exchangerate.dev vs currencyapi.com

exchangerate.dev brings intraday FX, daily history, and MCP together in one API.

exchangerate.devReviewed October 2026

Verdict

Choose exchangerate.dev when intraday freshness, per-value provenance, MCP-native access, and free-tier headroom matter. Keep currencyapi.com if you need its fiat, crypto, and metals catalog or averages endpoints.

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At a glance

Featureexchangerate.devcurrencyapi.com
Free tier5,000 requests/month300 requests/month
Cheapest paid planBasic · $19/monthSmall · $9.99/month
Update speed144 currencies ~60s on trading days; Free 15m lateDaily free; hourly or 60s paid
HistoryFree 30 days; Basic 1 year; Plus/Pro to 1999End-of-day from 1999
Coverage144 currencies; any supported base171 fiat; 16 crypto; 4 metals
InterfacesREST; MCP; WebSocket on Plus and ProREST; MCP
SDKsNot publishedExamples and SDKs in 8 languages
Commercial use on free tier✓ With a linked credit✗ Personal projects only

Price at your usage

The lowest published plans for each monthly request volume, with traffic spread across the month.

Requests a monthexchangerate.devcurrencyapi.com
1,000Free · $0/monthSmall · $9.99/month
10,000Basic · $19/monthSmall · $9.99/month
100,000Basic · $19/monthMedium · $39.99/month

Small includes 15,000 requests with hourly updates; Medium includes 600,000 with 60-second updates, at monthly billing prices.

Switch in a few minutes

Move the base currency into the path and use bearer authentication in your server request.

currencyapi.com

# Change: URL and auth
curl -G \
  "https://api.currencyapi.com/v3/latest" \
  --data-urlencode "base_currency=USD" \
  --data-urlencode "currencies=EUR" \
  -H "apikey: YOUR_API_KEY"

exchangerate.dev

# Change: URL and auth
curl -G \
  "https://api.exchangerate.dev/v1/latest/USD" \
  --data-urlencode "symbols=EUR" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Why teams switch

Room to test a real workload

5,000 free monthly calls give you room to build around your own traffic pattern, from a small currency converter to a recurring rate lookup. No card is required, and any supported currency can be the base. The usage table maps three monthly volumes to the lowest qualifying plan, making the next step clear as requests grow. Free permits commercial display with linked credit; paid plans need no credit.

Rates with a time and a source

All 144 currencies update about every 60 seconds on trading days, 15 minutes late on Free. Responses include source and market-session fields alongside observation timestamps, so your application can show where a value came from and when it was observed. Daily references remain identifiable as daily data. That context belongs beside the number in a customer interface, an internal report, or an agent answer that explains the rate it used.

One account for apps and agents

Every plan includes REST and MCP. Plus and Pro daily history reaches 1999 for majors; pair starts vary, combining current and dated records. A developer can start with the HTTP examples above, then use MCP for agent queries without adding another subscription. The same base and target currencies carry through the workflow, from fetching a current rate to looking up a historical observation.

When they are the better pick

currencyapi.com is a better fit for a combined fiat, crypto, and metals catalog. It has averages, fluctuation, and central-bank endpoints. End-of-day history reaches 1999, and paid plans offer hourly or 60-second updates.

Questions

Is there a free currencyapi.com alternative?
Yes. exchangerate.dev offers 5,000 calls per month, no card required. currencyapi.com includes 300 free requests per month with daily updates for personal projects. Paid plans allow commercial use.
How often does currencyapi.com update rates?
The free plan updates daily. Small costs $9.99 per month with 15,000 requests and hourly updates. Medium costs $39.99 per month with 600,000 requests and 60-second updates.
When is currencyapi.com a better fit?
Choose currencyapi.com for its combined catalog of 171 fiat currencies, 16 cryptocurrencies, and 4 precious metals. It also offers averages, fluctuation, and central-bank endpoints, plus end-of-day history back to 1999.
Can I use exchangerate.dev Free commercially?
Free: commercial display with visible linked credit near rates. Basic: no credit required, $19/month.

Sources and review date

Reviewed