Exchange rate APIs deliver currency prices to code, from daily central bank fixings to streams that move every second.
This guide ranks small, independent rate vendors first and compares entry quotas, refresh speed, commercial-use limits and what a spike in traffic does to the bill. It also records who the page says operates each service.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What exchange rate apis software does
An exchange rate API returns current and historical currency prices over HTTP so that software can convert amounts, show quotes or reconcile payments, usually metered by monthly request volume.
Setup effort, true cost, data portability, exit options and buyer fit are the five tests, applied in that order to every exchange rate apis tool here. Vendors outside the best-known names fill places 1 to 3 when they exist, and the big brands rank from place 4. Our how we work page explains the choice of these five and why we give no mark out of ten.
Flat plans from daily updates to five-minute refreshes, trials included
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingAfrica
Plans are priced per month or per year, and the ladder is short: entry, Pro at 30k requests, Business at 125k. Pro refreshes hourly and Business every five minutes, with priority email support only on Business.
The page names Paddle for billing, PayPal as a payment method, AWS for hosting and Pingdom for uptime measurement. It lists no tick-level data, so anything faster than five minutes has to come from another vendor.
What stands out
No-card entry plan
Five-minute refresh tier
Historical data on Pro
Where it costs you
The Volume plan is mentioned only in the FAQ, with no request limit or update speed given.
The entry quota of 1.5K requests a month is small for anything beyond a prototype.
Right for
Small products that need a cheap, trial-backed feed with a clear upgrade ladder
Wrong for
Teams needing streaming or per-second price updates for trading screens
South AfricaPublished monthly or yearly plans; the entry plan needs no card and both paid tiers carry a trial
Rate feed scaling from hourly updates to per-second VIP updates
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
The ladder runs Free, Developer, Enterprise, Unlimited and VIP, with updates moving from hourly to 30-minute, 5-minute and up to every second. Time-series requests start at Enterprise and conversion requests at Unlimited.
VIP adds a dedicated phone line and a guaranteed uptime SLA. Annual payment removes two months of cost, though no annual figure is printed on the page, and no free trial is mentioned, so testing relies on the entry plan.
What stands out
USD base on entry plan
Time-series from Enterprise
VIP bid-ask data
Where it costs you
The entry plan is locked to USD as base currency.
Bid-ask and open-high-low-close prices appear only on the VIP plan, whose price is given on request.
Right for
Developers wanting a long, clearly stepped ladder from hobby to enterprise volume
Wrong for
Buyers who want bid-ask quotes without a sales call
United KingdomPublished tiers by request volume and update speed; a zero-cost entry plan; annual payment gives two months free
One million calls on every plan, with a seven-day trial
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Four plans share one quota, so the decision is about speed and data rather than volume.
One offers 170+ currencies at midpoint rates plus 500+ cryptocurrencies, Extra adds 30-second updates and an FX quote endpoint, Premium adds OHLC candlesticks, metals and about 55 years of series, and the top plan streams bid/ask prices over WebSockets. Annual billing saves 17 percent, and cancellation is allowed at any time.
What stands out
1M calls on every plan
One-second updates on Premium
WebSocket streaming plan
Where it costs you
Only a seven-day trial is offered, so there is no permanent entry plan to keep a side project running.
The cheapest plan is still a paid subscription, which prices out very small projects.
Right for
Apps with heavy call volume that care about update speed more than quota
Wrong for
Hobby projects that need a permanent zero-cost plan
United KingdomPublished monthly or annual billing across four plans; a seven-day trial needs no card; no minimum term
Keyless rates from 108 central banks, history back to 1948
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Free tierPricing on requestElsewhere
Requests go to endpoints such as /v2/rates and /v2/rate/{base}/{quote}, with providers listed separately and history reaching back to 1948. Results can be returned as JSON, CSV or streamed NDJSON, and date ranges can be grouped by week or month.
Sources that publish less often are left out of blended rates. An MCP server and an llms.txt file are offered, and the page says the code can be run in Docker, but it names no owner.
