Windy.com

Weather

7.8~~/10~~

Our score

★ 4.7 Google Play·50M+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-10-01

Screenshots

Satellite view of a tropical storm over the Caribbean on an 08/17/2025 timeline, with a 17 dBZ weather radar card below

Hurricane radar view beside a Miami wind map with flow lines, next to Airbus, NOAA, SpaceX and Reuters logos

Home-screen forecast widgets for New York and London with an Apple Watch face showing a radar map

Lock-screen Storm Alert, Heavy Rain and METAR notifications above a CarPlay radar widget for Arizona

Hurricane Erin category 3 forecast track with 109 kt winds, 27.94 inHg pressure and NHC-AI, UKM and ECMWF track options

KTTS airport card with METAR, TAF and NOTAM tabs over the clouds layer, under a Flight Weather for Pilots headline

About Windy.com

This is the map-first forecast app from Prague-based Windyty: ECMWF, GFS, ICON and about a dozen regional models drawn side by side on more than 50 animated layers. It carries no ads, and its default location forecast is now meteoblue AI, built by a company Windyty has controlled since 2024. The catch is the 2023 paywall shift: free users get 3-hour steps, three saved places and roughly an hour of radar playback.

App information

DeveloperWindyty, SE

Version51.2.1 (Android) · 51.020117 (iOS)

Size51 MB (Android) · 180 MB (iOS)

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsNo

In-app purchasesYes

Content rating4+

Requires (Android)Android 8.0+

Requires (iOS)iOS 16.0+

Offline modeNone — maps and forecasts load live; Windy staff ruled out an offline mode for the mobile apps in 2024

Interface languagesAR, CS, NL, EN, ET, FR + 8 more

Store rating (Google Play)4.7 from 823,377 ratings

Installs50M+

Updated by developer2026-09-14

Data checked2026-10-01

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-10-01. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Windy.com Review: ECMWF Maps for Free, Hourly Detail Behind Premium

What Free Windy Still Includes After the 2023 Premium Shift

In January 2023 Windy moved the 7- to 10-day forecast, Route Planner, unlimited favorites and 6- and 12-hour radar history into Premium, promising that all models and layers would stay free and ad-free. That part held: free users still switch between ECMWF, GFS, ICON and regional models on any map. The limits sit elsewhere: 3-hour steps in location forecasts, three saved places and alerts, and about an hour of radar and satellite playback. When we opened a New York forecast on windy.com without an account on October 1, 2026, the table ran five days, and the 15-day link asked us to subscribe. Free ECMWF data refreshes twice a day; Premium refreshes models at least four times.

ECMWF, GFS, ICON or meteoblue AI: Picking a Forecast Model

Global maps offer ECMWF at about 9 km, ICON at 13 km and NOAA's GFS at 22 km. Regional models add HRRR and NAM for the U.S., HRDPS at 2.5 km for Canada, AROME-HD for France, UKV for Britain, ICON-D2 for Europe and ACCESS-C for Australia. Compare Forecasts stacks them in one table, now including meteograms and waves. By September 2026 the default location source was meteoblue AI, which blends up to 40 models with station data. Windy cites a 2025 check at over 30,000 stations showing more than 20% better rain forecasts than any single model, but the blend exists only as a point forecast, never on the map.

Who Owns the Default Model, and Why There Is No Offline Mode

meteoblue AI is not an outside supplier's product: Windyty bought a majority stake in Basel-based meteoblue in June 2024. September 2026 Play reviews complain that it replaces ECMWF on startup, and pinning a custom default model is a Premium setting. There is no offline mode either; staff ruled it out for the mobile apps in 2024, and an older staff post says GRIB downloads would breach data licences. Privacy is the cleaner side: Apple's label lists location, identifiers and diagnostics as not linked to you, and the policy names Google Analytics while ruling out any sale of personal data. Stability is weaker, with Spanish and Portuguese reviews reporting version 51.2.1 closing when radar or satellite loads.

