Windy
Interactive weather visualization trusted by pilots, sailors and storm chasers — every major forecast model side by side, mostly free.
About
Windy is the weather app that weather nerds actually use. Launched in 2014 in Prague by Ivo Lukačovič — the founder of Czech search portal Seznam — it puts the world's leading forecast models (ECMWF, GFS, ICON, plus regional models like AROME, NAM, HRRR and ACCESS) on one animated map so users can compare them instead of trusting a single number. Its operator, Windyty S.E., pays for ECMWF access and gives it away free, which is why the free tier is so generous: 51 weather maps, global satellite composites, Doppler radar, METAR/TAF/NOTAM data for 50,000+ airports, and a plugin system built by the community.
Reviewers and working pilots, paragliders, kiters, sailors and rescue teams use it daily; the company claims tens of millions of monthly users. The paid Premium tier (roughly €21/year before a 24% price increase in March 2025) unlocks 1-hour model steps instead of 3-hour, longer accumulations and extra features. In June 2024 Windyty acquired a majority stake in meteoblue, the Basel weather company, keeping both brands running.
What it can do
- Side-by-side ECMWF, GFS, ICON and regional models
- 51 animated weather maps
- Global satellite and Doppler radar
- METAR, TAF and NOTAM for 50k+ airports
- Custom weather alerts
- Community plugin system
- 55k+ webcams and tide forecasts
Setup
Open windy.com or install the app — no account needed for the core maps. Create a free account for favorites and alerts; upgrade to Premium in-app or on the web.
Prerequisites
None for the free tier; Premium requires a paid subscription.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 7/10
Scored 7/10 (TIER metrics, metrics-v1). Evidence: 2014 launch and founder verified via Wikipedia; tens of millions of monthly users claimed in Windy's own 2023 press release; model list and feature set corroborated by independent reviews (Ingalls Weather, RNZ expert recommendation). Strengths: genuinely free flagship product with no ads, ECMWF access without a paywall, deep professional trust. Docked for: (1) it redistributes third-party model data rather than producing its own forecasts; (2) 'most accurate' marketing is provider-stated; (3) Premium pricing has crept up and free users get 3-hour rather than 1-hour model steps. License: proprietary; core free, Premium subscription ~€20+/year.
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 9.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 9.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 3.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 8.0/10
- · Launched 2014 in Prague by Ivo Lukačovič (Seznam founder); company Windyty S.E.
- · Tens of millions of monthly users claimed
- · Side-by-side ECMWF, GFS, ICON and regional models; 51 maps
- · METAR/TAF/NOTAM for 50k+ airports; community plugins
- · Windyty acquired majority stake in meteoblue June 2024
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.