What stands out
108 central bank sources
History since 1948
CSV and NDJSON output
Where it costs you
No operator, licence or service commitment is stated, and the privacy page returned a 404.
Rates update daily, and some sources publish only weekly, monthly or quarterly.
Right for
Reporting jobs and prototypes that want daily official rates without any signup
Wrong for
Products that must show intraday or bid-ask prices
Not stated by the vendorNo charge and no key; requests are rate-limited, and Docker instructions are offered
Rate API with a published ladder from 300 to 3,000,000 requests
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Six paid plans climb from 15,000 requests to 3,000,000, with updates hourly on Small, every 15 minutes on Pro and every 60 seconds from Medium. Overage is optional and requires a monthly spending cap, priced per 1,000 requests.
Endpoints cover latest, historical back to 1999, convert, range and official central bank rates, across 171 fiat currencies, 16 cryptocurrencies and precious metals. The operator's registered address is not given on the pricing page.
What stands out
Central bank rates endpoint
Servers in Germany
MCP server listed
Where it costs you
The entry plan is limited to private use, so commercial projects must pay from the first request.
The convert endpoint starts at Small and range queries at Pro, so cheaper plans lack them.
Right for
Growing apps that want fine-grained volume steps and optional capped overage
Wrong for
Teams wanting conversion endpoints on the cheapest plan
AustriaPublished ladder of six paid plans billed monthly or yearly; entry plan for private use; capped overage optional
Forex, crypto and metals rates with usage alerts and an MCP server
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
The developer tier is free at 1,000 calls a month, then Starter, Growth and Professional step to 15,000, 150,000 and 550,000 calls with faster refreshes. Endpoints include live rates, conversion, history back to 1984, time series and fluctuation, plus supported currencies and IP-to-currency detection.
Output comes as JSON or XML. Usage alerts fire at 80, 90 and 100 percent of quota, and sources are named as forex exchanges, crypto exchanges and national banks.
What stands out
Quota alerts at 80, 90, 100%
History back to 1984
IP-to-currency lookup
Where it costs you
Prices show a dollar sign but the page never names the currency code.
The entity behind the site is only given as APIFreaks, with no address or registration.
Right for
Apps that mix fiat, crypto and metals and want warnings before quota runs out
Wrong for
Buyers who need a named legal entity before signing
Not stated by the vendorPublished tiers from a no-cost developer plan to custom enterprise volume; dollar signs without a stated currency
Pair rates, daily history to 1999 and volatility forecasts
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
One endpoint returns the current rate for a currency pair, another gives daily history back to 1999 with date ranges up to 180 days, and three volatility endpoints cover current, historical and forecast figures.
Premium rates are real time while the entry key gets once-daily rates. The site-wide pricing page lists a free tier of 3,000 calls a month and 100 an hour, with paid tiers named Developer, Business and Professional.
What stands out
Volatility forecast endpoint
History back to 1999
Hard monthly quota
Where it costs you
Historical rates and all volatility endpoints are premium only.
Requests are denied once the monthly quota is reached, so traffic spikes cause failures rather than a bill.
Right for
Developers who want volatility figures beside a plain pair-rate lookup
Wrong for
Commercial products that need real-time data on the entry key
Not stated by the vendorPublished site-wide plans by monthly call quota; a no-card entry key for non-commercial use; commercial use needs premium
Live and historical rates with inflation and interest adjustments
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Beyond live and historical rates, the page names cryptocurrency pairs including crypto-to-crypto, and historical adjustments for inflation and interest rates. The entry plan is capped at one request per second, Standard at three.
Enterprise adds a 99.99 percent uptime SLA, SSO and SAML login, 24/7 support by email, chat and phone, technical onboarding and an account manager. Yearly billing is described as paid annually.
What stands out
Inflation-adjusted history
Crypto-to-crypto rates
SLA on Enterprise
Where it costs you
One block on the page gives the Standard quota per year while the rest say per month.
The paid ladder jumps from the entry plan straight to Standard and Enterprise.
