designed to make it easy to integrate weather information into software applications.
You can create weather widgets for websites, dashboards, desktop applications, and mobile devices.
You can build a standalone weather application or add weather functionality to an existing app. Both are permitted, whether weather is the primary purpose of your application or just one of its features.
For example, a running app could display the forecast for an upcoming workout, a travel application could show expected conditions at a destination, or a gardening app could use forecast temperatures and rainfall.
Applications can be free, subscription-based, or commercially sold.
When building a public application, be sure to protect your Visual Crossing API key. API keys should not be exposed in client-side code, public repositories, or downloadable applications. For most applications, we recommend making weather API requests through your own backend.
Can I download and store Visual Crossing Weather data for future use?
Yes! You can save weather data and reuse it later.
You do not necessarily need to make a new API request every time you want to work with information you’ve previously retrieved.
For example, you can:
- Save historical weather observations in a database.
- Keep weather records associated with past business activities.
- Store historical weather data for research or statistical analysis.
- Save forecasts to compare predictions against actual conditions.
- Maintain weather information associated with past trips, activities, or events.
- Preserve weather data used to prepare reports and analyses.
You can also cache weather information to reduce unnecessary API requests.
There is an important distinction between storing historical information and caching weather data that you continue to present as current.
Historical records and archived forecasts can be retained for long-term use. Operational information, such as current conditions, active alerts, and upcoming forecasts, should be refreshed regularly so users aren’t relying on outdated information.
Storage and caching are permitted for appropriate application uses, but they do not grant permission to create a competing weather data service or publicly distribute downloadable collections of raw weather data.
For more details, see Can I Cache and Store Visual Crossing Weather Data?.
Can I use Visual Crossing Weather data in Excel, Google Sheets, or a database?
Yes!
You can download weather data for use in spreadsheets, databases, analysis tools, and other software.
For example, you can combine weather data with sales figures, energy consumption, agricultural observations, travel records, or other business information.
You can calculate averages, compare historical trends, create charts, and build statistical models.
You can also use Visual Crossing Weather data in reporting and business intelligence tools.
These are excellent ways to make weather data more useful, whether you’re analyzing a personal project or developing a commercial business report.
Can I publish charts, graphs, and reports based on Visual Crossing Weather data?
Yes!
You can use Visual Crossing Weather data to create and publish charts, graphs, summaries, and reports.
For example, you might publish:
- A chart comparing monthly temperatures over several years.
- A report analyzing rainfall during a growing season.
- A blog post examining historical weather patterns.
- A business report showing the relationship between weather and sales.
- A chart comparing forecasts against actual weather conditions.
- A research paper or presentation using historical weather observations.
These publications can be commercial or noncommercial.
Simply provide appropriate attribution to Visual Crossing Weather as the source of the data.
You can publish the results of your analysis, but you cannot provide public access to the underlying raw weather data as a downloadable data product without permission from Visual Crossing.
Can I use Visual Crossing Weather data for academic or scientific research?
Yes!
Students, educators, and researchers are welcome to use Visual Crossing Weather data for academic and scientific projects.
Examples include:
- Classroom assignments and science projects.
- University research.
- Climate and weather trend analysis.
- Agricultural research.
- Statistical analysis and data science projects.
- Machine learning experiments.
- Scientific publications and presentations.
You can also publish your findings, including charts and derived analysis, while citing Visual Crossing Weather as your data source.
The standard free plan can be used for these purposes, and Visual Crossing also offers additional programs for qualifying academic and research users. For more information, please reach out from your academic email account to our Support Team with your project details.
Can I use Visual Crossing Weather data in AI or machine learning projects?
Yes!
Weather data can be a valuable input for artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics.
For example, you could use Visual Crossing Weather data to:
- Predict energy consumption based on temperature.
- Identify weather-related patterns in retail sales.
- Develop models for agricultural planning.
- Analyze weather-related transportation delays.
- Create recommendations for outdoor activities.
- Power AI assistants that incorporate weather into their answers.
You can use the data as an input to your own models, analyses, and applications.
As with other uses, the primary limitation is that your project cannot simply repackage Visual Crossing’s raw weather data into a competing weather API or data delivery service.
Can I use the data in a product that I sell to customers?
Yes!