The Weather Channel, AccuWeather and Ventusky at the Same Price

Windy Premium costs $24.99 a year in the U.S. App Store, and windy.com also sells a one-time, non-renewing year for about half again as much (€34.99 against €22.99 in the euro store we checked). The Weather Channel charges $9.99 a year only to remove ads and $29.99 for Premium; AccuWeather asks $12.99 for Premium or $29.99 for Premium+. Both carry the Contains ads label on Google Play, which Windy's listing lacks. Ventusky, another map-first app, lists Premium at $19.99 a year. One Windy subscription follows your account across Android, iOS and the web, and the terms refund the unused period if you withdraw within 14 days. Prices vary by region; check the current one in the store.

Pros

No ads, and every forecast model and map layer stays free
ECMWF, GFS, ICON and 11 regional models in one Compare Forecasts view
Hurricane tracker overlays competing storm tracks such as NHC-AI, UKM and ECMWF
Pilot tools: 16 altitude levels plus METAR, TAF and NOTAM for 50k+ airports
Apple's privacy label lists all collected data as not linked to you
Runs on Wear OS, Apple Watch, CarPlay and Garmin devices

Cons

Free tier stops at 3-hour steps, three saved places and about an hour of radar
meteoblue AI is the default; pinning a custom default model requires Premium
No offline mode, and staff have ruled one out for the mobile apps
Late September 2026 reviews report crashes on radar and satellite in version 51.2.1

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Verdict

It earns a 7.8 for putting ECMWF, GFS, ICON and a dozen regional models on free, ad-free maps, held back by a fiddly interface, recent crash reports and a free tier trimmed in 2023. Take it if you sail, fly, kite or track storms and want to see where models disagree. Skip it if you want a glanceable daily forecast, need offline access, or would rather not have an AI blend as your default.

Core function9.0Fifteen named models, 50+ layers and free ECMWF maps; a point-only AI default and short free outlook cost a point.

Ease of use6.5Layers, timeline and model picker take learning; 2026 reviews call navigation confusing and say the default model resets.

Monetisation8.0No ads and a $24.99 yearly Premium, but 2023 moved longer forecasts, extra favorites and radar history behind it.

Performance6.0Version 51.2.1 crash reports on radar and satellite, plus an August 2026 bug in point-forecast time selection.

Privacy & permissions8.5No advertising, no tracking data in Apple's label, no data sales; widgets can use location in the background.

7.8out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

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Frequently asked questions

Is Windy.com free without Premium?

Yes. Every model and map layer is free and there are no ads. The free tier uses 3-hour forecast steps, caps favorites and alerts at three, refreshes ECMWF twice a day and limits radar and satellite playback to about the last hour. Hourly steps and the 15-day outlook need Premium.

Which weather model is most accurate on Windy?

No single model wins everywhere. ECMWF at about 9 km is the usual global benchmark, while regional models such as AROME-HD or the 2.5 km HRDPS resolve fog and terrain in finer detail inside their areas. Windy recommends its meteoblue AI blend for location forecasts, but it cannot be drawn on the map.

How much is Windy Premium and is it worth it?

It costs $24.99 a year in the U.S. App Store; prices vary by region. You get 1-hour steps, a 15-day outlook that switches to ECMWF's AIFS model for days 11 to 15, four or more updates a day, 24-hour radar and satellite loops, a one-year archive and unlimited alerts. It pays off if you plan around wind or storm timing.

Does Windy work offline?

No. Maps and forecasts load live, and Windy staff said in 2024 that an offline mode would not come to the mobile apps. Forecast files cannot be downloaded either, because Windy licenses the model data rather than owning it. Cancelling Premium drops you back to the free tier, not out of the app.

Is Windy better than The Weather Channel or AccuWeather?

For model data and maps, yes; for a quick daily forecast, not necessarily. Windy shows no ads and compares ECMWF, GFS and ICON, while The Weather Channel and AccuWeather carry the Contains ads label on Google Play and charge $29.99 a year for top tiers. Ventusky is the closest map-first alternative.