Science & Math — entry 022 of 28
Purple Air
PurpleAir's public data API exposes real-time and historical PM2.5, PM10, temperature, and humidity readings from its global network of tens of thousands of community-owned air-quality sensors, returned as JSON from api.purpleair.com. Read access now requires a free API key — a bare request without one returns a 403 ApiKeyMissingError — obtained through a self-serve developer account at develop.purpleair.com.
AuthenticationAPI KeySign up with the provider to obtain credentials.
HTTPSSupportedTraffic is encrypted in transit.
CORSEnabledCallable directly from browser JavaScript.
PricingFreeNo paid tier — free for the documented use case.
FormatsJSONResponses can be requested as JSON.
GreatAPIs Score
Score78
Authentication15/25API key required
Pricing20/20Free to use
Docs14/20Documentation URL provided
Formats9/15Single response format
Freshness20/20Verified within 6 months
Embed this badge
<a href="https://greatapis.com/api/purple-air/"><img src="https://greatapis.com/badge/purple-air.svg" alt="Scored 78 on greatapis.com"></a>Auth quickstart
- Sign up with the provider to get an API key.
- Send it on every request as a header
Authorization: <key> - The exact header isn't documented — Authorization is a common default; confirm in the provider's docs.
Stored keyNo key stored
Your key is stored only in this browser (localStorage) and sent directly to the API — never to greatapis.