---
title: "Free Forex API in 2026: What Each Free Tier Actually Gives You"
description: "Every \"free\" forex API has a catch — call caps, delayed rates, no HTTPS. This guide compares the real free tiers, flags the gotchas, and tells you which free forex API fits your project."
canonical: https://allratestoday.com/best/best-free-forex-api/
source: AllRatesToday (https://allratestoday.com/) — Markdown mirror of the page above; index of all pages at https://allratestoday.com/llms.txt
generated: 2026-10-19T13:42:30.442Z
---

# Free Forex API in 2026: What Each Free Tier Actually Gives You

Every "free" forex API has a catch — call caps, delayed rates, no HTTPS. This guide compares the real free tiers, flags the gotchas, and tells you which free forex API fits your project.

By [Madhushan](https://allratestoday.com/authors/madhushan/), Founder & Lead Developer

"Free" means very different things across forex APIs. Some give you 1,500 calls a month but only update once a day. Others give you real-time data but only over HTTP. This page compares the actual usable free tiers of the most popular providers in 2026.

Disclosure: AllRatesToday publishes this guide. Free-tier details are taken from each provider's public site at time of writing — verify before relying on them.

## The honest free-tier comparison

| Provider | Free quota | Update freq | HTTPS? | Base ccy | Catch |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| AllRatesToday | 300 one-time | Real-time | Yes | Any | Quota never resets; non-commercial, no history |
| Fixer.io | 100/mo | Hourly | No | EUR only | HTTP-only |
| Open Exchange Rates | 1,000/mo | Hourly | Yes | USD only | Hourly + USD lock |
| ExchangeRate-API | ~1,500/mo | Daily | Yes | Any | Daily updates |
| Frankfurter | Unlimited | Daily (ECB) | Yes | Any | No SLA, ECB-only |
| CurrencyAPI | ~300/mo | Hourly | Yes | USD on free | USD lock + hourly |

## Pick by what you're actually building

### Hobby project / personal dashboard

**Frankfurter** wins on quota and simplicity. ECB daily rates are fine for personal finance trackers.

### Prototype that needs to feel "real"

**AllRatesToday**. The 300 one-time free requests are enough for a demo, and rates are real-time so screenshots and demos look professional.

### Static dashboard that updates once a day

**ExchangeRate-API**. The 1,500/mo free tier is more than enough if you only refresh once daily.

### Server-to-server only, not browser code

**Open Exchange Rates** if you need a higher quota. Fixer's HTTP-only restriction means you have to proxy from your server anyway.

## Watch out for these "free" gotchas

- **HTTP-only free tiers.** Modern browsers block mixed content — you'll have to proxy through your server, which costs you compute.
- **USD-only base.** If your base currency is EUR or GBP, you'll do client-side cross-divides that introduce rounding error.
- **Hourly or daily updates marketed as "live".** Read the docs, not the marketing page.
- **No commercial use on free.** Almost every provider restricts commercial use — check before you ship.
- **No status page or SLA.** Free tiers usually have no uptime guarantee.

  Rule of thumb: if you're making money from the project, move off the free tier. €4.99/mo for AllRatesToday's Small plan removes commercial-use restrictions and adds historical rates.

## Free-tier code example (AllRatesToday)

```
// Free API key from /register (300 requests, no card)
fetch('https://allratestoday.com/api/rate?source=USD&target=EUR', {
  headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' }
})
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(({ rate }) => console.log(rate));
```

## FAQ

### Is any free forex API truly unlimited?

Frankfurter has no published limit, but offers no SLA. For anything you'd care about staying up, expect a quota.

### Can I stack free accounts?

Almost every provider's terms forbid this. It will get your accounts banned.

### What's "real-time" in forex anyway?

For mid-market rates, "per-request" or "every few seconds" is the gold standard. Anything cached for an hour or a day is not real-time, regardless of how it's marketed.

## Real-time on the free tier

HTTPS, any base currency.

 [Get free API key](https://allratestoday.com/register) [See paid plans](https://allratestoday.com/pricing)

## Related

  [Best exchange rate APIsPaid + free roundup](https://allratestoday.com/best/best-exchange-rate-api/) [Best currency API 2026This year's picks](https://allratestoday.com/best/best-currency-api-2026/) [Open Exchange Rates alternativeSide-by-side](https://allratestoday.com/compare/openexchangerates-alternative/)