Short answer: for commercial apps, currencyapi has the lowest cost per request with 60-second updates among the third-party plans we priced: Medium is $39.99/month for 600,000 requests (about $0.067 per 1,000) and Large $79.99 for 1,700,000 (about $0.047). It works with any base currency, includes daily history back to 1999 on every plan and covers fiat, crypto and precious metals in one API.
Others win elsewhere: Frankfurter is free with no key and no quota (daily rates), CurrencyBeacon has the biggest free quota (5,000 requests/month, hourly), and Open Exchange Rates and ExchangeRate-API have larger free tiers than our 300 requests.
Disclosure: we make currencyapi, and fxapi on this list is our sister product. Every competitor figure is taken from the provider’s public pricing page, checked on October 26, 2026.
Comparison table
Free plans and the fastest plan of each API, from the providers’ public pricing pages (checked October 26, 2026; monthly billing, USD, excluding VAT).
| API | Free plan | Fastest updates (plan, price) | Base currency | Historical data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| currencyapi | 300 requests/month, daily, private use | 60 seconds (Medium, $39.99/month) | Any, also on Free | Daily back to 1999, on every plan |
| Open Exchange Rates | 1,000 requests/month, hourly | 5 minutes (Unlimited, $97/month) | USD only on Free; any from Developer ($12) | Included |
| ExchangeRate-API | 1,500 requests/month, daily | 5 minutes (Business, $30/month) | Not stated | Over 30 years (Pro) |
| CurrencyFreaks | 1,000 requests/month, every 24 hours | 60 seconds (Professional, $99.99/month) | USD only on Free; any on paid plans | Back to 1984, paid plans |
| CurrencyBeacon | 5,000 requests/month, hourly, commercial use | Real-time (Professional, $599/month) | Switching from Startup ($99) | Included on every plan |
| Frankfurter | Free, no key, no monthly quota | Daily | Any | Back to 1948 |
Price per 1,000 requests
Quotas differ so much that plan prices alone don’t compare well. This table divides each monthly price by the included requests, for every plan where both are published.
| API and plan | Price/month | Requests/month | Per 1,000 requests | Updates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| currencyapi Small | $9.99 | 15,000 | $0.67 | Hourly |
| currencyapi Medium | $39.99 | 600,000 | $0.067 | 60 seconds |
| currencyapi Large | $79.99 | 1,700,000 | $0.047 | 60 seconds |
| fxapi Professional (sister product) | $34.99 | 600,000 | $0.058 | 60 seconds |
| fxapi Enterprise (sister product) | $74.99 | 1,700,000 | $0.044 | 60 seconds |
| Open Exchange Rates Developer | $12 | 10,000 | $1.20 | Hourly |
| Open Exchange Rates Enterprise | $47 | 100,000 | $0.47 | 30 minutes |
| ExchangeRate-API Pro | $10 | 30,000 | $0.33 | Hourly |
| ExchangeRate-API Business | $30 | 125,000 | $0.24 | 5 minutes |
| CurrencyFreaks Starter | $9.99 | 15,000 | $0.67 | Hourly |
| CurrencyFreaks Growth | $49.99 | 150,000 | $0.33 | 10 minutes |
| CurrencyFreaks Professional | $99.99 | 550,000 | $0.18 | 60 seconds |
| CurrencyBeacon Basic | $10 | 50,000 | $0.20 | 15 minutes |
| CurrencyBeacon Startup | $99 | 500,000 | $0.20 | 1 minute |
| CurrencyBeacon Professional | $599 | 2,000,000 | $0.30 | Real-time |
Open Exchange Rates Unlimited ($97/month, unlimited requests, 5-minute updates) has no per-request price. XE, OANDA and Currency Converter API don’t publish request-based monthly prices that fit this table; see their sections below.
currencyapi’s yearly billing gives 2 months free: Small costs $99.99 a year (about $8.33 a month), roughly $0.56 per 1,000 requests.
Best currency API by use case
- E-commerce, checkout and marketplaces (commercial, high volume): currencyapi Medium, 600,000 requests with 60-second updates for $39.99/month. Large adds an SLA, IP and URL whitelisting and overages for $79.99.
- Invoicing and accounting: currencyapi. The
/v3/officialendpoint returns the published rates of 35 central banks, including the ECB, and the average endpoint gives monthly, quarterly and yearly averages with lows and highs, as JSON or CSV. - Free, no sign-up: Frankfurter, if daily rates are enough.
- The biggest free quota: CurrencyBeacon (5,000 requests/month, hourly, commercial use allowed). If you need a non-USD base or historical rates on a free plan, currencyapi Free covers both (300 requests/month, daily, private use).
- Frequent updates on a budget: currencyapi Medium at $39.99/month or fxapi Professional at $34.99/month, both every 60 seconds. The next cheapest one-minute plans we found are CurrencyBeacon Startup ($99) and CurrencyFreaks Professional ($99.99).
- Crypto checkout, portfolio and tax tools: currencyapi for 16 major cryptocurrencies with the same endpoints as fiat; CurrencyBeacon if you need thousands of crypto assets.