Right for
Teams that want one vendor's key across several small lookup APIs
Wrong for
Buyers who need mid-range pricing between entry and Standard
Not stated by the vendorPublished standard plan with a monthly or yearly toggle; entry plan needs no card; enterprise priced separately
Entity-based annual plans with a proprietary rate blender
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Entity limits shape the ladder: Core covers one entity, Intermediate up to five and Prime up to ten, with request quotas of 10,000, 50,000 and 150,000 a month. Enterprise is custom, with unlimited requests and live minutely updates.
Every package has historical data back to 1998, time-frame queries and volatility figures. SDKs cover Java, NodeJS, PHP and Python, and Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Sage Intacct and SAP integrations are named.
What stands out
Rate blender
Up to 10 entities
Named ERP integrations
Where it costs you
The page gives two different currency counts, 170+ and 220+.
The trial length is not stated, and only annual prices are shown.
Right for
Finance teams wanting phone support and ERP connectors on a yearly contract
Wrong for
Start-ups needing monthly billing or a permanent entry plan
Not stated by the vendorPublished annual packages by request volume and entity count; a trial is offered, length not stated; enterprise custom
Hourly rates from a hundred-call entry plan up to 60-second updates
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Four paid steps run Basic, Professional, Professional Plus and Enterprise, with 10,000, 100,000 and 500,000 calls a month and refreshes at hourly, 10-minute and 60-second pace. Conversion, time-series and fluctuation endpoints are named on paid plans, and bid/ask spread data begins at Professional.
Yearly billing lowers each monthly price. Enterprise is custom and billed annually. Both Texas law and a Vienna footer address appear, which leaves the real base of the company unclear.
What stands out
Idera, Inc. operator
Fluctuation endpoint
Overage per extra call
Where it costs you
The entry plan allows 100 calls a month, non-commercial use only and no support.
Overage is charged per extra call, so costs can climb beyond the plan price.
Right for
Commercial apps that want a mid-priced ladder with named conversion endpoints
Wrong for
Projects that need a stated country of establishment
Not stated by the vendorPublished monthly and yearly plans with a per-call overage rate; entry plan restricted to non-commercial use; enterprise custom
Historical rates to 1999, JSON and JSONP output, hourly updates
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
The product page lists Basic, Enterprise and Enterprise+ with 10,000, 100,000 and 500,000 requests and hourly, 10-minute and 60-second refreshes, plus a custom plan by quote. Enterprise brings time-frame queries plus spread figures, and Enterprise+ adds currency-change queries.
Parameters pick specific currencies or another source currency. Output formats include JSON and JSONP, and responses carry HTTP ETags and Access-Control headers. Yearly billing shows both per-month and per-year totals.
What stands out
Rates back to 1999
JSONP callbacks
HTTP ETags
Where it costs you
The entry tier updates daily only and excludes commercial use.
Paid prices match two other APIs in this list, so price gives no reason to pick it.
Right for
Front-end developers who want JSONP callbacks and historical data to 1999
Wrong for
Buyers hoping for a price edge over similar APIs
Not stated by the vendorPublished plans with discounted yearly billing; per-request overage listed; custom plan by contact; entry tier non-commercial
APILayer-run rate API with source currency switching and conversion
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Exchange Rate APIs in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Plans named Basic, Professional and Business carry 10,000, 100,000 and 500,000 requests, updated hourly, every 10 minutes and every 60 seconds, with yearly billing lowering each monthly price.
Source currency switching and conversion come with the paid ladder, time-frame queries and bid/ask spread data begin at Professional, and currency-change queries at Business. HTTPS encryption is listed. The FAQ calls the entry plan a trial without a time limit, and a custom plan is by contact.
What stands out
APILayer product
Source currency switching
Bid/ask from Professional
Where it costs you
The no-limit trial is capped at 100 requests a month and excludes commercial use.
The page does not state a country of establishment, only a Vienna contact address.
