exchangerate.dev vs currencyapi.com

Name: exchangerate.dev — FX rate API
Brand: exchangerate.dev

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

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.

At a glance

Feature	exchangerate.dev	currencyapi.com
Free tier	10,000 requests/month	300 requests/month
Cheapest paid plan	Basic · $10/month	Small · $9.99/month
Update speed	Major pairs about 60s on trading days	Daily free; hourly or 60s paid
History	Daily from 1999; varies by pair	End-of-day from 1999
Coverage	31 currencies; any supported base	171 fiat; 16 crypto; 4 metals
Interfaces	REST; MCP; WebSocket on Realtime	REST; MCP
SDKs	Not published	Examples and SDKs in 8 languages
Commercial use on free tier	✗ Non-commercial only	✗ Personal projects only

Price at your usage

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

Requests a month	exchangerate.dev	currencyapi.com
1,000	Free · $0/month	Small · $9.99/month
10,000	Free · $0/month	Small · $9.99/month
100,000	Basic · $10/month	Medium · $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"

currencyapi.com

// Change: URL and auth
const url = new URL(
  "https://api.currencyapi.com/v3/latest"
);
url.search = new URLSearchParams({
  "base_currency": "USD",
  "currencies": "EUR",
}).toString();
const response = await fetch(url, {
  method: "GET",
  headers: {
    "apikey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  },
});
if (!response.ok) {
  throw new Error(String(response.status));
}
console.log(await response.json());

currencyapi.com

import requests

# Change: URL and auth
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.currencyapi.com/v3/latest",
    params={
        "base_currency": "USD",
        "currencies": "EUR",
    },
    headers={
        "apikey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    },
    timeout=10,
)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())

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"

exchangerate.dev

// Change: URL and auth
const url = new URL(
  "https://api.exchangerate.dev/v1/latest/USD"
);
url.search = new URLSearchParams({
  "symbols": "EUR",
}).toString();
const response = await fetch(url, {
  method: "GET",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
  },
});
if (!response.ok) {
  throw new Error(String(response.status));
}
console.log(await response.json());

exchangerate.dev

import requests

# Change: URL and auth
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.exchangerate.dev/v1/latest/USD",
    params={
        "symbols": "EUR",
    },
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
    },
    timeout=10,
)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())

Why teams switch

Room to test a real workload

10,000 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. Commercial use starts on Basic at $10/month.

Rates with a time and a source

Major pairs update about every 60 seconds on trading days. 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

REST and MCP are included on every plan. Daily history begins in 1999 for many pairs, bringing current lookups and dated records into the same service. 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 10,000 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 is for non-commercial work. Commercial use starts on Basic at $10/month, subject to terms and source rights.

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Sources and review date

Reviewed 2026-10-04.