- Precious metals: currencyapi (gold, silver, platinum, palladium).
- Excel, Google Sheets and BI dashboards: currencyapi, with guides for Excel and Google Sheets; the range endpoint exports time series as CSV (Medium and up).
- AI coding agents: currencyapi has an MCP server for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and VS Code.
- Enterprise treasury and FX trading data: XE or OANDA, with annual contracts and bid/ask data.
What to compare before you pick
- Cost per 1,000 requests. Divide the monthly price by the included requests. In the table above it ranges from $0.044 to $1.20.
- Update interval. Daily, hourly, every few minutes or every 60 seconds. Check that the interval you need is on a plan you can afford.
- Base currency limits. Several free plans return rates against USD only. If you price in EUR or GBP, that means extra conversion math or a paid plan.
- History depth. How far back daily history goes, and whether the free plan includes it.
- Commercial use on the free tier. Some free plans allow it, others (including currencyapi’s) are for private use.
- Endpoints gated by plan. For example, currencyapi’s convert endpoint starts on Small and its range endpoint on Medium.
- Coverage beyond fiat. Crypto, precious metals or official central bank rates.
- Reliability and security. An SLA, multiple API keys, IP or URL whitelisting.
What is a currency exchange rate API?
A currency exchange rate API is a web service your app calls to get exchange rates. You send a request, usually with an API key, and get back current or historical rates, typically as JSON.
Most of these APIs offer four kinds of data:
- Latest rates: the current rate of one currency against others.
- Historical rates: the rate on a past date.
- Time series: rates over a date range.
- Conversion: an amount converted from one currency to another.
Some also include cryptocurrencies, precious metals or official central bank rates.
How to use a currency API
- Get a key. Sign up for a free account. currencyapi doesn’t ask for a credit card on the free plan.
- Make a request over HTTPS. With currencyapi you call an endpoint such as
/v3/latestand send your key in theapikeyheader (or as anapikeyquery parameter). The base currency defaults to USD and can be any supported currency. - Cache the rates. If your plan updates hourly, fetching rates every minute only uses up your quota.
The documentation has code examples for every major language, client libraries and a Postman collection.
The APIs, one by one
Figures are from each provider’s public pricing page, checked on October 26, 2026 (monthly billing, USD, excluding VAT). Providers change their plans often, so confirm on their sites before you buy. We make currencyapi, so it comes first, with its limits.
1. currencyapi
currencyapi is a JSON REST API for live and historical exchange rates, plus amount conversion. It covers 171 fiat currencies, 16 cryptocurrencies and 4 precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium) through the same endpoints and JSON shape. Companies in more than 80 countries use it.
Plans:
- Free: $0, 300 requests/month, private use, daily updates, 10 requests/minute, latest and historical rates
- Small: $9.99/month ($99.99/year), 15,000 requests, commercial use, hourly updates, convert endpoint, email support
- Medium: $39.99/month, 600,000 requests, 60-second updates, range endpoint, sandbox keys, team management
- Large: $79.99/month, 1,700,000 requests, 60-second updates, IP white/blacklisting, URL whitelisting, SLA, overages
- Custom: volume pricing above 1,700,000 requests/month, with a custom SLA and terms
Every plan has unlimited API keys, and yearly billing gives 2 months free.
Endpoints: /v3/latest (any base currency), /v3/historical (daily back to 1999), /v3/convert (Small and up), /v3/range (time series with CSV, Medium and up), /v3/official (35 central banks, including the ECB), monthly, quarterly and yearly averages, and /v3/currencies.
Limits to know: the free plan is private use only with 300 requests/month, smaller than most free tiers here; convert isn’t on Free, range starts on Medium, and the fastest update interval is 60 seconds.
Best for: commercial apps that want 60-second rates without paying for a top tier, accounting tools that need ECB or other central bank rates, and apps that mix fiat, crypto and metals.
2. Open Exchange Rates
Open Exchange Rates is a long-running JSON exchange rate API with over 200 currencies and live and historical rates on every account.
- Free: 1,000 requests/month, hourly updates, USD base only
- Developer: $12/month, 10,000 requests, hourly, all base currencies
- Enterprise: $47/month, 100,000 requests, every 30 minutes, time-series requests
- Unlimited: $97/month, unlimited requests, every 5 minutes, currency conversion requests
Yearly payment gives two months free. Where it wins: a free quota more than 3x currencyapi’s and an unlimited plan. Where currencyapi differs: 60-second updates from $39.99, and any base currency on the free plan. Full breakdown: currencyapi vs Open Exchange Rates.
Best for: USD-based projects that need more than 300 free requests a month, and high-volume apps that are fine with 5-minute updates.
3. ExchangeRate-API
ExchangeRate-API is a simple exchange rate API that developers mention often, covering 161 currencies (its site also says 165).
- Free: 1,500 requests/month, daily updates
- Pro: $10/month ($100/year), 30,000 requests, hourly, over 30 years of history
- Business: $30/month ($300/year), 125,000 requests, every 5 minutes
Best for: small apps that want a generous free tier and cheap hourly or 5-minute updates.
