IQAir Air Quality Data API
IQAir air quality data REST API for health apps, environmental platforms, smart home devices, and enterprise applications to access real-time air quality index (AQI), PM2.5, PM10, ozone, NO2, SO2, CO concentration data for 10,000+ cities globally, including nearest station lookup, historical data, and weather correlation through IQAir's network of 30,000+ sensors and satellite data fusion. Enables AI agents to manage city AQI retrieval for air quality monitoring automation, handle nearest station detection for hyperlocal air quality automation, access pollutant concentration for health advisory automation, retrieve historical AQI data for environmental trend automation, manage country and state listing for regional air quality automation, handle health recommendation for outdoor activity planning automation, access weather correlation for air quality forecasting automation, retrieve sensor data for IoT device integration automation, manage indoor/outdoor comparison for home air quality automation, and integrate IQAir data with health apps, smart devices, and environmental intelligence platforms for end-to-end air quality awareness automation.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
Environmental data API. GDPR. API key in URL query param. EU/US. AQI and pollution data only.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
A health app, smart home platform, or environmental service wanting AI agents to access real-time AQI and pollutant data for 10,000+ cities through IQAir's global sensor network and satellite fusion API.
Avoid When
AQI SCALES DIFFER BY COUNTRY: AQI is calculated differently by country (US AQI, CAQI, AQHI Canada); automated universal AQI comparison creates misleading values across regions; automated must specify or normalize AQI scale for cross-country comparison. NEAREST STATION MAY BE FAR: IQAir nearest station search returns closest station which may be kilometers away in rural areas; automated hyperlocal precision assumption creates station-location mismatch; automated must return station distance to user. FREE TIER IS SEVERELY LIMITED: IQAir free tier has 1,000 calls/month; automated high-frequency monitoring on free tier exhausts quota in hours; automated production air quality monitoring requires paid plan. HISTORICAL DATA DEPTH VARIES BY CITY: IQAir historical data availability varies by station and market tier; automated full-history assumption for all cities creates partial data for newer stations.
Use Cases
- • Displaying real-time city AQI for health and fitness app automation agents
- • Providing outdoor activity health recommendations based on air quality from wellness agents
- • Monitoring PM2.5 and pollutant levels for smart home device automation agents
- • Analyzing historical air quality trends for environmental compliance automation agents
Not For
- • Industrial emissions compliance monitoring (use certified emissions monitoring systems)
- • Legal or regulatory air quality reporting (IQAir data is informational not certified)
- • Indoor air quality from personal sensors without IQAir sensor hardware
Interface
Authentication
IQAir uses API key (query parameter) for authentication. REST API with JSON. Goldach, Switzerland HQ (operations in Geneva and Sacramento). Founded 2015 by Frank Hammes. Backed by Temasek. Products: Real-time AQI, PM2.5/PM10, historical data, city rankings, nearest station. SDKs: None official. GDPR. 30,000+ monitoring stations. 10,000+ cities. Powers Android/iOS air quality apps. Competes with Breezometer and PurpleAir for consumer air quality data.
Pricing
Goldach CH / Sacramento CA. Temasek backed. Monthly quota pricing. Free tier available.
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ API KEY IN QUERY PARAMETER NOT HEADER: IQAir API key is passed as key= query parameter; automated header-based API key assumption creates 401 unauthorized; automated must append ?key=API_KEY to all request URLs
- ⚠ AQI SCALE IS US AQI BY DEFAULT: IQAir returns US AQI (0-500 scale) by default; automated cross-country comparison with EU CAQI or CN AQI scale creates misleading comparison; automated must specify or normalize scale for non-US markets
- ⚠ MONTHLY QUOTA DEPLETES QUICKLY WITH POLLING: IQAir free tier (1,000 req/month) exhausted within 1 day of hourly polling for one city; automated production monitoring must implement caching and selective update intervals
- ⚠ NEAREST STATION DISTANCE NOT ALWAYS CLOSE: IQAir nearest station may be 10-50km away in rural areas; automated hyperlocal accuracy assumption creates misleading health recommendations; automated must return and display station distance
- ⚠ HISTORICAL DATA REQUIRES PREMIUM TIER: IQAir historical AQI data is only available on paid plans; automated historical analysis on free API key creates empty historical response; automated historical use case must be on paid plan
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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-07.