# Google Maps Platform, free usage cap, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup: Weather forecast API

> The forecast.hours endpoint returns up to 240 hours of forecast information for a specific location, starting at the current hour.

Google Maps Platform's weather forecast API on its Free Usage Cap plan. It costs $0.00 per 1,000 places. It returns 5 of the 6 key fields we check: Temperature, Precipitation, Wind, Conditions, Humidity.
We rank 165 plans by price. [OpenWeather's £370 monthly plan](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/openweather/370-monthly-professional-get-data-2-5-forecast/llms.txt) is the cheapest paid plan per 1,000 places: $0.00049.
[Weatherbit](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/weatherbit/495-monthly-business-get-v2-0-forecast-daily/llms.txt), [WeatherAPI.com](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/weatherapi-com/7-monthly/llms.txt) and [MET Norway](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/met-norway/free-get-weatherapi-locationforecast-2-0-complete/llms.txt) are the best weather forecast API providers in our benchmark.

- This page: https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/free-usage-cap-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup
- [Best weather forecast API in 2026: pricing compared](https://datacircle.dev/best-weather-forecast-api.txt)
- Get it: https://mapsplatform.google.com/pricing/
- Request: `GET https://weather.googleapis.com/v1/forecast/hours:lookup`
- API key: with the plan, on https://mapsplatform.google.com/pricing/
- Its API docs: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/weather/reference/rest/v1/forecast.hours/lookup
- Sold by: Google Maps Platform (https://mapsplatform.google.com)
- Checked: 2026-10-30

## In the answer

- Completeness: 83%
- Temperature: ✓
- Precipitation: ✓
- Wind: ✓
- Conditions: ✓
- Humidity: ✓

## Price

- $ per 1,000 places: $0.00
- Per: call
- Billing: free

## Charges

- Also pays for: from the same budget: Weather API: Get current conditions · Weather API: Get daily forecast

## Overage

- Units cap: soft

## Not found

- $ per 1,000: $0.00

## In their words

- Their pitch: The forecast.hours endpoint returns up to 240 hours of forecast information for a specific location, starting at the current hour.

## Data

- Keep data: Hourly Forecast values: one hour, after which Customer must delete the cached Google Maps Content
- Use data: Customers may not use Google Maps Content retrieved from Weather API to recreate a Google service or product (e.g. use data retrieved from Weather API in a weather app or weather model whose primary purpose is to provide weather information). [...] Customer will not export, extract, or otherwise scrape Google Maps Content for use outside the Services. For example, Customer will not: (i) pre-fetch, index, store, reshare, or rehost Google Maps Content outside the services [...] Customer will not cache Google Maps Content except as expressly permitted under the Maps Service Specific Terms. Customer will not create content based on Google Maps Content. For example, Customer will not: [...] (vii) use Google Maps Content to improve machine learning and artificial intelligence models, including to train, test, validate or fine-tune the models. Customer will not use the Services to create a product or service with features that are substantially similar to or that re-create the features of another Google product or service. Customer’s product or service must contain substantial, independent value and features beyond the Google products or services. [...] Customer will display all attribution that (i) Google provides through the Services (including branding, logos, and copyright and trademark notices), or (ii) is specified in the Maps Service Specific Terms. Customer will not modify, obscure, or delete such attribution.

## Plan

- Pay: $0
- You get: 10,000 requests a month
- Enough for: 10,000 calls a month

## Rate limit

- Batch: 1

## The call

- You send: location.latitude, location.longitude. Optional: unitsSystem, pageSize, pageToken, hours, languageCode
- Method: GET
- Path: /v1/forecast/hours:lookup

## About the plan

- Plan: Free Usage Cap
- Who can get it: anyone who enables billing on a Google Cloud project

## The 27 fields the plan's answer can hold

interval, local date and time, time zone, next page token, day or night, conditions, conditions type, conditions icon, temperature, feels-like temperature, dew point, heat index, wind chill, wet-bulb temperature, precipitation probability, precipitation type, precipitation amount, pressure, wind direction, wind speed, wind gusts, visibility, ice thickness, humidity, UV index, thunderstorm probability, cloud cover

## Google Maps Platform's plans (9)

- [Google Maps Platform, free usage cap, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/free-usage-cap-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, pay as you go, Cap - 100,000, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/pay-as-you-go-cap-100000-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $0.15 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, pay as you go, 100,001 - 500,000, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/pay-as-you-go-100001-500000-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $0.12 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, pay as you go, 500,001 - 1,000,000, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/pay-as-you-go-500001-1000000-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $0.09 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, pay as you go, 1,000,001 - 5,000,000, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/pay-as-you-go-1000001-5000000-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $0.06 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, pay as you go, 5,000,000+, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/pay-as-you-go-5000000-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $0.038 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, $275 monthly, Essentials, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/275-monthly-essentials-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $2.75 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, $1,200 monthly, Pro, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/1200-monthly-pro-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): $4.80 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Google Maps Platform, contact us, Enterprise, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/contact-us-enterprise-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt): 83% complete

## Google Maps Platform's calls for this API (2)

- `GET /v1/forecast/days:lookup`: [Google Maps Platform, free usage cap, GET /v1/forecast/days:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/free-usage-cap-get-v1-forecast-days-lookup/llms.txt)
- `GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup`: [Google Maps Platform, free usage cap, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/free-usage-cap-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt)

## Google Maps Platform's APIs (3)

- [Google Maps Platform: current weather API pricing, 9 plans](https://datacircle.dev/current-weather-apis/google-maps-platform/free/llms.txt)
- [Google Maps Platform: air quality API pricing, 9 plans, POST /v1/currentConditions:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/air-quality-apis/google-maps-platform/free-usage-cap-post-v1-currentconditions-lookup/llms.txt)
- [Google Maps Platform: air quality API pricing, 9 plans, POST /v1/forecast:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/air-quality-apis/google-maps-platform/free-usage-cap-post-v1-forecast-lookup/llms.txt)
- [Google Maps Platform: weather forecast API pricing, 9 plans, GET /v1/forecast/hours:lookup](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/google-maps-platform/free-usage-cap-get-v1-forecast-hours-lookup/llms.txt)

## Google Maps Platform: weather forecast API alternatives

- [API Ninjas, $299 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/api-ninjas/299-monthly/llms.txt): $0.03 per 1,000, 83% complete
- [Meteosource, $9 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/meteosource/9-monthly/llms.txt): $0.03 per 1,000, 83% complete, live
- [Open-Meteo, €29 monthly, API Standard, GET /v1/forecast, Weather forecast](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/open-meteo/29-monthly-api-standard-get-v1-forecast-weather-forecast/llms.txt): $0.033 per 1,000, 100% complete, live
- [WeatherXu, $20 monthly](https://datacircle.dev/weather-forecast-apis/weatherxu/20-monthly/llms.txt): $0.04 per 1,000, 100% complete

## Sources

From each provider's own pricing page and docs, and from what providers tell us. We read this row from these pages on 2026-10-30.

- https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms
- https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms/maps-service-terms
- https://developers.google.com/maps/billing-and-pricing/pricing
- https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/weather/hourly-forecast
- https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/weather/overview
- https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/weather/policies
- https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/weather/reference/rest/v1/forecast.hours/lookup
- https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/weather/usage-and-billing
- https://mapsplatform.google.com/pricing/