fawazahmed0 Currency API Alternative (currency-api.pages.dev)
fawazahmed0/exchange-api is a free daily currency API on jsDelivr and currency-api.pages.dev with 200+ currencies, crypto and metals. When you need live rates, official central bank tables, a named source or support, here is the honest comparison.
fawazahmed0/exchange-api, published as
@fawazahmed0/currency-api on jsDelivr and at currency-api.pages.dev, is one of the most
useful free currency tools around. It is public domain (CC0), has no rate limits, and its daily file covers
200+ currencies including common cryptocurrencies and metals (340 codes in the EUR file on 7 November 2026).
If a once-a-day rate for a hobby project or a side app is what you need, keep using it.
It is a set of static files rebuilt once a day by a GitHub Actions run. That design is why it is free and fast, and it is also where its limits come from: one update a day, no named data source, and no one to contact when a run fails. This page is for the point where those limits start to matter.
At a glance
| AllRatesToday | fawazahmed0 currency-api | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier; paid from €4.99/mo | Free, CC0 public domain |
| Update frequency | Every 60 seconds, seven days a week | Once a day (GitHub Actions run, about 05:30 UTC) |
| Currencies | 160+ fiat currencies | 200+ including crypto and metals |
| Data source | Institutional FX market data; official tables under each institution's name | Not stated in the README |
| Official central bank rates | 123 central banks and 6 tax authorities | Not offered |
| Historical data | Paid plans | Daily files by date |
| Hosting | One API on Cloudflare's edge | jsDelivr, with currency-api.pages.dev as the fallback you code yourself |
| Output formats | JSON, CSV, XML, XLSX | JSON |
| SDKs and AI tooling | JS, Python, PHP, Rust and Go SDKs; MCP servers | Plain HTTP files |
| Support | Email support on paid plans | GitHub issues |
Competitor details come from the project's GitHub README and its live files, checked on 7 November 2026, and may change.
When teams move off currency-api
1. A daily file is too slow for what users see
currency-api publishes once a day, so a price or a checkout total can be up to a day behind the market, and weekend moves wait for the next run. AllRatesToday serves real-time mid-market rates for 160+ currencies, refreshed every 60 seconds, every day of the week.
2. You have to say where the rate came from
Invoices, VAT returns, audits and customs work usually need a rate you can cite. The currency-api README does not say where its numbers come from. AllRatesToday's central bank rates API serves the official tables of 123 central banks, and the tax authority rates API covers HMRC, the US Treasury and others, each under the institution's own publication date.
3. You are tired of writing fallback code
The README asks you to code a fallback: if cdn.jsdelivr.net fails, try
currency-api.pages.dev. That is sensible advice for a free CDN project, but it means two hosts and
two failure modes in your code. AllRatesToday is one endpoint with a 99.99% availability target.
4. You need spreadsheets, SDKs or an AI agent
Table endpoints also return CSV, XML and real Excel files, there are official SDKs for JavaScript, Python, PHP, Rust and Go, and MCP servers let Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT fetch rates with the date and source attached.
Code example
// Before: fawazahmed0 currency-api (daily file, lowercase codes)
const r = await fetch('https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@fawazahmed0/currency-api@latest/v1/currencies/usd.json')
.then(x => x.json());
console.log(r.date, r.usd.eur);
// After: AllRatesToday (real-time mid-market rate, refreshed every 60 seconds)
const rows = await fetch('https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/rates?source=USD&target=EUR', {
headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer art_live_xxxxx' }
}).then(x => x.json());
console.log(rows);Want to keep currency-api and just add a third fallback? The currency-api migration guide shows a fallback that keeps the same paths and JSON shape.
Honest pros and cons
Where AllRatesToday wins
- Rates refreshed every 60 seconds, not once a day
- Official tables from 123 central banks and 6 tax authorities, with their dates
- One endpoint, no fallback logic to maintain
- CSV, XML and Excel output, SDKs and MCP servers
- Email support on paid plans
Where currency-api still suits you
- You need crypto or metals next to fiat currencies
- A daily rate is enough and the budget is zero
- You want public-domain files you can mirror yourself
FAQ
Is the fawazahmed0 currency API still working?
Yes. On 7 November 2026 its daily publish run succeeded and both jsDelivr and currency-api.pages.dev served that day's file. Its README asks you to code a fallback URL in case one host fails.
Where does the fawazahmed0 currency API get its rates?
The README does not say. If you need to cite the source of a rate, for example in accounting or tax work, use an official table such as a central bank's, which AllRatesToday serves under the institution's own publication date.
Does AllRatesToday cover crypto and metals like currency-api does?
No. AllRatesToday covers 160+ fiat currencies in real time plus official tables from 123 central banks. If you need BTC, ETH, gold or silver in the same file, currency-api is the better fit.
Can I use AllRatesToday as a fallback for currency-api?
Yes. /api/compat/currency-api/ serves the same paths and lowercase JSON shape from the ECB reference table, for the 30 currencies in that table. See the migration guide for the fallback code.