Currencylayer and Fixer are both REST FX rate APIs. The real differences are free-tier size, update frequency, and where each one starts charging — the table below has the specifics.
Currencylayer's free tier: 100 API calls/month, daily updates. Fixer's free tier: 100 API calls/month, hourly updates, base currency restricted to EUR. Check both against your expected monthly call volume before committing — a restricted base currency or a low monthly cap can force an upgrade sooner than the sticker price suggests.
Currencylayer updates daily on Free; hourly on Basic; every 10 minutes on Enterprise ($59.99/mo); every 60 seconds on Enterprise+ ($99.99/mo). Fixer updates hourly on Free/Basic; every 10 minutes on Professional ($59.99/mo); every 60 seconds on Professional Plus ($99.99/mo) and Enterprise. Currencylayer sources data from financial data partners and central bank reference rates, per currencylayer's own documentation. Fixer sources data from financial data partners and ECB reference rates, per Fixer's own documentation.
Once the free tier runs out, Currencylayer's cheapest paid plan is basic plan, $14.99/month, for 10,000 calls/month with hourly updates. Fixer's cheapest paid plan is basic plan, $14.99/month, for 10,000 calls/month with hourly updates and all base currencies.
Currencylayer: 100 API calls/month, daily updates. Fixer: 100 API calls/month, hourly updates, base currency restricted to EUR.
Currencylayer updates daily on Free; hourly on Basic; every 10 minutes on Enterprise ($59.99/mo); every 60 seconds on Enterprise+ ($99.99/mo). Fixer updates hourly on Free/Basic; every 10 minutes on Professional ($59.99/mo); every 60 seconds on Professional Plus ($99.99/mo) and Enterprise. Compare the specific plan you'd actually pay for, not just the headline tier — both vendors gate faster updates behind higher plans.
Neither currently does. No MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration is listed on currencylayer's product pages. No MCP integration is listed on Fixer's product pages.
Currencylayer's cheapest paid plan is basic plan, $14.99/month, for 10,000 calls/month with hourly updates. Fixer's cheapest paid plan is basic plan, $14.99/month, for 10,000 calls/month with hourly updates and all base currencies. Compare against your actual monthly call volume, not just the sticker price — overage and rate-limit behavior varies by plan.
If you're choosing between Currencylayer and Fixer mainly on free-tier size or update frequency, exchangerate.dev is worth a look too: a free tier of 10,000 calls/month across 465 pairs, no credit card required, major pairs updating roughly every 60 seconds on trading days, a source and market_session field on every response, and an MCP stdio bridge on every plan including free — a capability neither Currencylayer nor Fixer currently lists.
Rates are from the free tier, updated intraday on trading days. Indicative only, not for settlement or regulated trading.