The best weather apps for cyclists in 2026

How did we choose and test these apps?

We judged each app on the things that change a ride, then checked every feature and price on the maker's own website or official app-store listing on 2 October 2026. If you want the best weather app for cycling, these are the questions that matter:

• Does it give a route-timed forecast? It should work out when you'll reach each part of your route and show the forecast for that place at that hour. A town forecast gives you one place at one time. A ride is a line that moves through the day.
• Does it show wind against the road? A 25 km/h (16 mph) westerly is a headwind on one road and a tailwind on the next.
• Does it show gusts? Gusts, not the average, are what push you across the lane.
• Does it show rain amount, timing and heat along the way, not just a percentage for the day?
• Can you share it with riders who don't have the app?
• Can you choose the forecast model, such as ECMWF or GFS?
• What does it cost, and what does the free version leave out?
• Where does it run: phone, browser or bike computer?

We haven't ridden with every app side by side for months, and we found no independent, published accuracy comparison, so we make no accuracy claims. Windline is our own product. It was built for a 13-stage, 2,093 km (1,300-mile) tour across South Africa that starts on 4 October 2026, and below we say plainly where it isn't the best pick.

How do the best cycling weather apps compare?

Three apps are built around a forecast timed to your pace along a whole route: Epic Ride Weather, myWindsock and Windline. Windy and komoot Premium can show weather along a planned route too. The rest forecast a place, a map or a ride you've already done.

Want this for your own route? Windline shows the wind for every stretch, timed to your pace. Free. Make a free ride page →

Windline: best free route-timed forecast to share with a group

Windline is the pick if you want a route-timed forecast for free, in a browser, behind one link your whole group can open. It is in beta.

Best for: tours, club rides and events where several riders need the same forecast.

Strengths: you upload a GPX file and set your start time and pace. Windline splits the route into stretches of about 5 km (3 miles) and works out when you'll reach each one, slower on climbs and with stops spread through the day. Each stretch shows as headwind, crosswind or tailwind on a map with wind arrows. Each day gets a Good, Fair or Tough rating based on headwind, gusts, rain and heat at the hour you ride. You can switch between the ECMWF, GFS and ICON models or blend them, and the page says when they disagree. Forecasts reach about 15 days ahead. Riders open the link in any phone browser with no app and no account.

Limits: there's no native phone app, and no alerts or notifications. It doesn't import from Strava or Garmin, so you upload a GPX file. There's no bike-computer data field. It's new, and we haven't published an accuracy test.

Price (as of October 2026): free for riders.

Epic Ride Weather: the most complete phone app for route forecasts

Epic Ride Weather is the most complete phone app for forecasting a ride. You load a route, set a start time and pace, and it shows the wind, rain, temperature and air quality you'll meet along the way.

Best for: riders who plan on their phone and want the most polished route forecast.

Strengths: it connects to Strava, Ride with GPS, komoot, Garmin Connect, Trailforks, MapMyRide, Plotaroute and Runkeeper, and opens GPX, FIT and TCX files. It shows the wind relative to the way you're riding, compares start times through the day and forecasts Strava segments. Data fields for the Hammerhead Karoo show live wind, rain and temperature ahead on your route. It rates 4.9 from 784 ratings on the US App Store.

Limits: it runs on phones and tablets, with no browser version. Garmin Connect courses don't import automatically; its own FAQ suggests exporting a GPX file instead. Neither its site nor its app listing mentions a choice of forecast model.

Price (as of October 2026): a 30-day trial with 1,000 forecasts, which the developer says covers 30 to 40 rides of 100 km (62 miles). Then US$19.99 a year or US$2.99 a month (€22.99 or £19.99 a year). Compare it with the Epic Ride Weather alternatives.

myWindsock: best for wind, power and Strava segments

myWindsock is the most analytical app here. It turns the forecast into the effort a route will cost you, and its free plan adds weather to planned routes.

Best for: data-minded riders, time triallists and Strava segment hunters.

Strengths: you can draw a route and see the headwinds as you plan, or upload GPX, TCX or FIT files. You set a start date and time, and a Planner shows a summary forecast for your planned routes for the next 12 days. Paid plans add advanced metrics such as Feels Like Elevation, which converts wind into equivalent climbing, plus virtual athlete profiles, aerodynamic (CdA) analysis and more Strava segment "windsocks" that alert you to good conditions. There's a Hammerhead Karoo extension too.

Limits: its help pages set it up as a web app on your home screen, not an app-store app. The depth takes time to learn, and its higher-definition Spatial3 weather engine is a Premium feature.

Price (as of October 2026): free plan; Lite US$12.99, Power US$24.99 and Unlimited US$29.99 a year. Compare it with others in myWindsock alternatives.

Windy and Ventusky: best weather maps for the bigger picture

A weather map shows what's coming and whether the models agree. Use one alongside a route tool.

Windy

Best for: timing a front, comparing models and reading the week's pattern.

Strengths: Windy offers more than 15 models, including ECMWF, GFS, ICON, the Met Office's UKV and NOAA's HRRR. It has wind speed and gust maps, radar and custom wind alerts. Its route planner opened on the website without an account when we checked: you import a GPX file, pick Car/hike mode, enter a speed and read the forecast along the route.

