Comparison

currencyapi vs Open Exchange Rates

Open Exchange Rates is a long-standing choice for hourly rates. currencyapi adds 60-second updates and official central bank rates.

Updated October 1, 2026 · 1 min read

Monthly list prices from both pricing pages in October 2026.

	currencyapi	Open Exchange Rates
Free	300 requests, daily updates, historical rates	1,000 requests, hourly, USD base only
Entry	$9.99: 15,000 requests, hourly	$12: 10,000 requests, hourly
Mid	$39.99: 600,000 requests, 60 s	$47: 100,000 requests, 30 min
High	$79.99: 1,700,000 requests, 60 s	$97: unlimited requests, 5 min

When Open Exchange Rates fits better

If you need unlimited requests on a fixed budget and 5-minute updates are enough, Open Exchange Rates’ Unlimited plan is a good deal.

When currencyapi fits better

You need 60-second updates or official central bank rates (ECB and 32 more central banks).
You need crypto and precious metals in the same API.

Compare with your own data: create a free key.

Frequently asked questions

Which has the better free plan?

Open Exchange Rates' free plan has more requests (1,000 per month, hourly updates, USD base only). currencyapi's free plan has 300 requests per month with daily updates and includes historical rates.

Which updates more often?

currencyapi updates every 60 seconds on its Medium and Large plans. Open Exchange Rates updates every 30 minutes on Enterprise and every 5 minutes on Unlimited (October 2026).

Exchange rate API

Get these rates in your app

currencyapi delivers real-time and historical exchange rates for 170+ currencies, crypto and metals as JSON, updated as often as every 60 seconds.

Read the documentation

300 free requests every month. No credit card required.

GET https://api.currencyapi.com/v3/latest?base_currency=USD&currencies=EUR,GBP,JPY

{
  "meta": { "last_updated_at": "2026-09-30T23:59:59Z" },
  "data": {
    "EUR": { "code": "EUR", "value": 0.8828 },
    "GBP": { "code": "GBP", "value": 0.7556 },
    "JPY": { "code": "JPY", "value": 157.98 }
  }
}

Keep reading

Currency conversion in JavaScriptBuild a currency converter in JavaScript: fetch live exchange rates in Node.js, keep your API key on the server, format amounts with Intl.NumberFormat and cache rates. currencyapi vs FixerLooking for a Fixer.io alternative? Compare currencyapi and Fixer: price per request, update frequency, free plan and endpoints. Currency conversion in PHPConvert currencies in PHP and Laravel with live exchange rates from currencyapi: cURL and Laravel HTTP examples, caching and correct rounding with bcmath. Exchange rates in Power BILoad live and historical exchange rates into Power BI with Power Query and the currencyapi API, and convert sales in multiple currencies to one reporting currency. Currency conversion in PythonConvert currencies in Python with live and historical exchange rates from the currencyapi API: requests, caching, Decimal rounding and a pandas example.

Get your free currency API key

Start with 300 free requests a month