specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: U.S. Geological Survey
providerId: u-s-geological-survey
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Federal Government
  - Geological
  - Earth Science
  - Earthquake
  - Hydrology
  - Open Data
description: USGS APIs (Earthquake Catalog / FDSN, Water Data, ScienceBase, StreamStats, Seismic Design,
  Asset Identifier Service) are publicly accessible federal-government data services. There is no fee,
  no published commercial tier, and no documented monetary pricing. Use is governed by USGS terms and
  the federal information-quality guidelines rather than a paid plan structure.
sources:
  - https://www.usgs.gov/products/web-tools/apis
  - https://earthquake.usgs.gov/data/comcat/
plans:
  - id: u-s-geological-survey-public
    name: Public Open Data
    type: freemium
    description: All USGS web services are free to access. No registration or commercial tier; users
      are asked to follow USGS data citation and acceptable-use guidance.
    entries:
      - label: Public API Access
        name: public_access
        type: flat
        metric: request
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Earthquake Notifications, Feeds, and Web Services
      - name: USGS Water Data APIs
      - name: ScienceBase
      - name: StreamStats Web Services
      - name: Seismic Design Web Service
      - name: Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
      - name: USGS Water Services (Legacy)
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com
x-canonical:
  generated: '2026-10-08'
  vocabulary: all/0-working/economics/plans-canonical.yml
  models:
  - subscription
  units:
  - request
  plans:
  - name: Public Open Data
    access: freemium
    model: subscription
    model_how: derived
    units:
    - request
    periods:
    - month