Storm Stream vs HailTrace and Interactive Hail Maps
HailTrace and Interactive Hail Maps are the established names in storm data. Both are closed, roofing-focused dashboards, and both typically put access behind a sales demo. Storm Stream is the open, API-first alternative: a self-serve key in minutes, query by point, ZIP, address, or polygon, a GeoJSON overlay for any map, first-to-the-storm webhooks, and transparent National Weather Service and NOAA sourcing, sold at a published price rather than a quote.
01Open API vs closed dashboard
The incumbents are dashboards: you log into their product, look at their map, and export what they let you export. Storm Stream is an API you build on. Query it from any stack, render the storm swath and track as standards GeoJSON on Leaflet, Mapbox, MapLibre, deck.gl, or ArcGIS, and pull the same data into your own app, your own report, or your own model. The dashboard is optional; the data is the product.
02Cross-industry vs roofing-locked
HailTrace and Interactive Hail Maps are built for roofing and restoration. Storm Stream serves the same event data to roofing, insurance and reinsurance, solar, restoration, agriculture, logistics, utilities, and newsrooms, because a normalized storm event, with severity, confidence, and geometry, answers a different question for each of them from the same call. See the recipes for one runnable example per vertical.
03Self-serve vs demo-gated
Getting started should not require a meeting. Request a key by email at POST /v1/keys, confirm the email, and your live key is issued on the spot on the free tier, no card. The homeowner-facing product is free for one ZIP, also with no card and no trial that quietly expires.
04Transparent sourcing and price
Every Storm Stream alert links back to the official National Weather Service source, so anyone can verify it independently. Pricing is published, not quoted: Full Access is a founding $39 a month (normally $49) for up to 25 ZIPs and the reports, and the API starts at $99 a month. The incumbents commonly price higher and gate the number behind a demo; check their current pricing directly, since it changes.
05Head to head
- Access modelStorm Stream: open, metered API plus a thin map app. Incumbents: closed vertical dashboard.
- Get startedStorm Stream: self-serve key by email, free tier, no card. Incumbents: typically a sales demo first.
- IndustriesStorm Stream: roofing, insurance, solar, restoration, agriculture, logistics, utilities, news. Incumbents: roofing and restoration.
- QueryStorm Stream: point, ZIP, address, bbox, or polygon, with a time window. Incumbents: their dashboard views.
- IntegrationStorm Stream: GeoJSON overlay for any map, first-to-the-storm webhooks, OpenAPI spec. Incumbents: their app.
- Data sourceStorm Stream: NWS and NOAA, with a link back to the official source on every alert.
06Questions
How is Storm Stream different from HailTrace?
HailTrace is a closed, roofing-focused dashboard that typically requires a sales demo before access. Storm Stream is API-first and cross-industry: a self-serve key in minutes, query by point, ZIP, address, or polygon, a GeoJSON overlay on any map, first-to-the-storm webhooks, and every alert links back to the official NWS source. Pricing is published, not quote-behind-a-demo.
Is there an alternative to Interactive Hail Maps with an API?
Yes. Interactive Hail Maps is a vertical-locked dashboard. Storm Stream exposes the same class of storm data as a clean, metered API on live NWS and NOAA data, so any product can query it, render the overlay on Leaflet, Mapbox, MapLibre, deck.gl, or ArcGIS, and get a webhook the moment a storm crosses a watched zone.
Do I have to sit through a sales demo?
No. Request a key by email at POST /v1/keys, confirm by email, and your key is issued on the spot on the free tier with no card. The homeowner-facing product is free for one ZIP, also with no card.
Where does the data come from?
All weather data comes from the United States National Weather Service and NOAA, the official government source, and every alert links back to that source so it can be verified independently.