4. Frankfurter
Frankfurter is a free, open-source exchange rate API. It started with the European Central Bank’s reference rates and now blends rates from 106 central banks and official sources for 228 currencies, with history back to 1948. The public API needs no key and has no quota (it is rate-limited against abuse), and you can self-host it with Docker.
- Free: no API key, no monthly quota, daily updates, any base currency
Best for: hobby projects, prototypes and internal tools where daily rates are enough.
5. CurrencyFreaks
CurrencyFreaks offers exchange rates with a small free plan and paid plans that add historical rates (back to 1984), conversion and faster updates.
- Developer: free, 1,000 requests/month, every 24 hours, USD base only
- Starter: $9.99/month, 15,000 requests, hourly, all base currencies
- Growth: $49.99/month, 150,000 requests, every 10 minutes
- Professional: $99.99/month, 550,000 requests, every 60 seconds, time series and fluctuation
- Enterprise: on request
Best for: teams that want 60-second updates and time series from one mid-priced plan.
6. CurrencyBeacon
CurrencyBeacon offers forex and crypto rates (2,000+ crypto assets) under one quota. Every plan, including Free, allows commercial use and includes latest, historical and conversion rates.
- Free: 5,000 requests/month, hourly
- Basic: $10/month, 50,000 requests, every 15 minutes
- Startup: $99/month, 500,000 requests, every minute, time series, base currency switching
- Professional: $599/month, 2,000,000 requests, real-time, uptime SLA
Best for: the largest free quota with commercial use, and apps that need many crypto assets.
7. fxapi (our sister product)
fxapi is made by the same company as currencyapi. It is a foreign exchange rates API for 190+ currencies (fiat, 16 crypto, 4 metals) with latest and historical rates, conversion, time series, OHLC, fluctuation and period averages, as JSON, CSV or Excel.
- Free: 300 requests/month, daily updates, 10 requests/minute
- Basic: $9.99/month, 15,000 requests, hourly, convert endpoint
- Professional: $34.99/month, 600,000 requests, every 60 seconds, range and OHLC
- Enterprise: $74.99/month, 1,700,000 requests, every 60 seconds
Best for: finance and reporting tools that need OHLC candles, fluctuation and IAS 21 period averages.
8. XE Currency Data API
XE Currency Data is the API product from XE, with 170+ currencies and precious metals and history back to 1998. It is sold on yearly plans:
- Core: $599/year, 10,000 requests/month, daily rates
- Intermediate: $1,799/year, 50,000 requests/month, hourly and daily rates
- Prime: $4,499/year, 150,000 requests/month, 15-minute, hourly and daily rates
- Enterprise: custom price, unlimited requests, live (minutely) rates
Best for: larger companies that want an established brand on an annual contract.
9. OANDA Exchange Rates API
OANDA’s Exchange Rates API covers over 200 currencies, commodities and precious metals with over 32 years of history, including real-time bid, ask and mid rates over REST or FIX. Standard plans start at $4,850 a year; custom plans are priced on request, and there is a 7-day free trial.
Best for: treasury, trading and enterprise finance teams that need bid/ask data and tick history.
10. Currency Converter API
Currency Converter API sells conversion rates on prepaid and monthly plans:
- Prepaid: from $6 (pay as you go), hourly updates, up to 4 currency pairs per request
- Premium: from $10/month, updates every 30 minutes by default, customizable limits
- Unlimited Premium: from $60/month, unlimited requests
Best for: small projects that want pay-as-you-go pricing.
Verdict
No single currency API is best for every project, but the published numbers point to clear picks:
- Best value for commercial apps: currencyapi, at about $0.067 per 1,000 requests on Medium and $0.047 on Large, with 60-second updates from $39.99/month, any base currency and history back to 1999. (Our sister product fxapi is priced similarly and adds OHLC and averages.)
- Best free option without a key: Frankfurter (daily rates, no quota).
- Biggest free quota: CurrencyBeacon (5,000 requests/month, hourly, commercial use).
- Cheapest hourly and 5-minute plans: ExchangeRate-API Pro ($10) and Business ($30).
- Official central bank rates, crypto and precious metals in one API: currencyapi.
- Enterprise contracts and bid/ask data: XE or OANDA.
For more head-to-head comparisons, see all currency API alternatives. If you need daily rates for 33 major currencies in a hobby or personal project, our sister product freecurrencyapi.com is free as well.
Sources
- currencyapi: pricing and documentation
- Open Exchange Rates: openexchangerates.org/signup
- ExchangeRate-API: exchangerate-api.com
- Frankfurter: frankfurter.dev
- CurrencyFreaks: currencyfreaks.com/pricing
- CurrencyBeacon: currencybeacon.com/pricing
- fxapi: fxapi.com/pricing
- XE: xe.com/xecurrencydata
- OANDA: oanda.com (Exchange Rates API)
- Currency Converter API: currencyconverterapi.com/pricing
All competitor pages were checked on October 26, 2026. Prices use monthly billing in USD and exclude VAT unless stated. Cost per 1,000 requests is the monthly price divided by the included requests, rounded. If you spot an outdated figure, tell us and we’ll update it.