AQICN vs Website Carbon
Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.
AQICN vs Website Carbon: common questions
Which is more reliable, AQICN or Website Carbon?
Both are neck-and-neck — AQICN and Website Carbon each measure 100% uptime over 90 days on our probe schedule. Reliability here is verified from our own scheduled checks; use the 30-day bars above to see which has been steadier lately.
Which is faster, AQICN or Website Carbon?
Website Carbon has the lower median latency in our checks — AQICN responds in 224 ms versus Website Carbon at 37 ms (P50). Tail latency (P95) is in the table above; for most workloads the median is the number that shapes how the API feels.
Do AQICN and Website Carbon need an API key?
Website Carbon needs no key, while AQICN requires a free API key. If you want to start calling without signup, reach for Website Carbon first.
Can I call AQICN and Website Carbon from the browser?
Neither sends browser-friendly CORS headers reliably, so call AQICN and Website Carbon from a server or proxy rather than client-side. The CORS and HTTPS rows above show exactly what we detected for each.
Are AQICN and Website Carbon free for commercial use?
AQICN has unclear commercial terms, and Website Carbon has unclear commercial terms. We track service terms and the data license as separate fields — see the Commercial use and Data license rows above, and confirm both before shipping either in a paid product.