exchangerate.devFixer is free for 100 API calls a month, with hourly updates and no commercial use. Paid plans start at $14.99 a month for 10,000 calls, and 60-second updates cost $99.99. It fits a small project that can live on hourly rates. Anyone who needs a few thousand calls a month will pass the free quota in the first week.
Is Fixer free?
Yes, with tight limits. The Free plan costs $0 and includes 100 API calls a month, hourly updates, historical data and SSL encryption. The pricing page marks it for non-commercial use and lists no support. A script that polls once an hour uses all 100 calls in just over four days.
The Free card does not list the conversion, time-series or fluctuation endpoints. It also leaves out the "All Base Currencies" line that Basic and every plan above it carry. That matches what we say on exchangerate.dev vs Fixer: a free key cannot pick its base.
Fixer pricing
| Plan | Price a month | Calls a month | Updates | Overage per call | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 | Hourly | Not listed | Historical data, non-commercial use |
| Basic | $14.99 ($13.99 billed yearly) | 10,000 | Hourly | $0.005996 | Commercial use, all base currencies, conversion endpoint |
| Professional | $59.99 ($52.99 billed yearly) | 100,000 | 10 minutes | $0.0023996 | Time-series endpoint, bid/ask spread data |
| Professional Plus | $99.99 ($84.99 billed yearly) | 500,000 | 60 seconds | $0.00079992 | Fluctuation endpoint |
| Enterprise | Custom, billed annually | Volume-based | 60 seconds | Not listed | Custom solutions |
Yearly billing takes up to 15% off. Fixer does not cut an app off at its quota. Its FAQ says that past 100% of the allowance, overage fees apply for each call, and the plan keeps running.
What Fixer does well
- Plain model. A request names a base and a list of symbols. The convert, time-series and fluctuation endpoints sit next to it.
- Speed on paid plans. Updates run from hourly up to every 60 seconds, and bid/ask spread data starts on Professional.
- No hard stop. Overage billing keeps a paid app serving when a month runs over.
- Coverage. Fixer lists 170 currencies, and its FAQ says they include Bitcoin, gold and silver.
- A long record. Fixer says it holds 19 years of historical data and reports 99.99% uptime over the last 12 months. Both are Fixer's own figures.
Where Fixer falls short
- A small free tier. 100 calls a month is the lowest free quota among the rivals we reviewed. Open Exchange Rates gives 1,000, currencyapi 300 and ExchangeRate-API 1,500.
- Commercial use costs money. The free plan is non-commercial, so a shop or a paid app starts at $14.99.
- Speed is priced steeply. Professional updates every 10 minutes for $59.99. Rates every 60 seconds need Professional Plus at $99.99.
- Unnamed sources. The pricing page says 16 data sources and the FAQ says over 15. Neither names them, so you cannot tell which currencies come from a bank and which from a market feed.
- Time-series starts at Professional. A chart over a date range means the $59.99 plan.
How fresh are Fixer's rates?
Fixer says it collects data from its sources every minute. What you receive depends on the plan: hourly on Free and Basic, every 10 minutes on Professional, every 60 seconds on Professional Plus and Enterprise. An hourly rate can be an hour behind the market, which is fine for a price estimate and loose for an invoice.
exchangerate.dev returns rates that update about every 60 seconds on trading days from the $19 Basic plan. Free keys get the same rates 15 minutes late.
Who should pick Fixer
Fixer suits a small commercial project that needs hourly rates and stays under 10,000 calls a month. It also suits a team that already buys other APILayer products, since Fixer is one of them. Look elsewhere if you need more than 100 free calls, free commercial use, 60-second rates below $99.99, or a source label on every rate.
Fixer 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 calls a month | 100 | 5,000 |
| Commercial use on the free plan | No | Yes, with a visible linked credit near the rates |
| Cheapest paid plan | $14.99, 10,000 calls, hourly | $19, 100,000 calls, about every 60 seconds on trading days |
| 60-second updates from | $99.99 (Professional Plus) | $19 |
| Currencies | 170 | 144 |
| Historical data | Fixer cites 19 years | 30 days of daily history on Free, full daily history from 1999 on Plus and Pro |
| MCP server | None mentioned on the pages checked | On every plan |
| Source label on each rate | None described on the pages checked | source and market_session on every response |
The full side-by-side is on exchangerate.dev vs Fixer, and Fixer alternatives ranks the other options.
Sources
Checked 2 Nov 2026. Prices and limits change, so confirm them on the rival's page before you buy.