Right for
Buyers who already know APILayer and want its rates under that brand
Wrong for
Anyone needing a distinct price point from similar APIs
Not stated by the vendorPublished monthly and yearly plans; the trial version has no time limit; custom plan on request
An exchange rate API returns current and historical currency prices over HTTP so that software can convert amounts, show quotes or reconcile payments, usually metered by monthly request volume. What separates these products is rarely a feature. Work through the steps below.
01
Work out how much a sales call is worth to you
Only 11 of the 12 print a price; 1 quote per organisation. Comparable without a sales call: ExchangeRate-API, Open Exchange Rates, Fastforex, CurrencyAPI, CurrencyFreaks, Exchange Rate API by API Ninjas, Abstract Exchange Rates, XE Currency Data API, Fixer, Currencylayer, Exchangeratesapi.io.
02
Look at where the vendor sits
These 12 vendors are established in 4 countries across 3 regions (Elsewhere 8, Europe 3, Africa 1). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
Reading quotas, refresh speed and commercial limits in exchange rate APIs
Rate APIs advertise a headline price, but the limits that matter sit one line below. The entry plans at Fixer, Currencylayer and Exchangeratesapi.io all allow 100 calls a month and bar commercial use, while CurrencyAPI allows 300 for private use only. ExchangeRate-API offers 1.5K requests with daily updates and no card.
fastforex does the opposite: every plan carries 1,000,000 calls, and what you pay for is speed, from 60-second updates up to one second. Work out your peak requests per minute first, then how stale a quote you can defend to a customer. A checkout that caches rates hourly needs far less than a trading screen that redraws every second, and the cheaper plan often covers it.
Count monthly calls from caching rules, not from page views
Note which plans exclude commercial use
Match update speed to how stale a quote may be
Choosing between central bank data, blended feeds and market quotes
Not every currency price means the same thing. Frankfurter draws on 108 central banks and official sources, updates daily and leaves out sources that publish less often, which suits reporting but not live pricing. CurrencyAPI adds a separate endpoint for official central bank rates beside its market feed.
XE Currency Data API describes a proprietary rate blender, and Open Exchange Rates reserves bid-ask and open-high-low-close prices for its VIP plan. The mid-market rate that most APIs return is not a rate any customer can trade at. If you invoice or settle in a currency, ask whether your auditors expect a named official source or a blended one, and keep the answer with your finance records.
Decide whether an official fixing or a market quote is required
Check whether bid-ask prices exist and on which plan
Confirm how gaps on weekends and holidays are filled
Counting the real cost of an exchange rate API as traffic grows
Monthly prices rarely survive a traffic spike unchanged, because vendors treat overage differently. Fixer and Currencylayer list a charge per extra call, CurrencyAPI makes overage optional behind a monthly spending cap, and Exchange Rate API by API Ninjas denies requests once the quota is reached. The last protects the invoice but can take a feature offline.
CurrencyFreaks sends warnings as quota fills, which gives time to act. Yearly billing helps too: Open Exchange Rates gives two months free, and fastforex states a 17 percent saving. Model three months of traffic growth before choosing a tier, then check what happens on the day you exceed it, because that day usually arrives during a sales campaign.
Ask whether overage bills, blocks or throttles requests
Look for usage alerts before the quota runs out
Compare monthly and yearly totals for your expected growth
Judging who operates an exchange rate API and what that promises
A currency feed sits inside invoices and prices, so the operator matters. Fixer, Currencylayer and Exchangeratesapi.io publish matching prices, yet their terms point to Idera, Inc. in two cases and APILayer in the third, and none states a country of establishment. Open Exchange Rates and fastforex name registered UK companies, ExchangeRate-API names AYR Tech in South Africa, and CurrencyAPI names Everapi GmbH.
Frankfurter names no operator at all. A written uptime commitment is rarer still: Abstract Exchange Rates and Open Exchange Rates attach an SLA to Enterprise or VIP, and CurrencyAPI to its Enterprise plan. Read the terms page before the pricing page, and keep a note of the entity named there for your supplier records.
