exchangerate.devcurrencyapi has a free plan with 300 requests a month, 10 a minute and daily updates, for private use. Small costs $9.99 for 15,000 requests at hourly rates. Medium, at $39.99, is the first plan with 60-second updates and carries 600,000 requests. Its docs also list a hosted MCP server, an OpenAPI 3.1 spec and an llms.txt file.
The free plan
Free costs $0, needs no credit card and gives one API key. It includes 300 requests a month, a limit of 10 requests a minute, daily updates and HTTPS. Latest rates, historical rates and the fluctuation and averages endpoints are all on it. The plan is for private use. A commercial project starts at Small.
currencyapi pricing
| Plan | Price a month | Requests a month | Updates | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 300 (10 a minute) | Daily | Private use, 1 API key |
| Small | $9.99 ($99.99 billed yearly) | 15,000 | Hourly | Commercial use, no rate limit, audit trail, convert endpoint, email support |
| Medium | $39.99 ($399.99 billed yearly) | 600,000 | Every 60 seconds | 2 API keys, sandbox keys, range endpoint, team management |
| Large | $79.99 ($799.99 billed yearly) | 1,700,000 | Every 60 seconds | 5 API keys, IP and URL allow lists, SLA, overages |
| Custom | On request | Above 1,700,000 | Every 60 seconds | Custom SLA and terms |
Yearly billing gives two months free. Prices exclude VAT. Every plan, Free included, carries historical rates back to 1999.
What currencyapi does well
- A low-cost fast tier. 60-second rates start at $39.99. Fixer asks $99.99 for the same update speed.
- History and fluctuation on the free plan. Fixer's Free card lists historical data only.
- Agent tooling. The docs link a hosted MCP server at
api.currencyapi.com/mcp, an OpenAPI 3.1 spec and llms.txt files. - Wider catalogue. The page counts 171 fiat currencies, 16 cryptocurrencies and 4 precious metals, and any supported currency can be the base.
- Useful endpoints. The docs describe a table of every cross rate between up to 25 currencies, in JSON or CSV, hourly or daily open-high-low-close candles for up to 10 currencies, and an official-rates endpoint for the rates central banks publish for accounting and tax.
Where currencyapi falls short
- Tiny free quota. 300 requests a month and 10 a minute is enough for a test.
- Daily free rates. A free key reads a rate up to a day old.
- Private use only on Free. A hobby site that earns money is already outside the plan.
- Steep jump to production. The convert endpoint starts at Small, the range endpoint at Medium and sandbox keys at Medium.
- No per-rate source label that we found. The pages we read do not describe a source or market-session field on each rate.
How fresh are the rates?
Daily on Free, hourly on Small and every 60 seconds from Medium. The pricing page states these speeds per plan, which makes the choice easy: if you need minute-level rates, the entry price is $39.99.
Who should pick currencyapi
currencyapi fits a project that needs minute-level rates at a mid-range price, or one that wants cross-rate tables and candles from the same API. It also fits teams building with AI agents that read a hosted MCP server. Look elsewhere if you need more than 300 free requests, free commercial use or a source label on each rate.
currencyapi next to exchangerate.dev
We publish this review and sell a competing API. The table lists what each side publishes, including the rows where the other API is ahead.
| Rival | exchangerate.dev | |
|---|---|---|
| Free requests a month | 300 | 5,000 |
| Free rate speed | Daily | About every 60 seconds on trading days, 15 minutes late |
| Free plan use | Private use | Commercial, with a visible linked credit near the rates |
| Cheapest paid plan | $9.99, 15,000 requests, hourly | $19, 100,000 requests, about every 60 seconds on trading days |
| 60-second updates from | $39.99 (Medium) | $19 |
| Currencies | 171 fiat, 16 crypto, 4 metals | 144 |
| Crypto and metals | Listed | Not in the 144 currencies |
| MCP server | Hosted server in the docs | On every plan |
The full comparison is on exchangerate.dev vs currencyapi. currencyapi alternatives lists the other options.
Sources
Checked 2 Nov 2026. Prices and limits change, so confirm them on the rival's page before you buy.