# WeatherLink plans & your data

URL: https://pro-weather.com/docs/weatherlink-plans

> How Pro Weather works with every WeatherLink plan, turning your station's readings into a permanent archive you own.

Your station's data lives in your Davis **WeatherLink** account, on one of
WeatherLink's subscription plans. Pro Weather works with all of them. This page
explains what each plan gives you, how Pro Weather behaves on each, and the value
it adds on top.

  **WeatherLink Pro / Pro+** is Davis's subscription for your *station's data*,
  paid to WeatherLink. **Pro Weather Pro** is *this app's* plan, paid to us. They
  are completely independent. You can run Pro Weather on a free WeatherLink Basic
  plan, or pair a WeatherLink Pro station with Pro Weather's free trial.

## The WeatherLink plans

WeatherLink's plans mainly differ in how often your station uploads and whether
your **history** is available to apps like Pro Weather:

| WeatherLink plan | Cost | Live data via API | Historic data via API | Upload interval |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Basic** | Free | Current conditions only | Not available | ~15 minutes |
| **Pro** | Paid (annual) | Current + historic | Full archive | down to 5 minutes |
| **Pro+** | Paid (annual) | Current + historic | Full archive | down to 1 minute |

The key difference: **only Pro and Pro+ expose your historic data** to
third-party apps. On **Basic**, only current conditions are available, at
15-minute intervals. (There's also a negotiated *Custom* plan, rarely relevant to
hobbyists.)

> **Plans are set by Davis**
>
  WeatherLink plan features and pricing are set by Davis Instruments and can
  change. Check **weatherlink.com** for the current details.

## What Pro Weather needs

Just a free **WeatherLink v2 API key**. Every plan, including Basic, can generate
one. See [Connect your WeatherLink station](https://pro-weather.com/docs/getting-started/connect-weatherlink).

## How Pro Weather works on each plan

### On WeatherLink Pro or Pro+

- Pro Weather polls your station's rich **historic archive** about every 10 minutes.
- It also **backfills your past data**: working backwards in time, it imports your
  existing history as far back as your WeatherLink records go, so your charts,
  records and almanac can start out full instead of empty.
- Your archive keeps your plan's full upload resolution (as fine as every minute
  on Pro+) and the public site refreshes about every 10 minutes.

### On WeatherLink Basic (free)

- The historic API isn't available on Basic, so Pro Weather can't import your
  past data.
- Instead, it **archives every current reading as it arrives**, building your
  history forward from the day you connect.
- Live conditions update roughly every 15 minutes, the Basic upload interval.

Either way, Pro Weather keeps collecting and your archive only grows.

## The value: a permanent archive you own

This is the big one. WeatherLink Basic keeps only a limited, rolling window of
records and doesn't expose history to apps at all. Pro Weather stores **every
reading your station produces in its own database, permanently**. It's never
deleted when a subscription lapses, only if you delete the site.

That archive is what powers:

- **Historic charts** that unlock from 24 hours up to a full year
- **All-time records** and **monthly climate summaries** (the almanac)
- The **30-day wind rose**

See [History, records & the almanac](https://pro-weather.com/docs/features/almanac-history) for how
each of these builds up, and remember you can
[export the whole archive as CSV](https://pro-weather.com/docs/account-billing/account#export-your-data)
whenever you like.

So even on a free WeatherLink Basic plan, your weather history keeps growing and
stays yours. The longer your site runs, the richer it gets.

## It won't strain your WeatherLink quota

Pro Weather fetches your station's data **once every ten minutes and caches it**,
then serves that cached data to every visitor. Your WeatherLink API is polled a
handful of times, not once per visitor, so even a busy site stays light on your
quota.

## Which WeatherLink plan should I use?

- **Just getting started?** A free WeatherLink **Basic** plan is enough to publish
  a complete, live site. Your history builds up from the day you connect.
- **Want history from day one, or the finest resolution?** Upgrade your station to
  WeatherLink **Pro** (or **Pro+**) so Pro Weather can import your past data and
  refresh more often.

Remember, these are WeatherLink (Davis) plans, separate from your
[Pro Weather plan](https://pro-weather.com/docs/account-billing/subscription).

## Next steps

- [Connect your WeatherLink station](https://pro-weather.com/docs/getting-started/connect-weatherlink)
- [Tabs & panels](https://pro-weather.com/docs/customizing/panels)
- [Plans & billing](https://pro-weather.com/docs/account-billing/subscription)