Find the legal entity named in the terms
Ask whether an uptime SLA exists and at which plan
Plan a fallback source if one vendor goes dark
What goes wrong most often when buying exchange rate apis software
Choosing an exchange rate API by its entry plan, then discovering that Fixer, Currencylayer or Exchangeratesapi.io restrict that plan to non-commercial use.
Calling the rate API on every page view instead of caching, which burns the monthly quota on a feed that only refreshes hourly or daily.
Treating a central bank fixing from Frankfurter as a price a customer can actually trade at, when the page itself describes daily reference rates.
Ignoring what happens at quota, so a spike on Exchange Rate API by API Ninjas switches off currency display while another vendor would simply bill extra.
07
Frequently asked questions
6 answers
What is the best exchange rate apis in 2026?
ExchangeRate-API takes first place among the 12 we reviewed. AYR Tech (Pty) Ltd, incorporated in South Africa, owns and operates the service.
A free plan gives 1.5K requests a month with daily updates and no card; Pro adds hourly updates and a two-week trial, Business five-minute updates. The $700 Volume plan appears only in the FAQ with no limits stated, so heavy users must ask what it actually covers.
Which exchange rate apis tools publish their pricing?
Published pricing exists for 11 products on this page:
ExchangeRate-API: Published monthly or yearly plans; the entry plan needs no card and both paid tiers carry a trial.
Open Exchange Rates: Published tiers by request volume and update speed; a zero-cost entry plan; annual payment gives two months free.
Fastforex: Published monthly or annual billing across four plans; a seven-day trial needs no card; no minimum term.
CurrencyAPI: Published ladder of six paid plans billed monthly or yearly; entry plan for private use; capped overage optional.
CurrencyFreaks: Published tiers from a no-cost developer plan to custom enterprise volume; dollar signs without a stated currency.
Exchange Rate API by API Ninjas: Published site-wide plans by monthly call quota; a no-card entry key for non-commercial use; commercial use needs premium.
Abstract Exchange Rates: Published standard plan with a monthly or yearly toggle; entry plan needs no card; enterprise priced separately.
XE Currency Data API: Published annual packages by request volume and entity count; a trial is offered, length not stated; enterprise custom.
Fixer: Published monthly and yearly plans with a per-call overage rate; entry plan restricted to non-commercial use; enterprise custom.
Currencylayer: Published plans with discounted yearly billing; per-request overage listed; custom plan by contact; entry tier non-commercial.
Exchangeratesapi.io: Published monthly and yearly plans; the trial version has no time limit; custom plan on request.
1 vendors do not print a price.
Is there a free exchange rate apis tool?
ExchangeRate-API, Open Exchange Rates, Frankfurter, CurrencyAPI, Exchange Rate API by API Ninjas, Abstract Exchange Rates, Fixer offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these exchange rate apis vendors established?
Across 4 countries (Elsewhere 8, Europe 3, Africa 1):
ExchangeRate-API: South Africa.
Open Exchange Rates: United Kingdom.
Fastforex: United Kingdom.
Frankfurter: Not stated by the vendor.
CurrencyAPI: Austria.
CurrencyFreaks: Not stated by the vendor.
Exchange Rate API by API Ninjas: Not stated by the vendor.
Abstract Exchange Rates: Not stated by the vendor.
XE Currency Data API: Not stated by the vendor.
Fixer: Not stated by the vendor.
Currencylayer: Not stated by the vendor.
Exchangeratesapi.io: Not stated by the vendor.
What should you use instead of ExchangeRate-API?
Look at Open Exchange Rates (made for Developers wanting a long, clearly stepped ladder from hobby to enterprise volume) and Fastforex (made for Apps with heavy call volume that care about update speed more than quota), which hold places two and three.
Who should not buy ExchangeRate-API?
Teams needing streaming or per-second price updates for trading screens. The Volume plan is mentioned only in the FAQ, with no request limit or update speed given..
Your exchange rate apis product is not among these 12? Tell us what it is for and who it serves, and we will consider it. The decision is editorial, and the ground rules are set out under software advice.
