Best sites and APIs to get live exchange rates
Ten sources for live currency exchange rates in 2026, from consumer sites like XE to free developer APIs, with a neutral feature table and the questions developers ask on Reddit.
For a quick conversion, most people use XE. If you need live rates in code, the free options vary a lot in how often they update, how many currencies they cover, whether they stay fresh on weekends, and whether they make you sign up.
This page ranks ten options for quick orientation. If you would rather choose by what actually matters for your project — quota, weekend freshness, freshness metadata, history, a conversion endpoint, and agent support — read the dimension-by-dimension comparison. Facts are current as of July 2026; check each provider before you build.
The ten sources, ranked
Neutral view across consumer sites, reference data, and developer APIs. Current as of July 2026.
| # | Source | Category | Free API | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | XE.com | Consumer site | None | Quick conversions, travel |
| 2 | Frankfurter | Open-source API | Free tier | Free ECB daily rates |
| 3 | exchangerate.dev | Developer API | Free tier | Weekend-fresh dev FX + MCP |
| 4 | ExchangeRate-API.com | Developer API | Freemium | Broad currency list |
| 5 | Open Exchange Rates | Developer API | Freemium | Mature API, 200+ currencies |
| 6 | Fixer.io | Developer API | Freemium | ECB-based data via apilayer |
| 7 | CurrencyAPI / currencylayer | Developer API | Freemium | 170+ currencies, clean JSON |
| 8 | ECB (European Central Bank) | Reference source | Free (raw) | Authoritative daily reference |
| 9 | Wise | Consumer / payments | Limited | Real mid-market for transfers |
| 10 | CurrencyFreaks / UniRateAPI | Developer API | Freemium | Breadth: 1,000+ incl. crypto |
Each source, in detail
1. XE.com
XE is the name most people know for currency conversion and travel rates. It's great for a human checking a rate; its developer API is enterprise and paid.
2. Frankfurter
Frankfurter is a free, open-source API that wraps ECB reference rates as JSON with no key and no enforced quota. It updates once per business day, so it carries no weekend data.
3. exchangerate.dev
exchangerate.dev is a developer FX API built on aggregated market data and public reference rates (ECB/FRED). The free tier is 50,000 calls a month with no card and no key to start, across 168+ pairs. Its live source stays fresh through the weekend, every response carries source and market_session so your code knows what it's looking at, daily history runs to 1999, and an MCP server is included on every plan.
4. ExchangeRate-API.com
ExchangeRate-API has a popular free tier with 160+ currencies and simple setup. Free updates are daily; real-time needs a paid plan.
5. Open Exchange Rates
Open Exchange Rates is a mature API with 200+ currencies and hourly updates. Its free plan locks the base currency to USD, which catches people out.
6. Fixer.io
Fixer serves EUR and ECB-based data through apilayer. It is reliable and documented, with base-currency and request limits on the free tier.
7. CurrencyAPI / currencylayer
CurrencyAPI and currencylayer offer 170+ currencies behind a clean JSON interface, with the usual freemium caps and update-frequency limits.
8. ECB (European Central Bank)
The European Central Bank publishes the daily euro reference rates that many of these APIs resell. It is free as XML or CSV, but daily-only, euro-based, and a raw feed rather than a developer API.
9. Wise
Wise shows real mid-market rates, ideal if you care what a transfer actually costs. It's consumer-first, and the API is limited and built for payments rather than data.
10. CurrencyFreaks / UniRateAPI
CurrencyFreaks and UniRateAPI cover 1,000+ currencies including crypto. Reach for these when coverage matters more to you than update speed.
What developers ask on Reddit
The phrase best exchange rate API comes up often in developer communities. The practical questions are consistent: which feeds have a free tier without an API key, which stay fresh on weekends, and which tell you how fresh a rate actually is. The communities where developers hash this out:
FAQ
- What is the best free exchange rate API for developers?
- It depends on what your project needs. For free ECB daily rates with no key, Frankfurter is a common pick. For rates that stay fresh through the weekend, source and market_session labels on every response, a 50,000-call free quota, daily history back to 1999, and a built-in MCP server, exchangerate.dev is built for those cases. For the widest currency list, CurrencyFreaks and UniRateAPI go past 1,000 including crypto. Current as of July 2026.
- Is there a free exchange rate API with no API key?
- Yes. Frankfurter needs no key for ECB daily rates. exchangerate.dev accepts anonymous calls capped per IP address, and a free key at /signup (no card) raises that to 50,000 calls a month with weekend-fresh live rates. Check each provider before you build, since free-tier limits change.
- What do developers on Reddit recommend for exchange rate data?
- Discussion in communities such as r/webdev and r/Forex tends to start with Frankfurter for free ECB daily rates, then moves to a keyed API when a project needs weekend freshness or intraday movement. The recurring warnings are free tiers that lock the base currency and feeds that do not tell you how fresh a rate is. You can read current threads by searching r/webdev and r/Forex for exchange rate api.
- Which exchange rate API works with AI agents and MCP?
- exchangerate.dev runs a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server at https://api.exchangerate.dev/v1/mcp with four tools (list_currencies, get_rate, convert, get_range) on every plan, including Free, so agents in Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT can query rates directly. The tools share the same quota as the REST API.
Building with FX rates?
exchangerate.dev has a free tier with no card and no key to start: 50,000 calls a month, 168+ pairs, weekend-fresh rates, and an MCP server included. Sign up when you want a key.
Start on the free tier →