Pro WeatherPro Weather vs CumulusMX: Which Is Right for You?
If you own a Davis weather station and want a real website for your data, you have likely come across two options: CumulusMX and Pro Weather. One is free, open source, and beloved by the hobbyist community. The other is a hosted service that handles everything for you. They take completely different paths to the same destination, and which one is right depends entirely on how much you enjoy tinkering.
This post puts them side by side across the factors that actually matter once the honeymoon period is over.
What each one is
CumulusMX is a free, open-source weather collection engine that runs on Windows, Linux, or a Raspberry Pi. It reads data from your station, stores it, and generates web pages. It supports many station brands, has an active community, and can be customized extensively through templates and settings.
Pro Weather is a fully hosted SaaS that connects to your Davis WeatherLink account via its API and builds a complete weather website for you. There is nothing to install. You paste your API key and your site goes live.
Effort and maintenance
The biggest difference between these two is not features. It is the ongoing work.
CumulusMX needs a computer running 24/7 on your network. If that machine reboots for updates, loses power, or its SD card corrupts (a well-known Raspberry Pi failure mode), your site stops updating until you notice and fix it. You also need a separate web host to publish the generated pages, usually over FTP, which is another service to manage.
Pro Weather runs in the cloud. There is no computer at your house, no FTP uploads, and no server to maintain. Your site updates automatically every 10 minutes whether you are home or not. If something goes wrong, the service handles it. The trade-off is that you are not in control of the hardware, but you also do not need to be.
Customization and control
CumulusMX gives you total control. You can edit every template, tweak every chart, and install community skins. If you want a completely bespoke site and enjoy spending time on it, CumulusMX is the obvious choice.
Pro Weather offers deep customization through its dashboard: logo, banner, colors, fonts, dark mode, tab layout, header style, and an about section. You can also add a custom domain with automatic SSL. What you cannot do is modify the underlying templates or add arbitrary code. The trade-off is that everything just works across devices and screen sizes without you testing it.
Data retention
CumulusMX stores data on your machine. How long it keeps it depends on your setup, your disk space, and your backup habits. If that machine fails, your history can disappear.
Pro Weather stores your data indefinitely. Your charts, records, and almanac grow from the day you connect and never roll off. This is especially valuable if you care about long-term trends and all-time records.
Cost
CumulusMX is free. The hidden costs are the always-on computer (hardware and electricity), a web host to serve the site (typically €3–10/month), and your time maintaining both.
Pro Weather costs €5.99/month or €59/year, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required to start. That single price includes hosting, a custom domain, automatic SSL, unlimited data retention, and all future updates.
Feature comparison
| Factor | CumulusMX | Pro Weather |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | An afternoon to a weekend | About 5 minutes |
| Always-on hardware needed | Yes, a PC or Raspberry Pi | No |
| Web hosting needed | Yes, separate host required | Included |
| Automatic updates | No, if the machine is off | Yes, every 10 minutes |
| Data retention | Depends on your setup | Forever |
| Custom domain | Possible with extra work | Included with SSL |
| Mobile design | Varies by template | Built-in |
| Multi-language | Community contributed | Built-in (EN, NL, FR, DE) |
| Updates and maintenance | You | Handled by the service |
| Cost | Free + hosting costs | €5.99/month or €59/year |
Which should you choose?
Choose CumulusMX if you enjoy running a small server, want total control over every pixel, have a machine you are happy to leave on all day, and consider maintenance part of the hobby.
Choose Pro Weather if you want a beautiful, professional weather website without maintaining hardware, managing FTP, or worrying about your machine going offline. It is built specifically for Davis stations, and your site goes live in minutes.
If you are still deciding, read the broader comparison in Best Weather Station Software for a Personal Website or the walkthrough in How to Put Your Davis Weather Station Online.
Ready to skip the server? Start your Pro Weather site. It takes about five minutes.