Limits: the route planner uses only the ECMWF model and one speed for the whole route, so climbs and stops aren't allowed for. Its pages don't describe a headwind or tailwind breakdown for each stretch.

Price (as of October 2026): free. Premium adds 1-hour steps, a 15-day outlook and 4–6 updates a day for US$24.99 a year on the US App Store; Windy staff confirmed the rise from US$18.99 in November 2025. Our guide to using Windy for cycling walks through it.

Ventusky

Best for: a cleaner second opinion on the map.

Strengths: wind, gust, rain and radar layers, the ECMWF, GFS, ICON and GEM models, and app notifications for wind and lightning.

Limits: no route tool is listed.

Price (as of October 2026): free on the web; Premium US$19.99 a year or US$4.99 a month on the US App Store.

Komoot and Ride with GPS: best if you already plan routes there

If your routes already live in komoot or Ride with GPS, their Premium plans add weather to the planner, so you don't need to export anything.

Komoot

"Weather on route" is a Premium feature that shows the forecast along a planned route. Komoot's 2026 update adds wind direction on the map for Premium users, and Premium includes the multi-day planner. Its pages don't describe a headwind breakdown for each stretch. Premium costs €59.99 a year on komoot.com, or US$59.99 on the US App Store, as of October 2026. More in komoot weather.

Ride with GPS

Premium includes Advanced Map Layers. One is a worldwide wind layer from NOAA data, updated twice daily. It's a map layer, not a forecast timed to your pace, but Ride with GPS routes also sync to Epic Ride Weather. Premium costs US$79.99 a year or US$12.99 a month on the US App Store, as of October 2026. Read more in Ride with GPS weather.

Strava and Garmin: what your ride app and bike computer show

Neither forecasts a planned route by itself, but both fit a good routine.

Strava

Subscribers see the weather on activities they've recorded, using Apple's WeatherKit data. Strava's subscription feature list doesn't include a forecast for planned routes. You can export a route as a GPX file for a route-timed tool, and Epic Ride Weather and myWindsock read Strava routes directly. The subscription costs US$79.99 a year or US$11.99 a month in the US, as of October 2026. See how to see the weather along a Strava route and how to export a GPX from Strava.

Garmin Edge

With your phone paired through Garmin Connect, an Edge receives real-time weather conditions and alerts. On the Edge 1050, a race event shows a local forecast about 14 days before. Connect IQ data fields add wind on the screen. Windy's free data field shows a colour-coded headwind, tailwind or crosswind arrow, and WindBlows Edge is also free. WindField shows live wind relative to your heading, with a limited free plan and, as of October 2026, paid plans from US$12 a year; its US$30 Ultimate plan adds a route weather planner for Strava and Ride with GPS routes. More in Garmin Edge weather.

National weather services and Apple Weather: best for warnings and radar

Your national weather service is the authority on warnings, and its warnings override any app, including ours. But it forecasts a place, not your route.

• Met Office (UK): a free app with forecasts 1 hour to 7 days ahead, hourly wind gusts for 7 days and alerts for UK severe weather warnings. Removing adverts costs £7.99 a year, as of October 2026.
• National Weather Service (US): free point forecasts at weather.gov, with a 48-hour hourly graph of wind, precipitation potential and heat index.
• Bureau of Meteorology (Australia): a free, ad-free app with hourly wind, gusts and rain for the next 72 hours, radar and warning alerts.
• Apple Weather: hourly and 10-day forecasts and wind maps with a timeline. Wind can be shown in km/h, mph, knots or Beaufort.

Before any windy ride, check the warnings, then our guide to how windy is too windy to cycle.

Which weather app should you pick?

Pick by the job. For most riders, one route-timed app for the plan and a national service for warnings covers everything.

What should you avoid when choosing a cycling weather app?

Avoid any app that hides the wind direction relative to your roads, and any review that quotes old prices or unproven accuracy.

• One town for a whole ride. On a 100 km (62-mile) loop, the wind can be behind you for the first hour and in your face for the last.
• Average wind without gusts. Gusts are what catch you on exposed roads and descents.
• Stale prices. Some older reviews quote Epic Ride Weather at US$11.99 or US$14.99 a year. Its own FAQ says US$19.99, as of October 2026.
• Accuracy claims with no published test. Ask how it was measured.

How do you use these apps together before a real ride?

Use a map for the pattern, a route-timed forecast for the plan and your national service for the final call. Whether it's a Sunday loop out of Girona, Spain, a gravel ride in Colorado, US, or a coast road in Victoria, Australia, the routine is the same:

1. A week out: look at the pattern on Windy or your national service. Are the models agreeing?
2. Two or three days out: run a route-timed forecast for your planned start. If your start time is flexible, compare two or three.
3. The night before: run it again, decide which way round to ride and share it with the group.
4. The morning of: check the radar and any warnings.

For the detail behind each step, see how to read a weather forecast for a bike ride, cycling in the wind and GPX files for cycling.