exchangerate.dev vs Yahoo Finance

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 Yahoo Finance if you need its Python tools for research within the stated data terms.

At a glance

Featureexchangerate.devYahoo Finance
Free tier10,000 requests/monthFree Python library; quota not published
Cheapest paid planBasic · $10/monthNot published
Update speedMajor pairs about 60s on trading daysNot published
HistoryDaily from 1999; varies by pairDepth not published
Coverage31 currencies; any supported baseCurrency count not published
InterfacesREST; MCP; WebSocket on RealtimePython; WebSocket classes
SDKsNot publishedyfinance (unofficial Python)
Commercial use on free tier✗ Non-commercial only✗ Personal data use only

Price at your usage

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

Requests a monthexchangerate.devYahoo Finance
1,000Free · $0/monthNot published
10,000Free · $0/monthNot published
100,000Basic · $10/monthNot published

yfinance is free to install; Yahoo publishes no API request allowance for these monthly volumes.

Switch in a few minutes

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

Yahoo Finance

Yahoo Finance
import yfinance as yf

# Change: ticker to HTTP
history = yf.Ticker("EURUSD=X").history(
    period="1d",
)
print(1 / history["Close"].iloc[-1])  # EUR per USD

exchangerate.dev

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

yfinance is a better fit for Python research that needs its library interface or WebSocket classes. It is open source under Apache 2.0. That license covers the library, not rights to Yahoo data.

Questions

Is there a free Yahoo Finance alternative for FX?

Yes. exchangerate.dev includes 10,000 free calls per month, history to 1999, and MCP on every plan. No credit card is required.

Is yfinance an official Yahoo Finance API?

No. yfinance is an unofficial Python library using Yahoo public endpoints. It is not affiliated with Yahoo. Its Apache 2.0 license covers the library, while the data remains subject to Yahoo rights.

When is yfinance a better fit?

Choose yfinance for Python research or educational work that fits its stated terms. It includes WebSocket and AsyncWebSocket classes. Its repository says the Yahoo Finance API is intended for personal use only.

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.

Sources and review date

Reviewed .