WeatherBug
WeatherBug is a U.S. consumer weather platform, founded in 1993, delivering hyper-local forecasts, severe-weather alerts, radar, and environmental data (air quality, pollen, lightning, hurricane, wildfire) across mobile, web, and Fire TV to ~15–20 million active users, monetized primarily through advertising and premium subscriptions under parent GroundTruth.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1993
- HeadquartersMountain View, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What WeatherBug does
WeatherBug is a U.S.-based consumer weather information service, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, that has operated continuously as a brand under parent company GroundTruth (a location-based advertising and data business). The platform delivers real-time, hyper-local forecasts, live weather radar, severe-weather alerts (including proprietary Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts triggered by lightning frequency), lightning detection, hurricane tracking, wildfire monitoring, air quality (sourced from partner Ambee), pollen/allergy forecasts, and live weather and traffic cameras across a web property and native apps on iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire TV.
Underlying the product is an aggregation layer combining weather station data, radar, satellite imagery, and proprietary sensor inputs, enriched by population-weighted analytics across approximately 20 million active users. The go-to-market is mobile-first product-led growth through app marketplaces, with a free ad-supported tier and a premium ad-free subscription ($1.99/month, $10.99/annual), plus a $19.99 WeatherBug Elite perpetual upgrade on Android. The commercial backbone is WeatherBug for Advertisers (ads.weatherbug.com), which sells weather-triggered advertising across 400+ weather variables to consumer brands, retailers, and government entities, citing 15+ million MAU and ~14 million non-overlap with the main competitor.
The company has 51–100 employees, no recent disclosed funding rounds (last recorded round was 2004, totaling ~$38M across two prior rounds), and reports into GroundTruth. Operating geographies are described as USA / North America with worldwide app-store availability. Strategic emphasis is on cross-platform reach, multi-vertical environmental data (air quality, pollen, fire, lightning), and unique-audience ad targeting rather than headline AI model development.
WeatherBug firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- WeatherBug
- Legal name
- GroundTruth
- Website
- https://weatherbug.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1993
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- WeatherBug is a U.S. consumer weather platform, founded in 1993, delivering hyper-local forecasts, severe-weather alerts, radar, and environmental data (air quality, pollen, lightning, hurricane, wildfire) across mobile, web, and Fire TV to ~15–20 million active users, monetized primarily through advertising and premium subscriptions under parent GroundTruth.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
WeatherBug industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Weather Information Services
- NAICS
- Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (5161), Advertising Agencies (54181), Television Broadcasting Stations (516120)
- SIC
- Television Broadcasting Stations (4833), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early Warning, Event Monitoring & Forecasting (Extreme Weather Alerts, Nowcasting) (EUABALAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Weather & Emergency Information Channels (MPABAIAF), Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ)
Keywords
Where WeatherBug is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mountain View
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
WeatherBug business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Personnel
Revenue model
- Advertising: Primary revenue stream from displaying targeted advertisements to the 15+ million free app users. WeatherBug offers unique audience reach with approximately 14 million users not overlapping with main competitor apps. Ad formats include BrandWraps, Featured Sponsorship, Pre-Roll, Rich Media, Watch, and Banners. Revenue is generated through CPM-based pricing with weather-triggered ad targeting capabilities.
- Premium Subscriptions: Subscription revenue from ad-free premium tiers. Monthly subscription at $1.99/month and annual subscription at $10.99/year. Also offers WeatherBug Elite (Weather Elite by WeatherBug) at $19.99 for new customers, with free upgrade for existing Elite customers.
- Weather Data Services: Data collection and usage of user information for delivering personalized weather information and performing analytics and research, including predicting relationships among different browsers and devices.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free ad-supported tier with full weather features |
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly ad-free subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual ad-free subscription (best value) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Others | WeatherBug Elite one-time purchase (Android) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels4 records
WeatherBug product offering
Product offeringCore offering
WeatherBug delivers hyper-local weather forecasts, live radar, severe weather and lightning alerts, air quality, pollen, hurricane and wildfire tracking, and live weather/traffic cameras through consumer mobile apps (iOS, Android), Fire TV, and a web platform. It monetizes a 15+ million-user audience through a freemium consumer subscription model and a separate B2B advertising platform offering weather-triggered ad placements using 400+ weather variables.
Product overview
WeatherBug is a comprehensive weather platform delivering real-time weather forecasts, radar, severe weather alerts, and environmental monitoring across web, mobile (iOS/Android), and Fire TV. The core WeatherBug app and website serve as the primary products, while WeatherBug for Advertisers provides a separate advertising platform. The ecosystem includes premium offerings (WeatherBug Elite for ad-free experience) and specialized sub-products for hurricane tracking, lightning monitoring (Spark/Lightning Center), fire danger assessment (Fire Center), air quality (powered by Ambee), pollen/allergy forecasting, and live weather/traffic cameras. WeatherBug reaches approximately 20 million active users and offers hyper-local data from weather stations with 400+ weather variables.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- WeatherBug Mobile App Primary weather forecasting application providing local and national weather forecasts, live radar, severe weather alerts, hourly and 10-day forecasts, air quality data, pollen count, hurricane tracking, and weather news for individual consumers on iOS and Android.
- WeatherBug Website Web-based weather platform offering forecasts, radar maps, alerts, news, cameras, and air quality data for individual consumers across major browsers.
- WeatherBug for Fire TV Weather application for Amazon Fire TV devices providing weather forecasts, radar, satellite imagery, storm tracking, and featured videos with map layers including Storm Tracker, Radar, Satellite, Pressure, Temperature, and Precipitation for TV-based viewing.
