After 10 years of building and maintaining Rain Viewer, I’ve made one of the most difficult decisions of my career: transitioning our API services to limited operation throughout 2025. As the founder who created this service to help developers worldwide visualize weather radar data, I understand the impact this has on your projects and businesses. Rain Viewer isn’t disappearing - we’ll continue providing radar data through our website and maintain our tiled map service for personal and educational use. But I recognize that many of you need robust, commercial-grade APIs for your applications. That’s why I’m writing this migration guide, drawing from my decade of experience in the weather radar API space to help you find the best alternatives. This isn’t a marketing piece or paid promotion. It’s my genuine attempt to help the developer community that has supported Rain Viewer over the years. I know each of these services, their apps, and their value propositions - I’ve been following them for a long time. We’ve definitely exchanged messages, had conversations, talked shop, used each other’s APIs, and dreamed about the future of weather radar with these teams. We’re all hooked at some point on the possibility of displaying weather radar data, so these aren’t “new horses” - they’re proven ones. Screenshots are made on same time from each service. 1. Rainbow.ai (Rainbow Weather) - ML-Powered Forecasting Newcomer Website: rainbow.ai Developer Portal: developer.rainbow.ai Rainbow Weather stands out as a newcomer in the weather radar API space and the only similar option to what Rain Viewer does now: their API provides past and nowcast tiles from real weather radar images. Coverage is pretty similar (except China) to what Rain Viewer has now, so the migration will be simplified. Ironically, this is the first service that explicitly compares Rain Viewer vs. Rainbow Weather predictions on https://weatherindex.ai/ and states that they outperform us. I’m still a bit skeptical about all ML-based nowcasts, which tend to blur data over time, but even with that caveat, this is our closest competitor with their API. I’m pretty sure they can even provide you with tiles in your custom color scheme. Pros Fast map updates 4-hour nowcast in tiles based on real radar data Color scheme support Cons ML-based nowcast tends to blur data over time Pricing Structure (as of July 1, 2025) Tiles API: $0.20 per 1,000 calls with 30,000 free monthly calls Forecast API: $0.10 per 1,000 calls with 5,000 free monthly calls After we started our API transition, they contacted us and proposed that our patrons or API clients use the RainViewer&RainbowWeather promo code to get a free 1-month trial. Use it or not - you decide, but this is still the closest direct alternative to our API. 2. OpenWeatherMap - The Developer’s Choice Website: openweathermap.org API Documentation: openweathermap.org/api OpenWeatherMap has become the de facto standard for weather APIs among developers, offering comprehensive radar data alongside other weather parameters. In Rain Viewer, we used OpenWeatherMap’s temperature layer for 7 years to generate snow masks for our radar layer. Last year, we replaced OpenWeatherMap with our own system that grabs precipitation types from models, allowing us to display not only rain and snow, but also ice pellets and sleet on the map much better. Anyway, it’s a well-known and respectable API. Their Global Precipitation Map does its job pretty well, combining real radar data and satellite estimates. It covers the whole world, which is awesome, though it looks a bit low-resolution. Color gradation could also be better. Pros Real global coverage - mixed radar and satellite data 2-hour global forecast Reasonable pricing Cons Looks a bit low-resolution Pricing Structure Free Tier: 1,000 API calls per day Startup Plan: $40/month for 100,000 calls Developer Plan: $180/month for 1,000,000 calls Professional Plan: $600/month for 5,000,000 calls 3. Meteoblue Weather Maps API - Swiss Precision Website: meteoblue.com API Documentation: docs.meteoblue.com Now a Windy.com company. Meteoblue always brings Swiss meteorological precision to the API space with their comprehensive Weather Maps API. Their service combines multiple weather models with high-resolution radar data for exceptional accuracy. They’re really good at displaying precipitation, especially in regions without direct radar coverage. Their radar data comes from official meteorological services, with particular strength in European coverage. They offer both raster and vector tile formats for maximum flexibility. Pros Global coverage Plugin for Mapbox GL JS, which allows you to customize maps with different colors, contour steps, etc. Cons Radar imagery with maximum zoom level of 6 Updates every 15 minutes Corporate pricing Pricing Structure Available on request. 4. Tomorrow.io Weather Maps API - Satellite-Enhanced Radar Website: tomorrow.io API Documentation: docs.tomorrow.io Tomorrow.io combines traditional radar data with their proprietary satellite constellation to deliver comprehensive weather mapping capabilities. It’s a large service built for large corporations and their needs, but they also try to be an all-in-one place for everyone, including small and medium developers, which is good. Their service is a powerhouse. Backed by funding rounds every year, Tomorrow.io constantly outperforms in tech, ambitions, and drive to be the best of the best—and that’s good too. You’ll be in good hands. They have awesome documentation, a long range of data provided, good forecasts, and the ability to get direct tiles. Pros Global coverage with satellite data filling gaps 14-day forecast and 7-day past data!!! Updates every 5-10 minutes Cons Corporate pricing Pricing Structure Free Tier: 1,000 API calls per day Paid Plans: Available on request 5. Xweather (AerisWeather) - Professional-Grade Precision Xweather brings meteorological expertise from Vaisala to the API space, offering professional-grade radar data with extensive customization options. This is the story of when the already great AerisWeather company (we used their Forecast API for our apps until early 2025) met the huge meteorological company Vaisala. The service became better, data from Vaisala comes faster and more reliably, and all the great things became even better. Their MapsGL looks awesome! They have a lot of APIs that apps could potentially use and also offer raster maps. Pros Global coverage with regional variations Professional-grade data quality control Updates every 5-6 minutes for most regions Cons Slow support Corporate pricing Pricing Structure Available on request. I’m pretty sure you won’t qualify for their lower prices. Map Tile Weather Services All of these services are not Weather APIs themselves. They’re map providers with weather radar (or precipitation) tiles. MapTiler Weather : https://www.maptiler.com/weather/ : https://www.maptiler.com/weather/ Mapbox Weather : https://www.mapbox.com/weather : https://www.mapbox.com/weather Google Weather API: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/weather/overview They look fantastic, but they’re a bit pricey, and you must use them as your map library provider, which may cost you a lot more than the weather radar data itself. So, you choose. Migration Strategy Recommendations For Direct Rain Viewer Tile Replacement Rainbow.ai - Best technical match with XYZ tile compatibility OpenWeatherMap - Most developer-friendly with extensive documentation For Budget-Conscious Projects OpenWeatherMap Free Tier - 1,000 calls daily covers many small projects Rain Viewer API - Just stay with us if your project isn’t commercial For True Global Coverage Tomorrow.io - Global satellite coverage with enterprise focus Xweather - Professional-grade reliability without great support Final Thoughts The weather radar API landscape has evolved significantly since I started Rain Viewer. Today’s alternatives offer capabilities I could only dream of back then: global or near-global real weather radar coverage, which wasn’t even on the table in 2015. While I’m sad to see this chapter of Rain Viewer come to an end, I’m excited about the options available to developers today. Each service I’ve outlined brings unique strengths to the table. The key is choosing the one that aligns with your technical requirements, budget constraints, and geographic needs. Thank you for being part of the Rain Viewer journey. I hope this guide helps you find an even better solution for your weather visualization needs.