exchangerate.dev vs CurrencyBeacon

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

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 CurrencyBeacon if you need history reaching 1996 or its paid real-time plan.

Get API key

At a glance

Feature	exchangerate.dev	CurrencyBeacon
Free tier	5,000 requests/month	5,000 requests/month
Cheapest paid plan	Basic · $19/month	Basic · $10/month
Update speed	144 currencies ~60s on trading days; Free 15m late	Hourly free; 15 min on Basic
History	Free 30 days; Basic 1 year; Plus/Pro to 1999	From 1996; free depth not published
Coverage	144 currencies; any supported base	160+ currencies
Interfaces	REST; MCP; WebSocket on Plus and Pro	REST; MCP with shared quota
SDKs	Not published	Not published
Commercial use on free tier	✓ With a linked credit	✓ All plans

Price at your usage

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

Requests a month	exchangerate.dev	CurrencyBeacon
1,000	Free · $0/month	Free · $0/month
10,000	Basic · $19/month	Basic · $10/month
100,000	Basic · $19/month	Startup · $99/month

Basic includes 50,000 requests with 15-minute updates; Startup includes 500,000 with one-minute updates, with quota shared by REST and MCP.

Switch in a few minutes

Move the key into a bearer header and read rates from the exchangerate.dev response on your server.

CurrencyBeacon

# Change: URL and auth
curl -G \
  "https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/latest" \
  --data-urlencode "api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "base=USD" \
  --data-urlencode "symbols=EUR"

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

import requests

# Change: URL and auth
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/latest",
    params={
        "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
        "base": "USD",
        "symbols": "EUR",
    },
    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"

// 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());

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

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

CurrencyBeacon is a better fit when you need history reaching 1996 or its paid real-time plan. Basic adds base switching and time series for $10 per month. Every plan includes MCP and allows commercial use.

Questions

Is there a free CurrencyBeacon alternative?

Yes. exchangerate.dev includes 5,000 calls per month with no base-currency restriction. CurrencyBeacon includes 5,000 free requests per month with hourly updates, a fixed base, and no time series. Both include MCP on every plan.

What does CurrencyBeacon Basic add?

Basic costs $10 per month for 50,000 requests and 15-minute updates. It adds base switching and time series. All CurrencyBeacon plans allow commercial use, and REST and MCP share the same quota.

When is CurrencyBeacon a better fit?

Choose CurrencyBeacon when you need history reaching 1996 or its paid real-time plan. It covers over 160 currencies. Professional costs $599 per month for 2 million requests, real-time updates, and an SLA.

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 2026-10-04

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