- WeatherBug for Advertisers Advertising platform reaching over 15 million loyal weather enthusiasts, offering weather-triggered advertising based on 400+ weather variables, first and third-party audience data, geo-targeting by city/state/DMA/zip code, demographic targeting, dayparting, with ad formats including BrandWraps, Featured Sponsorship, Pre-Roll, Rich Media, Watch, and Banners for brand advertisers and government entities.
- WeatherBug Elite Ad-free premium subscription version of WeatherBug for Android, priced at $19.99 for new customers, with existing Elite customers receiving free upgrades.
- WeatherBug Air Quality Air quality monitoring feature providing Air Quality Index data, top triggers including PM2.5, and health risk assessments for user locations, with data provided by Ambee.
- WeatherBug Hurricane Tracker Hurricane and tropical storm tracking feature providing real-time monitoring of active storms, storm paths, forecasts, and safety information for consumers.
- WeatherBug Lightning Maps (Spark / Lightning Center) Real-time lightning detection and alerting system with distance-based color coding (Green: no lightning, Yellow: within 30 miles, Orange: within 20 miles, Red: within 10 miles, Grey: not available) and live map of detected lightning strikes.
- WeatherBug Fire Center Wildfire tracking and fire danger risk assessment tool that allows consumers to track wildfires near them and provides safety information.
- Weather Cameras Network of live weather cameras including Beach Cams, City Skylines, Mountain Cams, Stadium Cams, and Cool Spots, providing 24-hour weather replay and live streaming video for consumers.
- Traffic Cameras Live traffic camera feeds integrated with weather information providing comprehensive travel planning and road condition awareness for consumers.
- WeatherBug Pollen Count Pollen count and allergy forecast feature providing daily pollen levels, predominant pollen types (such as Grass, Plantain), and medium/high classifications to help allergy sufferers plan activities.
Quantifiable outcome
- WeatherBug reaches over 15 million loyal weather enthusiasts actively seeking weather information.
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use WeatherBug
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
WeatherBug technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability5 records
Feature6 records
WeatherBug partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.
- GroundTruthcoreWeatherBug is a brand of GroundTruth, a location-based advertising and data company. GroundTruth provides the advertising infrastructure and location data capabilities that power WeatherBug's ad-supported business model and targeted advertising offerings.
- AEM (Advanced Environmental Monitoring)strategicWeatherBug collaborates with AEM meteorologists (Kyle Leahy, Josh Kinsky) for seasonal weather outlooks including the 2026 Summer Outlook. AEM provides climate expertise and teleconnection analysis for drought and wildfire predictions.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
WeatherBug competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- AccuWeather: Direct competitor offering hyper-local forecasts, severe weather alerts, and radar across mobile and web. Competes for the same consumer weather app user base and advertiser attention.
- Weather Underground: Personal weather station-driven weather platform owned by The Weather Company. Competes with WeatherBug on hyper-local data claims from personal weather station networks.
- The Weather Channel: Major consumer weather brand from IBM, offering mobile app, web, and TV weather content. Direct competitor for app users, ad-supported free tier, and premium subscription conversions.
Others
- GroundTruth (parent): Parent company and location-based ad-tech infrastructure provider. Not a market peer but the platform that powers WeatherBug's advertising revenue and the strategic decision-maker for the brand's roadmap.
- NOAA / National Weather Service: US government source of authoritative weather data and public alerts. Not a direct competitor but upstream data provider whose alerts and forecasts underpin most consumer weather apps including WeatherBug.
Emerging players
- Windy.com: Visual weather forecasting platform popular among outdoor enthusiasts, pilots, and storm chasers. Comparable radar and severe-weather visualization depth, primarily web-based.
- Tomorrow.io: Weather intelligence platform offering hyper-local forecasts and an enterprise weather API. Overlaps with WeatherBug in consumer app while extending into B2B data services.
- Carrot Weather: Premium-tier weather app focused on power users with personality-driven UX. Competes at the high-ARPU subscription end of the consumer weather market.
Broad incumbents
- Apple Weather: Default iOS weather app shipped on every iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Represents the most significant substitute at zero friction, threatening WeatherBug's mobile acquisition funnel.
- Google Weather: Default Android and search weather experience from Google, integrated with Google Search, Assistant, and Pixel devices. Embedded competitor reducing organic discovery for WeatherBug.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
WeatherBug social profiles
Digital presenceWeatherBug financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
WeatherBug leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
WeatherBug funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
WeatherBug M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about WeatherBug
What does WeatherBug do?
WeatherBug delivers hyper-local weather forecasts, live radar, severe weather and lightning alerts, air quality, pollen, hurricane and wildfire tracking, and live weather/traffic cameras through consumer mobile apps (iOS, Android), Fire TV, and a web platform. It monetizes a 15+ million-user audience through a freemium consumer subscription model and a separate B2B advertising platform offering weather-triggered ad placements using 400+ weather variables.
Is WeatherBug a public or private company?
WeatherBug is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was WeatherBug founded?
WeatherBug was founded in 1993. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is WeatherBug based?
WeatherBug is headquartered in Mountain View, United States, in the North America region.
How does WeatherBug make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Advertising is the primary driver. The others are premium Subscriptions and weather Data Services.
Who are WeatherBug's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are AccuWeather, Weather Underground and The Weather Channel. Others are GroundTruth (parent) and NOAA / National Weather Service. Emerging players are Windy.com, Tomorrow.io and Carrot Weather. Broad incumbents are Apple Weather and Google Weather.
Does WeatherBug have an API?
No public API is recorded for WeatherBug.
What industry is WeatherBug in?
WeatherBug's product category is Weather Information Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUABALAJ, Early Warning, Event Monitoring & Forecasting (Extreme Weather Alerts, Nowcasting), with a secondary code of MPABAIAF, Weather & Emergency Information Channels. Its NAICS code is 5161 and its SIC code is 4833.