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Planet Labs vs WSI (The Weather Company)

Planet Labs logo

Planet Labs

Weather

Daily satellite imagery for environmental monitoring

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
WSI (The Weather Company) logo

WSI (The Weather Company)

Weather

Professional weather solutions for business operations

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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; WSI (The Weather Company) the Weather Company (which acquired WSI) states on its own site that it no longer owns The Weather Channel TV network, a separate entity from its data/API business (Internet Archive capture, 6 May 2021)
  • They diverge on capability: Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery, WSI (The Weather Company) covers Aviation weather.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Planet Labs and WSI (The Weather Company) actually diverge.

Attributes where Planet Labs and WSI (The Weather Company) differ
AttributePlanet LabsWSI (The Weather Company)
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Api, Enterprise
Founded20101978

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 WSI (The Weather Company)

  • Aviation weather
  • Energy forecasting
  • Media solutions
  • Insurance analytics
  • Precision forecasts
  • Enterprise systems
  • Aviation networks
  • Trading platforms

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Api 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 WSI (The Weather Company)
  • Detecting change in land use, agriculture and infrastructure over timenot WSI (The Weather Company)
  • Feeding satellite imagery into analytics and machine learning pipelinesnot WSI (The Weather Company)

WSI (The Weather Company)

  • 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

WSI (The Weather Company)

  • The Weather Company (which acquired WSI) states on its own site that it no longer owns The Weather Channel TV network, a separate entity from its data/API business (Internet Archive capture, 6 May 2021)

Pricing, plan by plan

Planet Labs

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

WSI (The Weather Company)

On request
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Industry solutions
    • API access
    • Custom analytics

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 WSI (The Weather Company) if

  • You need aviation weather.
  • You work on Web, Api, Enterprise.
  • You also want energy forecasting.
WSI (The Weather Company) review

Questions people ask

Is Planet Labs or WSI (The Weather Company) better?
Neither clearly leads. Planet Labs starts at On request and WSI (The Weather Company) at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Planet Labs or WSI (The Weather Company)?
Planet Labs starts at On request and WSI (The Weather Company) at On request.
Does Planet Labs or WSI (The Weather Company) run on more platforms?
Planet Labs runs on Web, Api. WSI (The Weather Company) runs on Web, Api, Enterprise.
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 WSI (The Weather Company) is typically brought in for.
What can Planet Labs do that WSI (The Weather Company) cannot?
Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery, Change detection, Agriculture monitoring, Forest tracking. WSI (The Weather Company) covers Aviation weather, Energy forecasting, Media solutions, Insurance analytics. Both handle Web support, Api 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
WSI (The Weather Company): What does the Weather Company API free trial include?

The free trial lasts 30 days and includes 50,000 API calls per day at a rate of 100 calls per minute. This is limited to enterprise customers only.

Source
WSI (The Weather Company): What is the pricing for standard Weather Company API access?

The Standard Plan costs $500 USD per month, billed annually, and includes 1 million API calls per month with access to current conditions, forecasts, lifestyle indices, alerts, and weather imagery.

Source
WSI (The Weather Company): Do airlines get special pricing on Weather Company APIs?

Yes, major airlines are required to enroll in a custom Enterprise plan with pricing determined by agreement rather than the standard pricing tiers.

Source
WSI (The Weather Company): Are extra weather features like historical records available, and how much do they cost?

Extra features including probabilistic forecasts, lightning data, and historical records are available, but require contacting sales for custom pricing. Dedicated account management is also offered as an optional add-on.

Source
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