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.
"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.
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.