Frankfurter alternative: vs exchangerate.dev

Feature	exchangerate.dev	Frankfurter
At a glance
Free tier	5,000 requests/month	No quota; abuse rate limits
Cheapest paid plan	Basic · $19/month	Not published
Update speed	144 currencies ~60s on trading days; Free 15m late	Daily
History	Free 30 days; Basic 1 year; Plus/Pro to 1999	From 1948; varies by currency
Coverage	144 currencies; any supported base	223 currencies, including legacy
Interfaces	REST; MCP; WebSocket on Plus and Pro	REST; MCP
SDKs	Not published	JavaScript and Python integrations
Commercial use on free tier	✓ With a linked credit	✓ Subject to provider terms

exchangerate.dev

Frankfurter

At a glance

Free tier

5,000 requests/month

No quota; abuse rate limits

Cheapest paid plan

Basic · $19/month

Not published

Update speed

144 currencies ~60s on trading days; Free 15m late

Daily

History

Free 30 days; Basic 1 year; Plus/Pro to 1999

From 1948; varies by currency

Coverage

144 currencies; any supported base

223 currencies, including legacy

Interfaces

REST; MCP; WebSocket on Plus and Pro

REST; MCP

SDKs

Not published

JavaScript and Python integrations

Commercial use on free tier

✓ With a linked credit

✓ Subject to provider terms

Switch in a few minutes

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"

Frankfurter

# Change: URL and auth
curl -G \
  "https://api.frankfurter.dev/v2/rates" \
  --data-urlencode "base=usd" \
  --data-urlencode "quotes=eur"

Replace the keyless daily reference lookup with an authenticated USD-to-EUR request on your server.

Verdict

Choose exchangerate.dev when intraday freshness, per-value provenance, MCP-native access, and free-tier headroom matter. Keep Frankfurter if daily rates suffice and you want no key, no quota, or self-hosting.

Price at your usage

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

Requests a month	exchangerate.dev	Frankfurter
1,000	Free · $0/month	Public API · $0
10,000	Basic · $19/month	Public API · $0
100,000	Basic · $19/month	Public API · $0

The public API has no monthly quota and applies abuse rate limits; self-hosting adds your own infrastructure costs.

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

Frankfurter is a better fit for daily reference rates without a key or quota. You can self-host with Docker. History reaches 1948, and its 223 currencies include legacy currencies through scope=all. An MCP server is available.

Sources and review date

Reviewed 2026-10-04

Related comparisons

Questions

Is there a free Frankfurter alternative?

Yes. exchangerate.dev includes 5,000 calls per month, 30 days of daily history, and updates for all 144 currencies about every 60 seconds on trading days, 15 minutes late on Free. Frankfurter is already free, with daily updates and no API key.

When is Frankfurter a better fit?

Choose Frankfurter for daily rates, no key, or self-hosting with Docker. It has no quotas, but applies rate limits to prevent abuse. History reaches 1948, with 223 currencies including legacy currencies through scope=all. Each provider has its own data terms.

Does Frankfurter support MCP?

Yes. Frankfurter has an MCP server and supports JSON, CSV, and NDJSON output. exchangerate.dev also includes MCP on every plan. Frankfurter has no conversion endpoint.

Can I use exchangerate.dev Free commercially?

Free: commercial display with visible linked credit near rates. Basic: no credit required, $19/month.

exchangerate.dev vs Frankfurter