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.

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.

At a glance

Feature	exchangerate.dev	CurrencyBeacon
Free tier	10,000 requests/month	5,000 requests/month
Cheapest paid plan	Basic · $10/month	Basic · $10/month
Update speed	Major pairs about 60s on trading days	Hourly free; 15 min on Basic
History	Daily from 1999; varies by pair	From 1996; free depth not published
Coverage	31 currencies; any supported base	160+ currencies
Interfaces	REST; MCP; WebSocket on Realtime	REST; MCP with shared quota
SDKs	Not published	Not published
Commercial use on free tier	✗ Non-commercial only	✓ 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	Free · $0/month	Basic · $10/month
100,000	Basic · $10/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"

CurrencyBeacon

// 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());

CurrencyBeacon

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"

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

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 10,000 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 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.