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

Currency and forex API comparison

Feature	exchangerate.dev	ExchangeRatesAPI
Free-tier limit	5,000 calls/mo	Limited · base-restricted
Intraday refresh (all 144 currencies)	144 currencies ~60s; Free 15m late	✗ daily (ECB)
Per-value source + market_session
MCP server (every plan, incl. free)
Historical daily series	Free 30 days; Plus/Pro to 1999	✓
No credit card to start
Endpoint adaptation

exchangerate.dev

All 144 currencies update about every 60 seconds on trading days, 15 minutes late on Free. Every response includes source and market_session fields. MCP is included on every plan.

From $0 · free tier, 5,000 calls/mo, no card

ExchangeRatesAPI

ECB-backed REST FX API (APILayer). Free tier caps requests and restricts base currency on some plans.

Free → paid tiers

Where exchangerate.dev wins

exchangerate.dev includes 5,000 free calls per month, 30 days of daily history, and MCP on every plan. All 144 currencies update about every 60 seconds on trading days, 15 minutes late on Free. Every response includes source and market_session fields. No credit card is required.

Where ExchangeRatesAPI leads

ExchangeRatesAPI is familiar from many tutorials and is simple to adopt. exchangerate.dev leads on intraday ~60s freshness, per-value source + market_session, MCP, and a free tier with no base-currency restriction.

Verdict

Choose exchangerate.dev when intraday freshness, per-value provenance, MCP-native access, and free-tier headroom matter. Keep ExchangeRatesAPI if a tutorial-familiar, once-daily ECB feed already covers your app.

Related comparisons

Questions

Is exchangeratesapi.io free?

ExchangeRatesAPI offers a free tier with limited monthly requests and base-currency restrictions on some plans. exchangerate.dev's free tier is unrestricted by base currency, includes 5,000 calls per month, and requires no credit card.

How fresh are ExchangeRatesAPI rates between ECB publications?

ExchangeRatesAPI sources from ECB and financial data providers. For ECB-backed pairs, the rate updates once per business day; between publications the value does not change, leaving rates potentially 16–24 hours stale during a trading day. All 144 currencies update about every 60 seconds on trading days, 15 minutes late on Free, with market_session on each response.

Does exchangerate.dev have an MCP bridge?

Yes. An MCP stdio bridge is included on every exchangerate.dev plan, including free. This allows AI coding assistants and agent frameworks to query live FX rates natively. ExchangeRatesAPI does not currently offer an MCP integration.

ExchangeRatesAPI alternative: vs exchangerate.dev