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Planet Labs vs Weather Underground

Planet Labs logo

Planet Labs

Weather

Daily satellite imagery for environmental monitoring

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Weather Underground logo

Weather Underground

Weather

Crowdsourced hyperlocal weather from personal stations

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Weather Underground has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Planet Labs planet publishes no price for its monitoring subscriptions: no rate per square kilometre, no minimum area and no commitment length appears on the product page; Weather Underground free public API discontinued as of December 31, 2018 with no new developer accounts accepted
  • They diverge on capability: Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery, Weather Underground covers Personal weather stations.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Planet Labs and Weather Underground actually diverge.

Attributes where Planet Labs and Weather Underground differ
AttributePlanet LabsWeather Underground
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Mobile web, Personal Weather Station network
Founded20102003

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Weather).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Planet Labs

  • Daily satellite imagery
  • Change detection
  • Agriculture monitoring
  • Forest tracking
  • Climate data
  • API access
  • GIS platforms
  • Cloud services

Only in Weather Underground

  • Personal weather stations
  • Hyperlocal data
  • Historical records
  • Webcams
  • Community forums
  • PWS networks
  • Smart home
  • APIs

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Planet Labs

  • Daily satellite imagery monitoring of a defined area of interestnot Weather Underground
  • Detecting change in land use, agriculture and infrastructure over timenot Weather Underground
  • Feeding satellite imagery into analytics and machine learning pipelinesnot Weather Underground

Weather Underground

  • Professional Worknot Planet Labs
  • Content Creationnot Planet Labs

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Planet Labs

  • Planet publishes no price for its monitoring subscriptions: no rate per square kilometre, no minimum area and no commitment length appears on the product page
  • Access is sold only through a subscription scaled by sales to the customer's stated needs, so there is no self service purchase
  • Every pricing route on the page is a contact sales button

Weather Underground

  • Free public API discontinued as of December 31, 2018 with no new developer accounts accepted
  • Previous enterprise pricing was expensive at $150/month for Cumulus Drizzle plan
  • No longer competitive for developers needing reliable weather API access
  • Service is in wind-down phase with limited future development

Pricing, plan by plan

Planet Labs

On request
  • ExplorerFree
    • Limited imagery
    • Basic tools
    • Entry tier
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Full archive
    • API access
    • Custom analytics

Weather Underground

Free
  • FreeFree
    • PWS data access
    • Forecasts
    • Historical data
  • Ad-Free$1.99/month
    • No advertisements
    • Premium features

Which should you pick?

Choose Planet Labs if

  • You need daily satellite imagery.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want change detection.
Planet Labs review

Choose Weather Underground if

  • You need personal weather stations.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile web, Personal Weather Station network.
  • You also want hyperlocal data.
Weather Underground review

Questions people ask

Is Planet Labs or Weather Underground better?
Neither clearly leads. Planet Labs starts at On request and Weather Underground at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Planet Labs or Weather Underground?
Weather Underground has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Planet Labs and Free for Weather Underground.
Does Planet Labs or Weather Underground run on more platforms?
Planet Labs runs on Web, Api. Weather Underground runs on Web, Mobile web, Personal Weather Station network.
Can I use Weather Underground for free?
Yes. Weather Underground has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Planet Labs starts at On request.
What is Planet Labs best used for?
Planet Labs is most often used for daily satellite imagery monitoring of a defined area of interest, detecting change in land use, agriculture and infrastructure over time, feeding satellite imagery into analytics and machine learning pipelines. Of those, daily satellite imagery monitoring of a defined area of interest and detecting change in land use, agriculture and infrastructure over time are not what Weather Underground is typically brought in for.
What can Planet Labs do that Weather Underground cannot?
Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery, Change detection, Agriculture monitoring, Forest tracking. Weather Underground covers Personal weather stations, Hyperlocal data, Historical records, Webcams. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Planet Labs: How can I access Planet Labs satellite imagery pricing?

Planet Labs offers flexible and transparent pricing but does not publish rates on their public website. Visit planet.com/pricing/, contact their sales team via the Contact Sales link, or log into the Planet Insights Platform to view pricing.

Source
Weather Underground: What happened to the Weather Underground API?

The free public API was discontinued on December 31, 2018, after IBM acquired The Weather Company. The service is now in a wind-down phase with no new developer accounts accepted.

Source
Weather Underground: Can I still use Weather Underground's data?

Free API keys are still available for Personal Weather Station (PWS) owners who upload data to the network. General developers need to migrate to alternative weather API providers.

Source
Weather Underground: What was the pricing for Weather Underground's Cumulus plans?

The Cumulus Drizzle plan cost $150/month, which many developers found prohibitively expensive for weather data compared to modern alternatives.

Source
Weather Underground: Does Weather Underground still offer a consumer-facing service?

Yes. The consumer website continues to provide weather forecasts, news, alerts, and access to personal weather station data through the PWS network.

Source
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