How to Put Your Davis Weather Station Online (2026 Guide)

You bought a Davis weather station because you care about accurate local weather. Naturally, the next thing you want is to put that data online, so you can check it from anywhere, share it with your town, embed it on a club or school page, or just keep your own growing record. The question is how, and the honest answer is that there are several routes with very different amounts of effort.

This guide walks through the realistic options for getting a Davis Vantage Pro2, Vantage Vue, or WeatherLink Live station on the web in 2026, roughly in order of how much work each one takes.

What do you need before you start?

Whatever route you choose, your Davis station must first be online in WeatherLink and reporting current conditions. Data reaches weatherlink.com through a WeatherLink Live, a WeatherLink Console, or an older data logger attached to a Vantage console — we compare those three upload paths here. If you can see live data at weatherlink.com, you have everything you need.

Most of the options below also use a free WeatherLink v2 API key, which is the credential that lets other tools read your station's data. If you have not made one yet, see How to Get Your WeatherLink API Key.

Option 1: The free WeatherLink portal

Every Davis station owner gets a free weatherlink.com account that displays live conditions with no extra software, hardware, or cost. It is the fastest way to see your station online. The trade-offs are a fixed layout, no custom domain, and limited history on the free plan, so it never feels like your site.

• Effort: none. It works out of the box.
• Trade-offs: the layout is fixed, you cannot use your own domain on the free tier, and historic data is limited. Older records roll off over time — the free vs paid WeatherLink plan differences are worth understanding before you commit to any route.

It is a fine place to start, but it is the least flexible option on this list.

Option 2: Self-hosted software (CumulusMX or WeeWX)

CumulusMX and WeeWX are free, open-source packages that pull data from your Davis station and generate a fully customizable website. The cost is operational rather than financial: both need a computer or Raspberry Pi running 24/7 at home, plus a separate web host to publish the pages they produce, usually over FTP.

• Effort: high, and ongoing. You install, configure, and update the software, and you keep the machine and the web host healthy.
• Trade-offs: if that machine reboots, loses power, or its SD card corrupts, your site stops updating. You are the system administrator now.

These are genuinely excellent tools if running a small server sounds like fun. If it sounds like a chore, read on. We compare them head to head in CumulusMX vs WeeWX.

Option 3: PWS website templates

PWS template packs such as the Saratoga or Leuven templates dress the output of CumulusMX or WeeWX in a polished, more customizable design. Templates do not replace the software — they sit on top of it, so you end up maintaining the program at home, the web host, and the template pack itself.

• Effort: high. They are an add-on to Option 2, not an alternative to it.
• Trade-offs: they depend on a steady stream of files over FTP and break in frustrating ways, such as a PHP version bump on your host, a stalled upload, or a template that has not been updated in years.

Option 4: Upload to a community network

Community networks like Weather Underground and PWSWeather accept your station's data and give it a public page on their site for free. Setup is mostly registering and entering credentials, which makes this the lowest-effort way to share data — but the page, the design, and the ads are theirs, not yours.

• Effort: low. Register, enter your station details, and point your uploads at the network.
• Trade-offs: it is their page, their design, and their branding, not your own website or domain.

If you want to feed the wider weather community, uploading is still worthwhile — here is how to send your station data to Weather Underground, CWOP, and more. And if you are looking for a network that treats station owners better, see Weather Underground Alternatives for 2026.

Option 5: A fully hosted site (the easy path)

A fully hosted service removes the server and the maintenance entirely: you give it your WeatherLink API key and it builds and runs the website for you. There is nothing to install and no machine to keep running at home, and the site lives on your own domain rather than someone else's.

This is exactly what Pro Weather does:

• Fully hosted. No Raspberry Pi, no FTP, no PHP to maintain.
• Updates automatically every 10 minutes.
• Your data is stored forever, so your charts and records keep growing.
• Your own domain with automatic SSL is included.
• Designed for phones from the very first screen.
• Set up in minutes, not an afternoon.

It does one thing well: turn a Davis WeatherLink station into a beautiful, maintenance-free website.

How do the five options compare?

The five routes differ mainly in who does the ongoing work. The WeatherLink portal and community networks are free but give you no site of your own; self-hosting gives you everything but makes you the administrator; a hosted service charges a small fee to take the whole job off your hands.

Which option should you choose?

Choose by matching the route to the time you actually want to spend. Zero effort and a basic look points to the free portal; total control and a taste for server administration points to CumulusMX or WeeWX; a professional site that stays online with no upkeep points to a hosted service.

• Want zero effort and do not mind a basic look? The free WeatherLink portal already works.
• Love running your own server and want total control? CumulusMX or WeeWX, optionally with a PWS template.
• Just want a professional site that stays online with no upkeep? A hosted service like Pro Weather is the fastest route.

For a deeper feature-by-feature comparison of all the software, see Best Weather Station Software for a Personal Website. And if you want the story behind why a hosted option exists at all, read Why I Built Pro Weather.

Common questions

Can I put my Davis station online without a paid subscription?

Yes. The free WeatherLink account uploads your data to weatherlink.com and lets you create a free v2 API key that serves current conditions roughly every 15 minutes. Community networks and hosted services both work on that free tier. Historic data through the API needs a paid plan, which is why hosted services like Pro Weather build your history forward from the day you connect.

Does my station need a WeatherLink Live to go online?

No. Any Davis upload path works: a WeatherLink Live, the newer WeatherLink Console, or an older IP or USB data logger attached to a Vantage console. Once your data appears on weatherlink.com, every option in this guide — portal, self-hosted software, community networks, and hosted sites — is available to you.

Do I need a WeatherLink API key for all of these options?

Only for tools that read your data from the WeatherLink cloud. The portal needs nothing extra, and CumulusMX or WeeWX can read directly from a WeatherLink Live on your local network. Hosted services and most integrations use the free v2 API key, which takes about two minutes to create in your WeatherLink account settings.

How much does it cost to put a weather station online?

Anywhere from nothing to around €10 per month. The WeatherLink portal and community networks are free. Self-hosting is free in software but costs electricity, a web host (typically €3–10/month), and your time. A hosted service like Pro Weather is €5.99/month or €59/year with hosting, domain, SSL, and data storage all included.

Get your Davis station online today

If you want your data on the web without becoming a part-time system administrator, the hosted path is the shortest. Connect your WeatherLink key and your site is live in about five minutes. Start your Pro Weather site, or browse the setup guide first.