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Weather · head to head

Planet Labs vs Zoom Earth

Planet Labs logo

Planet Labs

Weather

Daily satellite imagery for environmental monitoring

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoom Earth logo

Zoom Earth

Weather

Free browser-based satellite weather and storm tracking, no account or install

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zoom Earth 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; Zoom Earth there are no push notifications or alerts, so it cannot warn you proactively the way a mobile weather app can.
  • They diverge on capability: Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery, Zoom Earth covers Global satellite view.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Planet Labs and Zoom Earth actually diverge.

Attributes where Planet Labs and Zoom Earth differ
AttributePlanet LabsZoom Earth
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteFree, no account required
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb
Founded2010Unknown

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 Zoom Earth

  • Global satellite view
  • Storm tracking
  • MODIS high resolution
  • Historical imagery
  • Precipitation radar overlay
  • No install required

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 Zoom Earth
  • Detecting change in land use, agriculture and infrastructure over timenot Zoom Earth
  • Feeding satellite imagery into analytics and machine learning pipelinesnot Zoom Earth

Zoom Earth

  • Watching a hurricane or typhoon track develop without installing an appnot Planet Labs
  • A quick global satellite check before deciding whether a local forecast app is worth openingnot Planet Labs
  • Journalists or researchers needing a citable, no-login satellite view of a weather eventnot Planet Labs
  • Comparing current satellite imagery against archived imagery from years earlier for the same regionnot 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

Zoom Earth

  • There are no push notifications or alerts, so it cannot warn you proactively the way a mobile weather app can.
  • It has no offline mode, so it is unusable without an internet connection, unlike apps that cache forecasts.
  • Forecasting is minimal; it shows what the satellites and radar currently see rather than a detailed hyperlocal forecast.
  • Being free and unaccountable to a paying customer base, there is no committed support channel if the site or a data feed goes down.
  • The browser-only interface is less convenient for quick daily checks than a home-screen app icon with widgets.

Pricing, plan by plan

Planet Labs

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

Zoom Earth

Free
  • Zoom EarthFree
    • Full satellite and storm tracking access
    • No account, no ads-gated tier
    • No offline mode or push alerts

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 Zoom Earth if

  • You need global satellite view.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want storm tracking.
Zoom Earth review

Questions people ask

Is Planet Labs or Zoom Earth better?
Neither clearly leads. Planet Labs starts at On request and Zoom Earth at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Planet Labs or Zoom Earth?
Zoom Earth has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Planet Labs and Free for Zoom Earth.
Does Planet Labs or Zoom Earth run on more platforms?
Planet Labs runs on Web, Api. Zoom Earth runs on Web.
Can I use Zoom Earth for free?
Yes. Zoom Earth 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 Zoom Earth is typically brought in for.
What can Planet Labs do that Zoom Earth cannot?
Planet Labs covers Daily satellite imagery, Change detection, Agriculture monitoring, Forest tracking. Zoom Earth covers Global satellite view, Storm tracking, MODIS high resolution, Historical imagery.

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
Zoom Earth: Do I need to create an account?

No. Zoom Earth works without registration or login.

Zoom Earth: Is there a mobile app?

No, it is a responsive website that works in mobile browsers rather than a native app.

Zoom Earth: How current is the imagery?

Geostationary imagery updates roughly every 10 to 15 minutes; higher-resolution MODIS imagery updates about twice a day.

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