You can incorporate weather information into a commercial product or application that you sell to customers.
For example, an application that helps customers plan outdoor events might use weather forecasts to recommend dates or highlight potential weather risks.
Similarly, a logistics application might combine weather forecasts with delivery schedules to identify potential disruptions.
The weather data becomes part of the value your product provides.
However, selling an application that uses weather information is different from reselling the underlying raw weather data. Offering a standalone weather data API, bulk download service, or competing data feed is not permitted. If you have questions about your specific use case, please reach out to our Support Team.
Can I share Visual Crossing Weather data with coworkers or other people?
Yes, with a few limitations.
You can share weather data and the results of your analysis within your own organization.
You can also display weather data to the public as part of a website, application, or report, subject to the applicable license terms.
For example, a dashboard might display weather information to employees, while a public website might show forecasts to visitors.
However, publicly distributing raw weather data as downloadable files, bulk datasets, or API responses is different from displaying that information.
If your project involves providing raw weather data to another company, a separate division, or customers who will reuse the data independently, please contact us to discuss the appropriate licensing.
Can I use the free plan for a production application instead of just testing?
Yes!
The Visual Crossing Weather free plan isn’t limited to demonstrations, prototypes, or testing environments.
You can use it in a live application, including an application with real users.
Many projects have relatively modest weather data requirements, and the free plan may be sufficient for their needs.
If your application eventually requires more weather data, higher usage limits, additional features, or contractual service commitments, you can upgrade to one of our paid plans.
You don’t need to upgrade simply because your application has launched.
Do I need to give credit to Visual Crossing Weather?
Yes, the free plan requires attribution when you display or publish weather data.
Fortunately, attribution is easy.
For a website or application, a message such as the following is usually sufficient:
Weather data provided by Visual Crossing Weather
Place the attribution near the weather data being displayed. In a mobile app, it should normally appear on the same screen as the weather information.
Whenever possible, include a clickable link to Visual Crossing.
If your project uses another language, you can translate the attribution to match your audience.
For details and examples, see How to Properly Cite or Attribute Visual Crossing Weather Data.
Are there things I cannot do with the free plan?
Yes, but the restrictions are generally straightforward.
The main things to keep in mind are:
- Usage limits: The free plan includes a daily weather data allowance. Your queries must remain within the applicable plan limits and Fair Use Policy.
- Attribution: When displaying or publishing weather data, you must identify Visual Crossing as the source.
- Raw data redistribution: You cannot create a public bulk download service, resell raw weather datasets, or expose Visual Crossing results through a competing weather API.
- Account and API key sharing: Accounts and API keys must be used according to their license limits. You cannot create multiple free accounts to combine their allowances.
- Weather data limitations: Forecasts and observations can contain errors or uncertainties. Applications must not present weather information as infallible or as a substitute for official emergency warnings.
These restrictions help us make weather data widely available while keeping the service reliable and sustainable.
For complete details, see the Visual Crossing Weather License Terms.
How much weather data do I get with the free plan?
The standard Visual Crossing Weather free plan includes 1,000 weather records per day.
A weather record isn’t necessarily the same as an API request. For example, a single 15-day forecast query typically counts as one weather record, while historical queries may return multiple records. See our guide to understanding weather records for details.
You can use your available records to retrieve historical weather data, current conditions, and weather forecasts through the Visual Crossing Weather API.
This makes the free plan useful for everything from small applications and personal projects to business analysis and software development.
As your needs grow, Visual Crossing offers paid plans with larger allowances, specialized datasets, and additional capabilities.
See our Weather Data Pricing and Plans for current plan details.
Have another question about what you can do?
We want Visual Crossing Weather, including our free plan, to be useful for as many projects as possible.
If you’re wondering whether your particular use is permitted and don’t see it covered here, please contact our Support Team.
Tell us a little about what you’re building and how you plan to use the weather data. We’re happy to help clarify how our licensing applies to your project.
And remember: if you’re wondering whether you can use Visual Crossing Weather for something interesting, the answer is very often yes!
Get started with the Visual Crossing Weather Free Plan
This article provides a general overview of permitted uses. All usage remains subject to the applicable Visual Crossing Weather License Terms, plan restrictions, and any separately agreed licensing provisions.